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Class of 2027

Jude Ahmed

Jude Ahmed (she/her) grew up in the Seattle area and studied Economics, Political Science at Western Washington University. Her community has been her greatest teacher, grounding her studies in political movements and policy development through collective struggle and grassroots advocacy. During her time at university, Jude discovered her passion for organizing and public policy through her leadership in the Arab Student Association and her role as a registered lobbyist representing over 100,000 college students statewide. Jude worked her way to becoming the Advocacy Program Manager at the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle. Working within an organization that provides comprehensive support services, she gained a deeper understanding of the intersecting needs disproportionately affecting the Black community in the Seattle area. Jude leveraged her lobbying skills to bring her colleagues' experiences in providing legal, economic, educational, and health services to the attention of policymakers. Her exposure to the connections between incarceration and poverty drove her to focus on criminal justice reform. Thus, she joined the ACLU of Washington as a campaign organizer, where she worked on reforming the state’s criminal justice system and coordinating coalition efforts to advance critical legislation. Looking ahead, Jude hopes to combine her organizing skills with direct legal service after law school, aiming to address the critical need for legal assistance. Jude lives by the mantra "design our democracy," reflecting her belief in building a more inclusive and engaging democratic society as the foundation for systemic change. She has served on the board of FairVote Washington and as Vice Chair of Voter Participation for the King County Citizens' Election Oversight Committee. In these roles, Jude brings her expertise in organizing and legislative strategy, driving efforts to enhance voter engagement and representation. In her free time, Jude enjoys cooking Egyptian food, watching movies, and asking to pet every dog she meets.

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Claudia Arias

Claudia Arias (she/her) comes to the PIPS program after working as a legal assistant at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in Newark, New Jersey. During her time at AFSC she worked with undocumented survivors of domestic violence to prepare applications for U-Visas and VAWA self-petitions. Before her time at AFSC, she was a legal assistant for Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Newark’s premiere legal orientation program for unrepresented respondents in deportation proceedings. She graduated with a BA in political science from The College of New Jersey in 2020, followed by an AmeriCorps term at Norwescap, a nonprofit servicing low and middle-income people in Northwest New Jersey. As an AmeriCorps member at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she became motivated to work toward dismantling the systemic inequalities that most affect people of marginalized identities. ÌýClaudia is the proud daughter of Venezuelan immigrants. In her downtime, she enjoys watching movies, going to concerts, and spending time with her husband and two cats, Kahuna and Ricky.

Ally Brown

Ally Brown (she/her) joins PIPS after a decade of working in the labor movement and progressive politics. As an opposition researcher, she has conducted and oversaw research for Democratic campaigns from the municipal and state-legislative to the presidential level. She has also provided support to labor unions and progressive groups like Planned Parenthood, Working Families Party, and the League of Conservation Voters. In her various roles, including serving as Research Director of a female-owned political research consulting firm, Ally has held companies accountable for illegal anti-unionization practices and helped expose anti-worker legislators and organizations. She’s also worked on teams that have elected pro-union candidates, connected working families with crucial state and federal resources, and fought against billionaires attempting to influence elections. Originally from New Jersey, Ally graduated from George Washington University in 2014, majoring in Political Science and minoring in Statistics and French. During and after college, she traveled to Florida to protest for better working conditions for migrant farmworkers with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. She also helped run a high school leadership conference in D.C. to empower service-minded young professionals. After living in Chicago for three years, she is excited to move back to D.C. to attend Â鶹ÊÓƵWCL to further her commitment to workers’ rights.Ìý

Emily Clarkson

Emily Clarkson (they/she) grew up in San Diego, California before moving to the Sacramento area to attend the University of California (UC), Davis. They graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor’s in International Relations and Spanish. They found their passion for direct legal services at age 20 while studying abroad in Santiago, Chile. While there, Emily interned at INCAMI (Chilean Catholic Institute of Migration), an organization that provides free immigration legal services to immigrants in Santiago. Her internship at INCAMI sparked her commitment to utilizing the law as a tool for social justice. After returning to the United States, they spent almost the next five years at the UC Immigrant Legal Services Center, where they worked as first an intern and later as a legal assistant to provide free immigration legal services to UC students and their immediate family members. She is excited to join the PIPS community at Â鶹ÊÓƵWCL and explore Washington DC.

