1L Henderson Center Scholars

Megan Bui (she/they) was raised in the Vietnamese refugee and immigrant community of Orange County, CA. She graduated from UC Berkeley in 2025 with a B.A. in Philosophy and Economics and a minor in Public Policy.

At UC Berkeley, she was a leading student organizer of the campus Democratic Socialists of America chapter. In that time, she organized rallies against university austerity, mutual aid for Palestinian medical relief, electoral canvasses for local candidates, labor rights teach-ins, and around other working-class issues. Guided by solidarity between Vietnamese and Palestinian struggles for political and economic self-determination, she has built a lifelong commitment to anti-imperialist and pro-labor organizing.

Megan is drawn to legal practice to directly empower clients to protect their safety, families, and livelihoods. As an intern at Bay Area Legal Aid, she assisted self-represented litigants in filing domestic violence restraining orders and responding to eviction notices. The following year, interning at Asian Americans Advancing Justice SoCal, she assisted primarily Vietnamese-speaking legal permanent residents in filing for citizenship.

Megan comes to Berkeley Law focused on poverty law, indigent defense, and language justice. In her free time, she lifts weights and listens to heart-wrenching indie folk singer-songwriter Adrianne Lenker.

Kevin Chen (he/him) is originally from Brooklyn, New York, and graduated cum laude from Yale College in 2021 with a degree in Ethnicity, Race, and Migration. His senior thesis on law, citizenship, and cultural memory—awarded Yale’s Henry K. Hayase Prize—examined how legal frameworks shape belonging and exclusion. After graduation, he joined the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project, where he supported impact litigation on policing, prosecutorial reform, and parole. He also interned with the Human Rights Campaign and volunteered with Brooklyn’s AIDS Healthcare Foundation, deepening his commitment to advocating for LGBTQ+ and immigrant communities navigating systems never designed with them in mind.

Kevin’s understanding of advocacy is also rooted in lived experience. He helped manage his family’s Chinese takeout restaurant on Long Island, leading a pandemic-era digital transition and later organizing a grassroots recovery campaign after a car crash destroyed the storefront—efforts featured in Teen Vogue. He also draws from alternative queer kinships: in New York’s drag and ballroom communities, he witnessed how chosen families create resilience and joy where institutions fail. These experiences taught him that queerness is not only identity but also a practice of reimagination—an approach that continues to shape the vision he brings to law.

As a Henderson Center Scholar and recipient of the AABA/BALIF Joint Scholarship recognizing queer AANHPI leadership, Kevin looks forward to advancing work at the intersections of LGBTQ+ justice, immigrant rights, and digital civil liberties at Berkeley Law.

Olivia Croley (she/her) grew up in San Antonio, Texas. In 2023, she graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with degrees in psychology and sociology. During her time in college, Olivia was involved in community organizing and worked extensively with the Palms Unhoused Mutual Aid Organization (PUMA). With PUMA, Olivia provided mutual aid to the unhoused communities in Los Angeles and lobbied for city government policies that would protect against criminalizing houselessness.

Olivia’s advocacy experiences inspired her to explore legislative impacts on marginalized groups of people. Following graduation, she joined a research initiative at St. Louis University, where she currently co-leads a research study on the intersection of public policy, online sex trafficking legislation, and sex work. For Olivia, the most meaningful part of her research was hearing her participants’ stories and analyzing how the law can evolve to confront the challenges facing vulnerable communities.

As a first-year law student, Olivia is excited to continue (and publish!) her research and join Berkeley Law’s pro bono community. Outside of law school, Olivia enjoys practicing yoga, watching thriller movies, and baking desserts.

Aminata Diallo (she/her) is from the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. In 2019, she graduated cum laude from Smith College as a Government and self-designed African Studies major. Her primary academic interest was surveying the use of art as tools of colonial/neocolonial resistance throughout the African continent. She culminated her undergraduate studies with a thesis on Senegalese hip-hop artists’ influence within the political sphere, inspired by her upbringing as the daughter of Senegalese immigrants.

Before coming to law school, Aminata worked as a public opinion researcher and focus group moderator for a polling firm based in Washington D.C. She held a senior analyst role, where she did rigorous qualitative and quantitative analysis for issue advocacy groups. Aminata had the privilege of facilitating conversations with communities of color on a range of issues such as public school education, reproductive rights, and other topical social issues.

At Berkeley Law, Aminata is interested in exploring various of public interest subject areas and finding her niche, while viewing all aspects of the law through an abolitionist lens.

In her free time, Aminata loves shopping for vinyls to expand her growing collection.

Payton Dougherty (she/her) was born and raised in Oklahoma. Payton graduated summa cum laude from Oklahoma State University (OSU) in 2021, where she was named the Top Senior Philosophy Major and received the Outstanding Senior award from the OSU Alumni Association. Further earning an honors degree in Political Science and a minor in Law and Legal Studies, Payton served as the OSU Student Government Association’s Supreme Court Chief Justice, Moot Court Coach, and the first-ever Diversity Director of the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature. She worked as a Writing Tutor and a Political Science Research Assistant throughout college, ultimately co-authoring a faculty-directed research paper, writing an honors thesis on Social Movement Success and the Movement for Black Lives, and earning an OSU Undergraduate Research Scholar designation.

