I believe that one of the most important roles I can fulfill as an attorney today is in protecting what makes our country truly great: our immigrant communities. I am deeply grateful to Equal Justice America for supporting my work at Legal Aid Chicago and honored to serve these communities through this Fellowship.

Having an attorney who understands the VA’s benefits system, discharge upgrades, and the procedures required, from the start through appeals, could mean the difference in a veteran receiving or being denied those benefits.  I cannot thank EJA and Legal Aid of NC enough for providing the opportunity to help veterans receive the benefits they need and deserve.

I am passionate about the intersection of civil rights work and economic justice. Racial discrimination is often also economic with impacts on housing and employment. Throughout college and law school, I sought out experiences to help me become an advocate for economic and racial justice. As an Equal Justice America (EJA) Fellow at Legal Aid Justice Center, I will continue to do this work.

I am so grateful to Equal Justice America for sponsoring the Brian Lewinstein Youth Justice Fellowship which will allow me to begin my post-graduate career as a youth advocate and community lawyer. I am thrilled with the opportunity to continue the work I began at the East Bay Community Law Center (“EBCLC”) as a clinical law student during my final two years of law school.

"I am so grateful to Equal Justice America for their commitment to supporting public interest attorneys providing services to some of the country’s most marginalized populations. As the Human Trafficking Fellow at Greater Boston Legal Services, I will be be able to support survivors in seeking vacatur, record clearance, and pardons for criminal charges they incurred as a result of their exploitation. These remedies are life-changing for individuals who were trafficked and trapped in poverty and unemployment based on their past criminal record."

"Thank you to Equal Justice America for the opportunity to begin my legal career providing trauma-informed immigration services through a fellowship at Ayuda. Lack of access to legal representation remains one of the greatest barriers to acquiring immigration status for too many people in the United States. EJA’s Legal Service Fellowship with Ayuda will increase access to quality representation for low-income immigrants in the DC area."

"I am thankful to Equal Justice America and Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid for creating this fellowship with the Dilley Pro Bono Project. We are at a moment where there is a great need for more effort towards ending family detention. I am honored to serve clients who have endured unbelievable violence and scarring trauma, and have nevertheless had the immense courage to fight for their lives and the lives of their children. I never imagined that I would be presented with such an incredible opportunity fresh out of law school. The importance of the work is not lost on me and I cannot wait to begin what I have been working towards for years."

"I am so grateful to Equal Justice America for giving me the opportunity to work towards protecting the rights of some of the most vulnerable communities. We can’t restrict human rights only to the success stories – every individual must be guaranteed the right to basic living essentials and security of person. I want to do away with the ‘good immigrant’ narrative in my work. Immigrants who come to the U.S., for whatever reason, with whatever background, are entitled to have their voices heard and to be treated with humanity and respect."

"I am beyond grateful to Equal Justice America for the opportunity to launch my career as a public interest attorney specializing in immigration at LAF. Most of my clients navigate their lives without documentation or status. Many are subjected to unfair labor practices, intimidation, and violence, and threatened with deportation by their employer, partner, or trafficker. My work providing Immigration relief will make my clients safer at work and at home, and will keep their families united."