Amanda FitzWilliam

Amanda FitzWilliam (she/her) grew up in Oakville, a suburb of Saint Louis, Missouri. Amanda found her passion for business thanks to her incredible teachers in high school. She attended Clemson University and studied Financial Management while minoring in Accounting and Political Science. While at Clemson, Amanda saw the disparity between the financial knowledge needed for the real world and the lack of opportunities to learn it while in school. This knowledge gap inspired her to start FitzWilliam Financial Services, an organization that provides free financial literacy to students and young adults to help them reach their financial dreams. Amanda has helped clients with budgeting, investing, understanding debt, and more. She hopes to continue to use her financial background and interest in advocacy when she enters the legal field. At Â鶹ÊÓƵWCL, Amanda is excited to be surrounded by people with a similar passion for helping others and is looking forward to all the opportunities the public interest field offers.

Dominic Lyles

As a Black man who grew up in Northeast, Washington, D.C., Dominic Lyles (he/him) witnessed the quotidian effects of structural violence early in his life. Living in a city where a few mere miles can prove drastically different living conditions among its residents, Dominic dedicated himself to the law in order to do his part in improving the material conditions experienced by the most marginalized members within DC and abroad—particularly those of African descent. On a full-ride football scholarship, he earned his Bachelor of Arts from Bucknell University in 2022, where he studied International Relations with a particular focus on culture and identity within Latin America and the Caribbean. As an undergraduate student, Dominic was introduced to concepts and ideas that exposed structural systems that promote and maintain severe levels of inequality within societies both domestic and foreign. Accompanying Dominic’s athletic efforts, where he was awarded numerous honors throughout his collegiate career and even named a team captain his final season, his academic endeavors led him to take on new roles at his university, where he began to question the inefficacious practices he observed there and attempted to cultivate answers to these problems. Specifically, he met directly with university administrators and professors to voice the concerns of the Black student body; facilitated presentations and discussions highlighting numerous structural issues on campus and detailing their potential solutions; and cooperated with other student leaders to lead on-campus affinity groups. His comprehension of structural violence deepened when Dominic undertook several different roles as a public servant within DC, including when he interned with the esteemed Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia as an intern investigator. In directly assisting public defenders and investigators within both the trials and parole divisions, Dominic witnessed empirically how Black people are portrayed in this system; how the system works to incarcerate Black men, women, and children; and the complexity of the flawed criminal justice system at-large. Furthermore, Dominic went on to serve as an AmeriCorps member at DC Prep Public Charter School in Northeast DC, where he taught 7th Grade English Language Arts for two years, and as a volunteer at So Others Might Eat’s adult workforce development program in Southeast DC, where he provided insight and advice to students, most of whom are aged between 25 and 50 years, regarding the interview process, resume construction and polishing, and goal-setting skills. While as the former, Dominic analyzed the pivotal factors that may contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline, which disproportionately affects Black and brown children from impoverished communities, and, while as the latter, realized how the structural systems intentionally created and codified within society may inhibit the adult students’ abilities to effectively pursue their personal and professional aspirations. In believing wholeheartedly in the emancipatory potential of the law, Dominic committed himself to become an attorney practicing within the public sector of law, where he plans to utilize his legal education as a tool to further dismantle the existing socioeconomic structures that impede the freedoms of all marginalized communities.

Jayla Simonne Meeks

Jayla Simone Meeks' commitment to advocacy is deeply rooted in personal experiences navigating systemic injustices, fueling her dedication to transforming broken systems and advocating for marginalized communities. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Organizational Studies, with a minor in Musical Theatre, from the University of Tulsa as a first-generation college graduate. Her academic journey involved excelling in her studies and taking on leadership roles, which included receiving multiple honors such as a Certificate of Special Congressional & Senatorial Recognition and being named to the President's Honor Roll. Notably, while serving as President of the Association of Black Collegians, she organized her peers to initiate policy changes that continue to impact students long after her matriculation, promoting diversity and inclusion. Her work with the Terence Crutcher Foundation in historic Black Wall Street has been an honor of a lifetime, focusing on advancing policy, strengthening the community through grassroots organizing, and honoring the legacy of Terence Crutcher and the survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre while advocating for police accountability. Engaging in initiatives that connect systemic issues to building community power ensures that those closest to problems become closest to the solutions. Recently, she has collaborated with political leaders, notably serving with the Harris-Walz campaign, where she provided strategic and logistical support. Her long-term goal is to blend law, policy, advocacy, and entrepreneurship to create pathways to wealth and liberation for marginalized communities.