As an undergraduate, Payton co-founded a student group for racial justice organizing that led a campus-wide movement for racial equity. Using her lead research and editorial roles, Payton helped advocate for, design, and implement a new, university-wide D.E.I. plan. She continued working at the forefront of change initiatives in her postgraduate career, moving to Washington, D.C. to work as a Public Affairs Fellow supporting mission-driven research groups and advocacy organizations. This led Payton to her role as an Editorial Content Strategist at the Center for Policing Equity—a nationwide nonprofit dedicated to reducing racial disparities in policing and advancing equity in public safety—where she contributed to policy research on police accountability issues and led content production for reports analyzing racial disparities in policing data. She later led the communications strategy in a successful unionization effort at this organization, before being elected to represent her coworkers in ongoing contract negotiations.

Payton brings her passion for racial justice, civil rights, and decarceration to Berkeley Law, where she hopes to learn how she can continue leveraging her community organizing and advocacy experience alongside her legal career. She received a Herbert Lehman Public Law Scholarship from the NAACP LDF to assist in her public interest legal journey. In her free time, Payton enjoys snuggling with her cat, listening to podcasts, and singing.

Zainab Jamali (she/her) is the proud daughter of Asian and African immigrants. The value of service was central to her cultural upbringing and has always guided both her academic and professional pursuits. Her path toward law was further shaped by formative life experiences that revealed how inequitable policies and corrupt institutions perpetuate harm.

Zainab graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.A. in Human Biology and Society and a minor in Arabic and Islamic Studies. Upon graduation, she earned Highest Departmental Honors and received the UCLA Public Impact Research Award (2024) for her work with Carceral Ecologies, a research lab examining the health-related and social consequences of mass incarceration. Beyond the classroom, she is continually engaged in advocacy and service. Interning for the International Rescue Committee, she worked to support and empower female Afghani refugees during resettlement. At Public Citizen, she contributed to global health campaigns, focusing on policy analysis and coalition advocacy to expand access to affordable medicines and technologies. She also participates in community-focused health literacy initiatives in South Asia and East Africa, partnering with local volunteer organizations.

Zainab is now pursuing a legal career to continue this mission. She is deeply committed to using the law as a tool for equity, aiming to dismantle systemic roadblocks and promote justice for marginalized populations. In her free time, Zainab enjoys trying new coffee shops, spending time with loved ones, and being by the ocean whenever possible.

Sara Kowdley was born and raised in Seattle, WA. She graduated from Columbia University in 2021 with a degree in Political Science. During college, Sara interned for We Act for Environmental Justice, a community-based environmental justice organization in Harlem. As the leader of Columbia’s South Asian Feminism(s) Alliance (SAFA), Sara worked to educate and mobilize students around political and social justice issues within the South Asian diaspora.

After graduating, Sara remained in New York City where she worked as a paralegal in the Family Defense Practice at Brooklyn Defender Services. In this role, she advocated for parents and caretakers experiencing involvement with the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS). Sara worked closely with clients facing the removal of their children and fought for family reunification. She also represented clients in their appeals to clear their names from the New York State Central Register (SCR). Through this experience, Sara learned about the injustices of the family policing system and deepened her commitment to public defense.

Sara deferred her acceptance to Berkeley Law and spent 9 months traveling through Latin America learning Spanish, hiking, and participating in work exchanges on local coffee and cacao farms.

At Berkeley Law, Sara hopes to explore the intersections of criminal, immigration, and family defense, and to gain hands-on experience providing holistic representation to clients. She is excited to build community and learn from the many incredible advocates and organizations fighting for transformative justice in the Bay. In her free time, Sara loves hiking, cooking, and film photography.

Anna Marguleas grew up in Los Angeles, California. She graduated from Georgetown University in 2023 with a major in English and a double minor in Government and Justice & Peace Studies. As an undergraduate, Anna served as the Creative Writing Program Coordinator of Georgetown’s Prison Outreach Program, in which she created and shared weekly lesson plans for in-person writing workshops with incarcerated individuals.

Anna also reinvestigated the wrongful conviction case of Faarooq Mansour and produced a subsequent documentary on her findings as a member of the 2022 “Making an Exoneree” cohort. She continues to advocate for Faarooq’s innocence and his return home. Her involvement with his case earned her the Robert Katzmann Fellowship with the Prisons and Justice Initiative, which included the responsibility of serving as the Teaching Assistant for the “Making an Exoneree” cohort in the Spring of 2023.

Upon graduating, Anna worked as a paralegal at a civil rights firm in New York City representing those who had been falsely arrested and victimized by police brutality. She then joined the Criminal Defense Practice of The Legal Aid Society as a Litigation Assistant, where she worked closely with attorneys and clients throughout each phase of the litigation process.

Anna’s experiences have further exposed her to the pervasive impacts the legal system has on the most marginalized members of society. She is eager to expand her passion for prison reform and rehabilitative justice at Berkeley Law and, specifically, the Henderson Center.

Katherine A. Marin is from Miami, Florida. She graduated from the University of Florida Honors Program in 2023 with a degree in Literature and a minor in History. While in college, Katherine interned for organizations including the Florida Supreme Court, the ACLU, the Democratic National Committee, and the White House. In her spare time, Katherine hosted episodes for the nonpartisan podcast Florida Politics, Reviewed. She received the Key into Public Service Award from the Phi Beta Kappa Society and served as a contributing author for the award-winning book series “Today’s Inspired Young Latina”.