Lauren Talley

Lauren Talley (she/her) is excited to join the PIPS community after almost three years at the de Beaumont Foundation where she split her time between two programs: CityHealth, a health policy initiative in the 75 largest U.S. cities, and the Big Cities Health Coalition, a coalition of 35 large city health departments. With these programs she worked at the intersection of policy and public health, advocating for policies that address the social determinants of health for communities across the country. Prior to the de Beaumont Foundation, Lauren completed a service year with the Lutheran Volunteer Corps where she was placed at Health Care for the Homeless in Baltimore, Maryland as a policy and engagement assistant. This role prompted her interest in public health as she worked on the health outcomes of food insecurity and advocated for increased access to health care and affordable housing in Baltimore. While completing her undergraduate degree, she conducted research on food insecurity rates among children under age five and the impact of COVID-19 on food accessibility in North Carolina. Lauren graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2020 with a BA in Public Policy and Political Science.

Delisha Thompson

Delisha Thompson (she/her) is a double Terp who graduated with her M.A. in Public Policy in 2018, and her B.A. in Government and Politics in 2014 from the University of Maryland College Park. She was a Banneker/Key Scholar in undergrad and a Graduate Teaching Assistant in graduate school. During her time at Maryland, Delisha tutored students in the College Bound Program, mentored local high schoolers, planned and executed community service events, worked with survivors of sex trafficking, helped her students launch social entrepreneurship projects, and much more. Delisha is most proud of her master's capstone, which focused on providing various policy solutions to address the mental health crisis on Maryland’s campus. Due to her coursework on comparative racism/ethnocentrism domestically and in Asia, after obtaining her master's, Delisha moved to Taiwan and worked at Tunghai University. She taught over 300 students about diversity, equity, and inclusion using English as the vehicle. While applying to law school, Delisha worked at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law to understand mental health advocacy from a legal lens. As an adoptee, Delisha is also a strong advocate of adoption policy reform and making the adoption process child-centered to help fix the current system, which she believes is broken and inherently unethical. Delisha hopes to spend her time in law school examining racism and ethnocentrism, and their varied impacts on different areas of the legal system both domestically and abroad. She will also continue to advocate for better mental health policies at post-secondary institutions. Ms. Thompson’s strong passion for advocacy and mental health reform was inspired by her mother, who provided mental health services to Baltimore City children for more than 30 years.Ìý

Taylor Trimble

Taylor Trimble (she/her) is a Chicago native and recent graduate from Denison University, a liberal arts college hidden in Granville, Ohio where she graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Politics and Public Affairs. Throughout her undergraduate experience, Taylor committed her time in-and-out of college to racial equity, particularly educational equity. Specifically, Taylor was an active member of Denison University’s Black Student Union, creating and spearheading innovative programs dedicated to providing career preparation, professional development, and civic education to Black undergraduate students and other racially marginalized groups on-campus. Taylor’s efforts were often recognized by the University, resulting in awards such as the Denison Forward Excellence Award, the President’s Medal, the Distinguished Service Award, and the IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Antiracism) Person of the Year Award. Outside of the University, Taylor has held several notable internships including a research internship with the Brookings Institution’s Race, Prosperity, and Inclusion Initiative, a seasonal internship with one of Chicago’s Cook County Commissioners, a legislative internship with Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland’s DC Office, and a policy internship with the Urban Institute’s Office of Policy Impact. Taylor’s interests for racial equity and educational equity run deep and she hopes to bring these passions to Â鶹ÊÓƵWCL, which she believes will equip her with the knowledge and tools necessary to better advance educational equity for racially marginalized groups both through law and public policy.

Class of 2026

Rachel Bechtel

Rachel (she/her) is a disability justice activist with experience in direct support, advocacy, and research. Rachel is originally from Moscow, Idaho, where she was introduced to disability culture at a young age through her friends and family. She graduated from Carroll College in Helena, Montana with a degree in Psychology. During this time, she researched disability-based wage discrimination and promoted increased accessibility on campus and in her community. After graduation, she provided individual and systemic advocacy as an advocacy specialist at Disability Rights Montana. Rachel then lived and worked as a Direct Support Professional within a cooperative living community for adults with and without intellectual disabilities in Portland, Oregon. She recently finished a Fulbright grant in Canterbury, England, where she completed a Master’s by Research Degree and studied the effects of relationships on prejudice towards people with intellectual disabilities. Rachel is excited to attend Â鶹ÊÓƵWCL and hopes to continue to promote disability justice.

Zev Braun

Zev (he/him) grew up in the small, ideologically-diverse community of Hood River, Oregon. There, glaring inequalities based on ethnicity and immigration status sparked a winding career journey that would eventually lead him to Â鶹ÊÓƵWCL.­­­ After graduating from Grinnell College in 2015 with a Bachelor’s in Biology, Zev began work as an emergency medical technician and drug addiction recovery specialist in Portland, Oregon, with the intent to become a physician. Discouraged by the quality of our healthcare system and the social determinants of health, however, Zev took a break from that as an AmeriCorps volunteer in a different rural Oregon community than his hometown. Assigned to health education in an alternative high school, he witnessed both terrible impacts of childhood trauma and incredible resiliency in the student body—spurring a fundamental re-evaluation of his career and lifepath; Zev gave up the path of medical professional in favor of policy advocacy and systems change as a lifelong commitment. In graduate school after AmeriCorps ended, Zev studied health policy and law at Boston University School of Public Health, devoting his coursework towards gun violence prevention advocacy. In his spare time, Zev used funding from a university challenge grant to interview family members who had lost loved ones to gun violence in Boston, and develop a website to uplift their voices in pushing for policy changes and systems investments on the city level. After graduation, Zev returned to Oregon, where he first worked for a state policy nonprofit focused on firearm safety—contributing to the eventual passage of Oregon’s safe firearm storage law ()—and second worked for a Portland metro county’s health department as their suicide prevention coordinator.

christine cha

As a Korean American, Christine (she/her) graduated and received her Bachelor of Arts from Bucknell University in 2021 double majoring in political science and philosophy. Christine became committed to her passion for the law when she interned in Chatham County Juvenile court in Savannah, Georgia, within the prosecutor’s office. Working with the prosecutors, she took and recorded victim statements, helping maintain structure and clarity for the juvenile court as a whole. She saw firsthand how families and children’s lives were being determined by the law, especially those from marginalized communities, for their future and livelihoods. But she also saw how her local government and the juvenile court worked towards making changes within the system, such as thinking of ways to introduce restorative justice and taking a family-first approach. Thus, she found her purpose on how to serve her community through the legal realm. Christine has worked in various realms within the public service and public interest arena, from nonprofit work to local county government. She was one of four people in her school to receive the Shepherd Hill Consortium for Poverty summer internship program and worked for Bread for the City in Washington DC as a housing social service worker. Christine has worked with hundreds of clients on their affordable housing applications in DC and nonnative English speakers for their social security and housing applications. Christine’s perspective on the legal system’s role within the family became more nuanced and enhanced after she became an AmeriCorps member. She worked as a Crisis Rapid Response Coordinator with families in three different counties in Central Pennsylvania (Northumberland, Snyder, Union Counties). As a Crisis Rapid Response worker, when children were at risk of being taken away from their family, often within the end of the day, she made sure that a family meeting was held as soon as possible to face the emergency. Her most rewarding yet demanding role as a Crisis Rapid Response worker meant coordinating with hundreds of family members, their supports, schools, local prisons, and their social workers to make sure the children could stay with kinship support rather than be put in the foster system. Families were often dealing with issues such as poverty, substance use, and mental health crises, and she learned how to serve them, so they felt as much agency in the process as possible. However, Christine felt throughout her career that there were severe limitations as a social worker, whereas attorneys had the power to help their clients feel safe and supported. She chose the law because she could make a greater difference as a lawyer because people trust and rely on their lawyers to protect them and their best interests. Christine’s dedication and drive towards working with marginalized and destabilized families, and committing to family and juvenile law is something that she will pursue within her time and WCL and beyond.Ìý