Prior to law school, Katherine was selected to be in the first cohort of Yale Law Launchpad Scholars, a program focused on increasing opportunities and access to the legal profession, which solidified her confidence to pursue law school as a first-gen student. While participating in Launchpad, she began working full-time at the Brechner Center for the Advancement of the First Amendment, focusing on issues related to free speech, data privacy, media law, and FOIA. She also conducted legal research for Professor Jane Bambauer, an eminent scholar in journalism and law.

After two incredible years at the Brechner Center, Katherine departed to attend law school and join the leadership team of Gators Unidos, an organization that provides scholarships to high-achieving first-generation, Latino college students. Passionate about supporting educational investments in the Latino and immigrant community, Katherine’s volunteer work at Gators Unidos includes leading the scholarship and community relations team. As part of the organization’s mission, Katherine work helps promote bilingual college merchandise online to help raise money for student scholarships, mentorships, and textbook gift cards.

Outside of law school, Katherine enjoys travel, boba tea, and watching Shark Tank.

Damanza Uzor grew up in Lake Elsinore, CA. He graduated cum laude from UC San Diego in 2025 with a B.A in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Law, B.S in Cognitive Science, and a minor in African American Studies. During his time as an undergraduate, Damanza worked to form an interdisciplinary understanding of how institutional systems often create disproportionate outcomes within communities of color in the United States, and immersed himself deeply in spaces on campus which cultivated inclusion and advocated for racial equity. Throughout his 4 years, he worked at the Game Room and International Social Lounge at UCSD, where he cultivated a welcoming environment for domestic and international students to build meaningful relationships, having served as the manager of the space during his 4th year. He also spent 3 years on the Executive Board for the Black Student Union at UC San Diego, most recently serving as the President of the organization. In this role, Damanza had the opportunity to lead a host of culturally significant programming, which made space for the joyful expression of marginalized black identities on campus, and political education events which educated the greater student body on issues facing black students and their communities. He also served as a coalition-builder and advocate through this role, meeting with various campus administrators, state officials, local to nationwide organizations, and other social justice oriented student organizations as a representative for the black student body on his campus. In addition, Damanza served for one year as a Peer Guidance Leader at the Black Resource Center at UCSD, where he mentored incoming first year students as they navigated the often intimidating and difficult transition into higher education facing marginalized students, and for one year as the UC Student Association Racial Justice Now! Coordinator for UC San Diego, where he collaborated with UCSD’s student government and representatives across the UC to advance racial justice initiatives, specifically working to highlight racial equity concerns regarding TPM policies recently implemented on UC campuses. Damanza is proud to have earned the UCSD UJIMA Network Black History Month Scholarship in 2024 for his research submission which examined the relationship between Black political officials and their black constituents, and to have recently been awarded the Excellence in Community Award from the Black Resource Center at their 2025 Pre-commencement ceremony, where he also served as Undergraduate Speaker.

Heading straight into his 1L year, Damanza is excited to continue learning racial justice and the law are intertwined, and begin using his legal education to place himself at the center of solving issues of injustice. He is particularly interested in the intersection between civil rights and technology law, and hopes to find ways to meaningfully contribute to the advancement of racial equity within this field.

Olivia McCarren grew up just outside Washington, D.C., where early exposure to activism and grassroots organizing laid the groundwork for her future career. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Southern California with a degree in Political Science. Following graduation, Olivia was an Account Executive with Fenton, where she utilized her previous experience in the nonprofit and government sectors to advocate for crucial issues ranging from reproductive access to criminal justice reform. Key clients included the ACLU, the Vera Institute of Justice, and the MacArthur Foundation.

Olivia’s interest in pursuing a legal career was significantly influenced by her time as a research assistant at USC Gould School of Law’s Child Interviewing Lab – one of the only research facilities in the country dedicated to improving the accuracy and efficiency of child witness testimony. As a research assistant, her primary responsibility was transcribing forensic interviews with children in cases of suspected abuse. These transcripts were used as court evidence in place of live testimony to elicit truthful statements and spare children from reliving their trauma. During her undergraduate years, Olivia dedicated nearly three years to reforming the forensic interview process for minors and improving their experience within the legal system.

Outside of law school, Olivia enjoys staying updated on the latest political news, cheering on the USWNT, and exploring the best coffee spots in the Bay Area

Camryn Lemke grew up in Fishers, Indiana. In 2022, she graduated magna cum laude from Northwestern University with a bachelor’s degree in social policy and global health. As an undergraduate, she worked in the Office of Community Education Partnerships to help provide educational programming in the surrounding K-12 public schools. She also interned at nonprofits dedicated to dismantling systems of oppression and poverty such as The Global Fund to End Modern Slavery and The Borgen Project.

Upon graduation, Camryn worked as an eviction defense paralegal for Colorado Legal Services. She assisted low-income, elderly, and disabled tenants in their fight against eviction and housing voucher terminations. Here, Camryn was inspired by and drawn to the profound, long-term impacts of legal aid. Before attending Berkeley, Camryn also worked at the Duke-Margolis Health Policy Institute in Washington, DC conducting and supporting equity-centered health policy research.

At Berkeley Law, Camryn is passionate about developing her legal expertise to become a strong advocate for low-income families and an agent for change. Camryn loves spending time outdoors, traveling, and playing with her dog

Grace Wilson (she/her) is originally from Harlem, NY. In 2022, she graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with degrees in Political Science and French with a minor in Spanish. During her time in college, Grace worked as a peer counselor for a sexual assault and interpersonal violence hotline that served WashU, as well as the larger St. Louis community. She also worked as an advocate in the St. Louis County Court helping petitioners obtain orders of protection and coordinating social services benefits as their cases were adjudicated. 