nicole devereaux

NicoleÌý(she/her) has spent nearly 20 years helping people engage in their most important conversations. As a certified Conversational Intelligence® coach, Nicole facilitated innovative conversations around diversity, equity and inclusion practices at public interest organizations, including the NYC Department of Health and the National Housing Trust in Washington, D.C. Nicole was also an anti-bias trainer with AmazeWorks. In that role, she led conversations in K-12 schools about identity, differences, stereotypes, and taking action against bias-based mistreatment. Formerly, Nicole served at a women’s crisis center in Minneapolis. Initially hired to launch a material assistance program, she was inspired by conversations with clients to co-create an education program to support their parenting journeys, mental health, job readiness, and financial freedom. Nicole is also a Restorative Circle Keeper and Nonviolent Communication practitioner. She has planted non-denominational churches in Minneapolis, MN and Brooklyn, NY, where she provided pro bono lay counseling, conflict resolution, and welcomed hundreds of neighbors around her table. For her 40th birthday, Nicole fundraised $40,000. She donated the funds to nonprofits serving refugees, female entrepreneurs, and survivors of sex trafficking.ÌýPrior to joining the PIPS community, Nicole spent 2 years living in a motorhome and traveling across the U.S. with her husband, two daughters and dog. She is eager to take on her next adventure as a law student and future public servant, with a particular interest in advancing racial justice.

gabriela dickson la rotta

Gabriela (she/her) joins PIPS after almost three years at the Public Justice Center, a Baltimore-based impact litigation firm, where she supported the Human Right to Housing Team on eviction-related matters. Helping attorneys represent clients in Baltimore housing court and pushing for policy solutions in the Maryland state legislature informed her decision to pursue a career working with clients and effecting change at the systemic level. Born in Brazil to journalist parents from Colombia and Argentina, Gabriela grew up in Miami, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and New York. She graduated in 2020 with a B.S. in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University. Upon graduation, she was a Spanish/English interpreter for the Cornell Law School farmworker legal assistance clinic. She is currently Special Projects Coordinator for Project Lifeline, a non-profit organization that supports legal practitioners in their work with immigrant youth. She co-created the Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Predicate Order Resource Center, including the State-by-State Age-Out Database, a tool used by thousands of attorneys around the U.S. every day. In her free time, she enjoys reading romance novels, baking for friends and family, and singing in her Baltimore-based a cappella group.ÌýÌý

lydia galvan

LydiaÌý(she/her/ella) is a Chicana woman from Texas. She is dedicated to transforming the legal and policy systems that impact immigrant families, like hers, to better serve and honor the sacrifice, bravery, and dreams of those who journey to the United States. In previous roles, Lydia has explored areas of interest, including education and housing. She worked within Fort Worth, Texas, organizing community members to advance racial equity efforts in public education. In her real estate career, she saw the realities of redlining and gentrification across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. She brings a diverse set of experiences from designing advocacy campaigns locally and statewide to negotiating contracts for home sales. Lydia is a graduate of Texas Christian University, where she studied political science with an emphasis in comparative race and ethnic studies. She is a yoga teacher, amateur gardener, and loves exploring new interests and she is eager to join the PIPS community at Â鶹ÊÓƵ!Ìý

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kayla keech

Kayla (she/her) continues her studies at the Washington College of Law after three years at the Office of Generic Drug Policy in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). While at FDA, she served as the subject-matter expert on all administrative matters for the office. Kayla led the office’s transition to a fully remote office during the COVID-19 global pandemic and, eventually, to a hybrid workplace. She streamlined workflow processes and developed and communicated policies and procedures to staff. Kayla also volunteered to serve on the Office of Generic Drugs Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Committee. Leveraging her experience as a person with a disability, she organized the Committee’s inaugural event on incorrect stereotypes and interacting with people with disabilities. Previously, Kayla interned in the Office of the Parliamentarian in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she assisted a team of lawyers who advised members of both parties on House rules. Here, she helped edit the second volume of Precedents of the U.S. House of Representatives. Kayla graduated summa cum laude from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with a B.S. in Public Policy and Administration and a minor in Spanish.