After graduation, Grace spent a year teaching high school English in Seine-Saint-Denis, working with a predominantly immigrant and first-generation French population. Upon her return to the United States, Grace worked as an advocate at a domestic violence shelter in Chicago, helping clients prepare immigration paperwork, transitioning them into more permanent housing, and assisting with the job application process. Later, she worked as a French/Spanish immigration paralegal for a nonprofit, the National Immigrant Justice Center, preparing and filing applications on clients’ behalf of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  

The confluence of these experiences has provided her unique insight into the failings of the law to protect our most marginalized communities, whether in the United States or abroad. As a 1L, Grace hopes to continue her work in advocacy and explore all that Berkeley Law has to offer. In her free time, Grace likes to listen to podcasts, read, and do yoga. 

Sarah Santos (she/her) is from Kauaʻi, Hawaʻi. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, in 2023 after spending one year of her undergraduate studies at Oxford University in Oxford, England.

While in college, Sarah interned for U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono. She also had the pleasure of being The Bridge: Kauaʻi to College’s inaugural intern in 2019. The Bridge: Kauaʻi to College is a nonprofit that aims to increase the accessibility of higher education to students on Kauaʻi, with a focus on indigent and first-generation college students. Sarah established a social media presence, coordinated summer educational travel opportunities for high school students, and curated a series of informational lectures for potential college applicants. Sarah continued to work with The Bridge: Kauaʻi to College through 2024 and believes that every student who aims for higher education should have access to college mentoring or counseling services that work to eliminate barriers to education.

Most recently, Sarah completed a one-year AmeriCorps service term with the Legal Aid Society of Hawaiʻi. While working at Legal Aid, Sarah was responsible for operating the Kauaʻi Self-Help Center, an endeavor that partners with local volunteer attorneys to close the justice gap by offering pro se litigants free legal information. In addition to operating the Kauaʻi Self-Help Center, Sarah assisted low-income individuals with navigating the family court system.

Sarah is excited to engage in Berkeley Law’s pro bono culture and hopes to one day return home and work towards bettering her community.

Deksyos Damtew (he/him) was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and grew up in Denver, Colorado. In his free time, Deksyos loves to bowl and play pick-up soccer. He attended Colorado College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in International Political Economy in 2022. The son of Ethiopian immigrants, Deksyos first encountered racial injustice in the United States through the stories his mother would share. Her experiences as a Black woman in America left an indelible mark on him, and Deksyos found himself carrying out small acts of advocacy on his mother’s behalf. This “advocacy at home” approach served as an important stepping stone to other opportunities: organizing the virtual Colorado Speech and Debate Camp during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as pushing for mental health supports on his campus during his time as Student Body President at Colorado College.

Upon graduating, Deksyos worked as a project assistant for two years, first under Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and then with the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) in Montgomery, Alabama. At EJI, Deksyos encountered the sobering reality of racism and racial violence that included mass incarceration, food insecurity, and a history of lynchings. It was this time at EJI that cemented his resolve to pursue racial justice for Black communities in the South.

In recognition of this resolve, Deksyos was selected as a part of the fourth cohort of the Marshall-Motley Scholars Program. In exchange for a full law school scholarship and professional development, Marshall-Motley Scholars commit to devoting the first ten years of their careers to practicing civil rights law in service of Black communities in the South. Deksyos is excited to develop the critical skills he’ll need to succeed as a civil rights lawyer at Berkeley Law.

Alyssa Gerkin (she/her) was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. In 2023, she graduated summa cum laude from Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University with a B.A. in Justice Studies and minors in Criminology & Criminal Justice and Global Health. Alongside her studies, Alyssa engaged in intersectional feminist advocacy as a leader of the university Women’s Coalition, where she created a mutual aid project to increase access to free menstrual and sexual wellness supplies on campus. She also served as the president of the university chapter of the national gun violence prevention organization, March For Our Lives. Under her leadership, the chapter focused on addressing police violence, organizing direct actions calling for the defunding of the Phoenix and Tempe police departments. 

Alyssa’s interest in a legal career flourished when she interned for the initial services unit at the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office. She visited clients incarcerated in the county jails to familiarize them with their cases, discovery, and court procedures. To Alyssa, the most valuable aspect of this work was hearing clients’ stories and validating their questions and concerns to help them feel comfortable advocating for themselves and asking questions when speaking with their attorneys.

To close out her undergraduate career, Alyssa wrote an honors thesis advancing an argument for prison abolition grounded in qualitative research on formerly incarcerated individuals’ lived experiences at the intersection of incarceration and mental health. She comes to Berkeley Law with a passion for civil rights, decarceration, and transformative justice in the criminal legal system.

Thelo Coleman (he/him) grew up in New York City and graduated from Yale College in 2022 with a degree in History. At Yale, Thelo focused on American social movement history, and his senior thesis compared two movements for economic justice led by Black organizers in the late 1960s. Upon graduating, he received the Garside Cup for distinction in his major. While in college, Thelo interned with the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and volunteered with tutoring and mentoring programs in New Haven.

After college, Thelo spent two years working as a paralegal at a small civil rights and criminal defense firm in New York that specializes in plaintiff-side civil litigation on behalf of clients who were wrongfully convicted and incarcerated, as well as criminal appeals and other forms of advocacy for post-conviction relief. There he gained invaluable exposure to both civil and criminal litigation and learned first-hand what effective, passionate advocacy looks like in and out of the courtroom. He also had the opportunity to prepare, under attorney supervision, a comprehensive clemency application making the case for the early release of a pro bono client who had served over 22 years in prison. The Governor of New York granted that application in May 2024.

As a Berkeley Law student, Thelo looks forward to learning more about all areas of public interest law, especially public defense, and gaining more practice as an advocate through the school’s many experiential learning programs.

Euni Elisabeth Lee (she/her) is originally from Southern California. In 2023, she graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University with degrees in English Literature and Ethnicity & Race Studies. During her undergraduate career, she engaged in a diverse range of LGBTQ+ advocacy and policy efforts both on and off-campus. Her past professional experiences include serving as a member of Columbia’s Queer and Trans Advisory Board through Multicultural Affairs, working as an Equality California Fellow for State Senator Susan Talamantes-Eggman in 2021, and interning with PFLAG National’s Advocacy, Policy & Partnerships department in 2022. On campus, she also served as an Under1Roof Facilitator and guided incoming first-years in a mandatory dialogue on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Euni approaches LGBTQ+ advocacy through a lens centering liberation and justice for queer and trans people of color. Her lived experiences as a queer Korean-American woman shape her perspective and prioritization of QTPOC voices, stories, and struggles. In her free time, Euni enjoys cooking, journaling, and finding the best matcha latte in town.

Johnsenia Brooks (she/her) is originally from the Bronx, NY. Her experience growing up as the daughter of Honduran immigrants motivated her to pursue a legal career in public interest.

Johnsenia earned her undergraduate degree in Government and Psychology with a minor in French from Georgetown University in 2020. During her time in college, she was an educator at the Arlington County jail where she developed a novel bilingual literature curriculum, served as an intake specialist and translator for Spanish-only speaking defendants at her local Public Defenders Service, and produced an award winning documentary, advocating for an exoneration as a part of her class, “Making an Exoneree.” While in Washington, DC, she also worked for the Office of U.S. Senator Christopher Coons, the Environmental Defense Fund, and a boutique employment law firm. After graduation she began working for the Innocence Project as a paralegal.

As she enters her 1L year at Berkeley Law, Johnsenia intends to bring representative representation in her law school classes, to deconstruct exclusionary boundaries within our society, capture the nuances of the law, and brainstorm new ways to promote justice where it was formerly denied.

Johnsenia is a 2023 SEO Law Fellow, the Board Chair of the Justice Arts Coalition, and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. In her free time, Johnsenia curates a financial literacy blog on Instagram, sharing money saving tips and motivational quotes, busting money myths, and spotlighting women of color owned brands.

Aila Kassandra Rodriguez (she/her) was born in the Philippines and grew up in the beautiful island of Guåhan. In 2023, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Brown University with a B.A. in International and Public Affairs and a Certificate in Engaged Scholarship. Her lived experiences—growing up in an unincorporated U.S. territory—motivated her interest in law and policy.

She served as an intern at the 35th Liheslaturan Guåhan and the Race, Prosperity, and Inclusion Initiative under the Brookings Institution. At Brown, Aila was also a Research Assistant at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, where she was involved in the Costs of War Project and Pivot to Prevention Program.

As a Filipina immigrant, Aila is passionate about immigration justice as well. Prior to starting law school, she was an immigration advocate for a non-profit organization, Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice. For two years, she worked at three immigration firms, providing free legal services to asylum seekers. Aila hopes to continue this work rooted in social justice and equity at Berkeley Law and beyond. 

Caitlin Andersen (she/her) graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2018, where she received a BA in Political Science. During her time at Berkeley, she served as a legal intern for Bay Area JusticeCorps, an AmeriCorps project that places undergraduates in court-based “self-help” centers that guide self-represented litigants through family law, domestic violence, and eviction cases.

Following graduation, she worked as an Honors Paralegal at the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division in San Francisco. In this position, she focused on issues that affect thousands of American workers, including blatant wage-fixing and no-poach agreements between competitor companies. In January 2020, she received the Assistant Attorney General Award for her work on the Judgment Termination Initiative, which closed “legacy” antitrust judgments that no longer served to protect competition. Although Caitlin enjoyed working at the DOJ, she missed the direct service aspect of her role at JusticeCorps and so transitioned to her most recent job as Project Manager of the Three Strikes Project at Stanford Law School.

At any given time, the Three Strikes Project represents 65 indigent clients from across California’s prison system. The vast majority of the Project’s clients are serving life sentences for relatively minor, non-violent crimes, like petty theft or drug possession. Due to the Project’s multifaceted approach, including writing ballot measures and litigating newly enacted laws, Caitlin has had a small hand in a dedicated effort aimed at mitigating the effects of intentionally broad and needlessly punitive sentencing laws in California. The legislation the Project has drafted has helped free over 30,000 inmates and the Project is currently working with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office Resentencing Unit to identify inmates who qualify for resentencing. 

As she enters her 1L year at Berkeley Law, Caitlin is excited to work towards her goal of increasing access to justice for indigent individuals across the nation. 

Hala El Solh grew up outside Buffalo, NY and graduated cum laude from Yale University majoring in Ethics, Politics, & Economics. Hala was also a member of the Multidisciplinary Academic Program in Human Rights and the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy. She served as the co-president of the Yale Undergraduate Legal Aid Association, organizing opportunities for students to support legal aid in the New Haven community. Hala also wrote human rights curricula for the Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation to be used in Hope Village, Somalia. She loves to write and was an Opinion Columnist for the Yale Daily News.
 