junnah Mozaffar

Junnah (she/her) is incredibly grateful to join this year’s PIPS cohort. After the United States’ hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Junnah quickly shifted her priorities. In her senior year of college, she joined Development Alternative Inc. 's (DAI), Emergency Response Team to manage their Special Immigration Visa (SIV) requests. In her role, she researched, wrote, and processed application materials that would allow DAI’s Afghan employees to enter the U.S. The raw experiences of Afghans fleeing the Taliban while stranded in the visa system exposed the shortcomings of immigration policy. As much of the world remained silent, Junnah paused her pursuit of law school for a year to continue her work at DAI. Outside of work, she taught adult English classes and helped newly-arrived families integrate to their new home. Junnah is a Virginia native. She holds a B.A. in both Philosophy and Psychology from the College of William and Mary.

kayla Rivers

Kayla (she/her) joins the PIPS community from St. Thomas, U.S Virgin Islands, where she was born and raised. Her interest in law school and community advocacy is rooted in her passion for social justice. In the 2 years prior to entering Washington College of Law, Kayla served as a Legislative Staffer in the 34th and 35th Legislatures of the US Virgin Islands, focusing primarily on education, public safety and labor policy. In her role, she worked on policy that aimed to improve student achievement for students with behavioral issues, advocated for victims of crimes against a person and sought to increase equitable opportunities for employment. In addition to her work in policy, Kayla worked in the nonprofit realm increasing civic engagement in Generation Z and Millennial populations. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Anthropology and a minor in International Relations from Seton Hall University. Research in her undergraduate studies explored educational and social programs for youth that would limit gun violence in the Virgin Islands, criminal justice reform, and social determinants of health in historically marginalized communities. By the culmination of her undergraduate studies Kayla earned Seton Hall University’s 2021 University Award for Distinguished Leadership due to her extensive efforts working to increase equity and inclusion on college campuses through facilitation, program coordination and policy implementation. Kayla looks forward to her experience as a PIPS scholar at WCL hoping to combine her background in research, policy and advocacy for historically marginalized communities with the law.

Class of 2025

Eugene (E.c.) Bell

E.C. (he/him) returns to the D.C. area to further his education and acquire legal skills, as he pursues his lifelong commitment to working for the good of the city, whatever city he is privileged to call home. In the last few decades, since he graduated from a DC-area high school, he has served as a parish minister in Santa Rosa, California, Longmont, Colorado, and Newberg, Oregon. In each community he served as a pastor, he also served as a volunteer, board member, and officer of community organizations working on issues of educational persistence, housing, and food insecurity. Most recently he has had the privilege of serving as the chair of the Affordable Housing Commission for the City of Newberg. Working with the city staff and city council the commission was a part of effecting important code and policy changes to increase access to workforce and affordable housing. His B.A. from Covenant College is in history and historiography, his M.Div. focused on hermeneutical complications created by cultural syncretism in American Presbyterian churches and the practical application of ethical values in parish life. E.C. and his wife are celebrating their thirtieth years of marriage. He is the proud father of four grown children, one girl and three boys. He has also recently risen to rank of grandfather.

Esma Karakas

Esma (she/her) is from Niksar/Tokat, a small town located in the Black Sea region of Turkey. She came to the United States of America after graduating from high school in Turkey to study English and explore the higher education opportunities in the States. Since then, she completed the ESL programs at Kaplan International and DePaul University. After that she attended St. Louis Community College where she was awarded various awards for her service and leadership skills. She was then named the Distinguished Achievement Scholar of 2018 by Webster University where she attended on a full-ride scholarship. Esma completed her major in International Human Rights and minor in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Esma graduated summa cum laude in 2020 with her thesis focusing on US Immigration Policies and their Gendered Implications. After graduating, she worked with the immigrant community in St. Louis through various capacities including as an advocate, community organizer, and a community-based researcher. Most of her work in the community focuses on refugees’ access to higher education, domestic violence prevention in immigrant communities, increasing access to preventative health screenings among refugee women, and programming for elderly immigrants. Beside her work in the community, Esma is a social policy researcher and program coordinator at Washington University in St. Louis. Outside of work, Esma runs her own book club that she co-founded for Turkish women in diaspora. When Esma is not too busy creating good trouble for the right reasons, she likes to go hiking, work on her blog, and experiment in the kitchen.