After graduating, Hala became a 2020 Teach for America Corps Member, serving in the Denver, CO region. She taught at Aurora Science & Tech Middle School, one of the first public schools in the nation to be located on a medical school campus. There, she taught STEM and 6th grade science where she helped develop a Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) based curriculum and served as both the Gifted & Talented Coordinator and School Technology Lead.
 
At Berkeley, she hopes to explore the intersection of civil rights and technology. In her spare time, Hala loves to read in coffeeshops, write, bake, and ski.

She danced with Ballet Folklórico Mexicano de Yale and served as the group’s Artistic Director and Co-President. She also served as the Secretary and Co-President of Latina Women at Yale and the Co-President of the Alliance for Dance at Yale. Passionate about legal aid and education access, Krista volunteered with New Haven Legal Assistance, assisting with immigration legal services, California Rural Legal Assistance, assisting rural Californians with employment legal services during the pandemic, and Community Health Educators, teaching health education workshops to New Haven high school students.

After graduation, Krista worked as a Corporate Case Assistant for Cooley LLP and pursued a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant grant in rural Ijuí, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. She worked with professors and student professors at Unijuí, the Regional University of the Northwest of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, to teach English students of all levels and engage in cultural exchange throughout the rural south of Brazil. Krista is a 2023 SEO Law Fellow and spent her summer at Morrison & Foerster LLP.

As she begins her 1L year, Krista is excited to participate in the Henderson Center’s programming and be in community with peers and faculty that value the importance of public service and pro bono work in legal education and practice.

Mica Jordan was raised in Cleveland, OH, and is a passionate advocate for community development, education and police reform, and urban revitalization. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics, and Government (CLEG) from American University in Washington D.C., where she completed the School of Public Affairs Leadership Program with a Certification in Advance Leadership Studies. While in Washington D.C., Mica applied her textbook knowledge of public policy to examine current political issues throughout internships, including the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, The Office of Senator Sherrod Brown, The Office of Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge, and the Institute for Educational Leadership.

After graduation, Mica returned to her hometown to advance educational equity in her community by joining the Teach For America program. She was a dedicated 3rd-grade teacher for Breakthrough Charter Schools, Cleveland’s largest charter school network, for three years. Mica was a leading advocate for positive changes in the school’s culture, pushing for reforms in the discipline system and student-to-student sexual assault policies. Additionally, she relentlessly advocated for a higher-quality food service system and promoted a culturally-responsive math curriculum.

Passionate about empowering young minds beyond the walls of her classroom, Mica founded a civics-oriented speech and debate program, Greater Debaters of Cleveland. Greater Debaters of Cleveland caters to high-achieving 3rd and 4th-grade urban students who desire to make positive changes in their neighborhood and global community. As the Founder and CEO of Greater Debaters of Cleveland, Mica took the program from a two-month summer camp pilot to a thriving after-school program. In its first two years, Greater Debaters scholars explored thought-provoking topics such as civilians’ right to bear arms, government investment in space exploration, and the legality of exotic animals as pets. Mica organized accompanying field trips to institutions like the Cleveland Police Department, NASA Glenn Science Center, and Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, enabling students to engage with the contentions in a hands-on manner. 

Mica’s passion for social change extended beyond education reform. During her time in Cleveland, she participated in the Cleveland Community Police Commission’s Leaders of Tomorrow Work Group, collaborating with Police Commissioners to drive police reform in the city. Her dedication and commitment earned her a promotion to Alternate Police Commissioner. She also contributed to multiple mayoral campaigns in Cleveland’s 2021 Mayoral election. 

Before starting law school, Mica became a Sponsors for Education Opportunity (SEO) Law Fellow, allowing her to work at a large corporate firm in an 8-week internship alongside incoming 2L and 3L summer associates. Mica summered at Jones Day’s Cleveland office, contributing to litigation and transactional assignments. Mica dedicated her skills to various Pro Bono projects, including a legal matter benefiting elementary students at Breakthrough Charter Schools, her former employer. 

Nicole Nobre was born in Brasília, Brazil, and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area as a child. She was a community college transfer student at the University of California, Los Angeles, graduating in 2020 with a B.A. in Psychology.

Both as a student and post-graduation, most of Nicole’s internship, volunteering, and professional roles focused on serving unhoused communities throughout Los Angeles. While in school, Nicole interned with Inner City Law Center’s public benefits team and was an undergraduate caseworker for UCLA’s Mobile Clinic Project. Nicole later joined Inner City Law Center’s staff as a paralegal for the Homeless Veterans Project, where she supported her team in helping clients apply for VA benefits, discharge upgrades, and Character of Discharge determinations. In 2022, Nicole returned home to the Bay Area and shifted to litigation work with Bryan Schwartz Law, a plaintiff-side employment law firm. As a paralegal, she assisted in individual and class action cases involving whistleblowers, wage and hour violations, and discrimination.

As she enters her first year at Berkeley Law, Nicole looks forward to exploring the diverse public interest opportunities and seeks to continue work in economic justice. In her free time, she likes to make digital art and learn to play bass guitar. 

Marah Ajilat is a 1L at the University of California Berkeley School of Law. She graduated summa cum laude from Oberlin College with a B.A. in Politics and a double minor in French and International Affairs. Growing up in Jordan at the height of the Arab Spring has shaped her dedication to contemplating the necessary conditions for justice, democracy, and the rule of law. She wrote her honors thesis on the relationship(s) between Arab states and the International Criminal Court, seeking to evaluate the Court’s promise as a justice and accountability mechanism for victims of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression in the Arab world and beyond.

Following graduation, Marah worked with social justice-oriented nonprofits and progressive political candidates, leveraging digital advertising tools and big data to influence elections and expand fundraising efforts. Having worked at the intersection of digital technology and justice, Marah hopes to use her legal education and training to expand victims of human rights violations’ access to justice and accountability mechanisms in the digital age.

Krishna Desai was born and raised in a small town near Jackson, Mississippi. In 2020, she graduated from Mississippi State University where she majored in Political Science and Economics and minored in Spanish and International Studies. While in college, Krishna served as the Executive Director of the MSU chapter of No Lost Generation, a student-led advocacy group raising awareness about the Syrian Refugee Crisis. This is where her passion for working for migrant rights and facing mass human displacement began. 

In the fall of 2020, Krishna led a cooperative political education group called “Study & Struggle” as part of the Mississippi Freedom Winter project that focused on Abolition as study, practice, and care. Part of the program involved concurrent study and communication with incarcerated pen pals, and this is when her interest and focus on abolition and decarceration took hold. 

After graduating, Krishna also began volunteering at a small immigration legal services and community outreach non-profit in Forest, MS that served the largely undocumented population of migrant poultry farm workers in rural MS that had just faced the largest single-state ICE raid in US history a year prior. Soon, she was brought on as a Caseworker and Victim’s Advocate where she assisted families and individuals with a variety of pressing legal issues from direct court advocacy in DV and SA cases to U-Visa applications to petitions for family members. In addition, she worked at a small law firm in Jackson, MS as a clerk and eventually legal analyst assisting with domestic, criminal, and civil casework. 

Krishna’s passion for social justice is rooted in her perspective growing up as a minority in the Bible Belt and seeing the impacts of certain harmful systems on individuals who just want the same dignity, respect, and opportunity as everyone else. Whether it is across the globe, on the border, or in her own hometown, Krishna is ready to gain the skills and tools necessary to assist people who are too often harmed and gate kept by these systems

Kennedy Edwards is a first-year law student at the University of California Berkeley School of Law. In the Spring of 2022, she graduated Summa Cum Laude from Howard University with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Legal Communications. She is a former Miss Texas Teen USA, and a proud advocate for voter registration, who was introduced to the importance of political efficacy at a very young age. Growing up she competed on her middle and high school debate teams, where her knowledge of public policy and interest in the people’s effect on political affairs expanded. In 2018, Kennedy was crowned the first ever African-American Miss Texas Teen USA and went on to compete in the Miss Teen USA pageant representing the Lone Star State. Throughout her reign, she utilized her platform to educate the youth about the importance of voter registration, while also proving that beauty comes in multiple shapes, colors, and backgrounds. Recently, Kennedy has had the honor of working in Vice President Harris’ Senate office, the Millennial Action Project, and the Democratic Attorneys General Association. Through these experiences, she has gathered a deeper understanding of politics and the legal field, while building a portfolio in criminal justice reform. After law school, Kennedy plans to continue this work by practicing public interest law and influencing progressive policy reform.

Vernon Espinoza is originally from Corinto, Nicaragua. As a kid, Vernon came to the United States with his mother and resided in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he attended West Forsyth High School. Following graduation, he attended Amherst College, where he gained a degree in Spanish and completed research for the Black Studies and Spanish departments. After college, Vernon participated in the Teach for America, where he was the Founding Spanish teacher at Esperanza College Prep in East Los Angeles. After teaching, Vernon was a content steward for Teach for America. In addition, Vernon is an SEO law fellow and was part of the 2022 Goodwin LLP summer associate. 

In his free time, Vernon enjoys distilling coffee and spending time with his wife Devina.

Grace Geurin-Henley (she/her) grew up in Tennessee and Oregon, but in recent years has lived in Sacramento, CA and New York, NY. She graduated from Columbia University in 2020 with a major in American Studies and a concentration in Sociology. As an undergraduate, her studies focused on American history and culture, specifically through the lens of musical traditions, and she wrote her senior thesis on the symbolism of the automobile in the Country music tradition. 

Following graduation, she pursued her interest in public health and housing justice by working with a grant-funded program to deliver fresh meals from a local restaurant to people living in homeless encampments in Sacramento, CA. 

Most recently, Grace has been a paralegal in the Public Benefits Unit of Bronx Legal Services (LSNYC) where she has worked with low-income Bronx residents who are at risk of eviction. In this position, she has assisted clients in identifying programs and avenues through which they can keep their homes, and in applying for public benefits such as TANF and SNAP. Her time in this capacity strengthened her belief that anyone facing eviction should have access to legal representation. 

As she enters her 1L year at Berkeley Law, Grace looks forward to further opportunities to advocate for those who face food, housing, and healthcare instability.