Aiko Marcial Rivera

Aiko Marcial Rivera (she/her) is an Afro-Mexican immigrant with roots in Guerrero, Mexico. Her experience as an immigrant has been the driving force behind her advocacy for her community. Aiko grew up in a hyper-surveilled community of Santa Ana, CA where she experienced the realities of being an immigrant youth. It was the resilience and perseverance in this community that fostered her work ethic and pushed her to begin organizing in the immigrant rights movement. Aiko went on to be a youth organizer for five years providing political educational workshops to immigrant youth and organizing to stop deportations at the local level. Aiko then transitioned to helping immigrants through a different capacity and became a paralegal. She was an immigration paralegal for three years before transitioning into being a paralegal for worker rights where she works closely with immigrants experiencing employment violations. Aiko was inspired to work at the intersections of immigration and labor and employment when she helped unionize her nonprofit workplace in 2018. Living her life at the intersections of being an Afro-Latina has encouraged Aiko to go to law school to to become an attorney where she can combine her life experiences and all the skills she has acquired as an organizer and paralegal. Most importantly, she wants to become an attorney to continue organizing against oppressive systems that impact her community.

Maria Ortiz Pineda

Maria (she/her) was born in Honduras but grew up in the Northern Virginia area. She is a graduate of George Mason University and Northern Virginia Community College. She received her degree in Government and International Politics with a minor in International Security. Prior to joining the WCL community, she worked for three years at the National Women's Law Center (NWLC), a non-profit focused on gender justice advocacy. In her role, she launched a storytelling project to tackle harmful poverty-related narratives. She helped manage the community partnerships portfolio by developing and strengthening relationships with stakeholders to advance efforts focused on child care and economic justice. Prior to NWLC, Maria has experience working at the U.S. Senate, the national office of the American Civil Liberties Union, and the National Education Association where she worked on a broad range of issues like immigration, labor, and education. She has also been involved in advocacy work in Virginia by volunteering with the state chapter of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice and local immigrants' rights organizations. Outside her job, she enjoys attending Orange Theory classes, spending time with her dog and partner, and exploring new restaurants in the DMV.Ìý

Isabel salas

sabel (she/her) is a community enthusiast and neighborhood advocate from Nebraska. Originally raised in central Nebraska by Mexican immigrant parents, Isabel has used the majority of her professional career advocating for resident-led and resident-powered community development in Lincoln, Nebraska, often centering on housing justice as the foundation for equitable and just communities. She was a community organizer at a local community development nonprofit organization, focused on mitigating and pushing back on plans to gentrify the most affordable, historic, and culturally and racially diverse neighborhoods in the core of Lincoln, just one block south of the Nebraska State Capitol. Her advocacy included centering residents' voices and stories, creating a pipeline to civic engagement and leadership at the municipal and state levels. Isabel worked on policy solutions to rectify imbalances of power in Nebraska's landlord-tenant laws, organized and facilitated a tenant advocacy group, Renters Together, and, spurred by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020 led the creation of the Lincoln Tenant Assistance Project, a partnership between the Nebraska State Bar Association, the City of Lincoln, and local nonprofits that provides pro bono representation for tenants at eviction court. Isabel graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2017 with majors in Political Science, Women's and Gender Studies, and Global Studies. While at the University of Nebraska, she played clarinet in the Cornhusker Marching Band and focused on the intersection of her majors to study the impacts of public policy on gender in Latin America. Isabel previously served on the Lincoln Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, has been active in her neighborhood association, and from 2020 to 2022 served as the Secretary for the Nebraska Stonewall Democrats, the LGBTQIA2S+ caucus of the Nebraska Democratic Party.Ìý