Cyrus Kusha (he/him) has lived in California’s East Bay almost his entire life. In 2020, he graduated magna cum laude from University of San Francisco. Cyrus cut his teeth interning with a legal aid clinic that served San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point community, one of the most economically disadvantaged portions of the city. He most frequently worked on cases involving eviction protection and delinquent landlords. One of his proudest achievements with the clinic was helping to successfully defend a hospice nurse and San Franciscan resident of three decades from an egregious rent hike and what would have functionally been eviction. Upon graduation, Cyrus began a Fellowship position at the office of then-San Francisco Supervisor (now CA State Assemblymember) Matt Haney. Cyrus worked to support Supervisor Haney in his role as Chairperson of the Budget and Finance committee. Working alongside a team in City Hall, he conducted research and produced analysis in order to support legislation, generate questions for hearings, and provide the Supervisor with talking points and agenda summaries. He was then promoted and hired on full-time as one of Haney’s Legislative Aides. During this period, he drafted pieces of legislation such as an ordinance that strengthened wage theft protections and a resolution that supported housing stock in the state’s higher public education system. Cyrus loves California and is passionate about ensuring his home state is a livable, equitable, and prosperous place to reside. He understands healthcare, housing, and fair wages as indispensable human rights.

Emily was raised in the Bay Area. She attended UCLA, majoring in political science and minoring in international migration studies. As a college student, she served as the Executive Director of No Lost Generation at UCLA (an organization dedicated to advocacy for refugee youth) and as a student leader of Agape Christian Fellowship. She interned with UCLA Development, the State Department, and the nonprofit AsylumWorks. She volunteered in legal aid as well. Emily also authored two theses: one on the failings of the U.S. asylum system and one on the necessity of international cooperation within the refugee protection regime. After graduating college in 2019, she provided legal aid at the Alameda County Superior Court as a full-time AmeriCorps member. Most recently, she worked with the incarcerated and fire victims at the San Francisco public interest law firm Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann and Bernstein. She hopes to explore criminal defense and immigration defense at Berkeley and better understand how they intersect. She has a Biblical understanding of social justice and she believes she has been called to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and to defend the defenseless.

Langston Glaude graduated from Brown University with a Bachelor’s degree in Africana Studies, particularly focusing on issues of race, urban space, and American policing. At Brown, Langston was involved in a variety of leadership roles as well as numerous grassroots organizations focused on issues around police accountability, including #BlackLivesMatter and the Dream Defenders. During his undergraduate career, he served as a Minority Peer Counselor (MPC), a program dedicated to supporting students of color and educating the broader community on issues of race, class, gender and sexuality. Additionally, he was an active member of the Brown Center for Students of Color and the Black Student Union. Langston was a recipient of the Charles H. Nichols Award, an award honoring Brown University students working to advance the scholarly study of the Black diaspora and who has demonstrated exemplary leadership at the University.

After Brown, Langston went on to work as a paralegal at Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP, a civil rights law firm specializing in wrongful convictions litigation across the U.S., and the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office. His experiences in both offices impressed upon him the absolute importance of indigent defense in the broader racial justice movement and inspired him to attend law school with the vision of continuing his advocacy work on behalf of marginalized communities across the country.

As he enters Berkeley Law, Langston looks forward to continuing his work around mass incarceration, racial justice, and police violence. He aims to become a fierce advocate for marginalized communities across the globe.

KeAndra Hollis (she/her/hers) was born and raised in Detroit, MI. Growing up, KeAndra saw the inequities her community faced which ignited her passion for education and socio-economic justice. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Spelman College followed by a Master of Arts in Education Policy from the University of Michigan. As an undergraduate and master’s student, KeAndra focused much of her research on ways to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline and on understanding the relationship between education and economic mobility. In addition to research, KeAndra also served as an intern with the Congressional Black Caucus, the Detroit City Council, Robinson & Associates Law, a Campus Based Leader for the Gates Millennium Scholars Program, and a Student Rights Advocate for K-12 students in Michigan. In 2019, KeAndra returned to the city of Detroit and used her research, policy, and advocacy experience to advocate for clients facing legal charges through the Neighborhood Defender Service. As an advocate she worked with attorneys, social workers, and investigators to call for restorative justice while outlining alternatives to incarceration. She exclaims that it was during time where she saw at hand, daily, the horrific inequities that persists within the criminal justice system stemming from client experiences from as early as elementary school. KeAndra is attending law school so that she may fight as a transformative attorney to improve inequities within education and bring justice to marginalized communities. KeAndra loves film, writing, cooking, nature and spending time with family and friends. She is thrilled to join Berkeley Law and the Bay Area community!

Zainab Kahloon graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Social Studies and a minor in Comparative Literature. During her undergraduate career, Zainab interned at the City of Boston and at an NGO that trains Muslim-Americans to run for office. She also was a Research Assistant for Professor Intisar Rabb’s Program in Islamic Law at Harvard Law School. Her thesis examined how Muslim-American politicians reconciled their Islamic values with their political decisions. After graduating, Zainab worked at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) as an Urban Fellow, one of the most competitive public policy fellowships in the country. While at MOIA, Zainab worked on a range of policy issues relating to immigrant New Yorkers such as criminal justice, police reform, and housing. In her spare time, Zainab enjoys hiking, baking, kettlebell training, and reading.

Chloe Pan (she/her/hers) graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with double majors in International Development and Asian American Studies. As an undergraduate student, she founded UCLA’s Public Service & Civic Engagement Community; advised the Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion; and interned at policy organizations including the White House Initiative on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders and the House Judiciary Committee. During her senior year, Chloe served as student body External Vice President and organized across the UC system for tuition affordability. She also co-founded Westwood Forward, a coalition that successfully passed a ballot measure to create new local governance. After graduation, Chloe returned to her home state of Michigan to work as a Civil Liberties Fellow at the ACLU, where she led bail reform efforts in Detroit. Most recently, Chloe worked at YouTube on product compliance for regulations on child safety and intellectual property. At Berkeley Law, Chloe intends to pursue a public interest career in civil rights advocacy.