2021 Fellows at virtual Fellow Orientation
Sorensen Center Fellows are leaders in their field and communities. Fellows make an impact in New York City, across the United States, and around the world by providing direct services, contributing to impact litigation teams, conducting policy research, and more. They work towards equity and justice on issues affecting local and global communities, such as immigration/refugee rights, racial justice, housing justice, LGBTQ+ rights, democracy/voting rights, economic justice, and gender justice. Funding for Fellowships is provided by the Jerome L. Greene Foundation, Jill and Jay Bernstein’s Harold P. Bernstein Fellowship Fund, the Haywood Burns Global Fellowship Fund, Joel Z. Hyatt, New York City Council, and other generous donors.
2024 FELLOWS
Tyrena Barrow – Brooklyn Legal Services, Community Economic Development Practice
Imani Brown – Legal Aid Society, Juvenile Rights Practice
Natasha Bunten – Gender Equality Law Center
Olivia Carrera-Lazo – Urban Justice Center, Sex Workers Project
Catalina Castillo-Lozano – Legal Aid Society, Education Advocacy Project
Kelsey De Avila – Mental Hygiene Legal Services
Talia Gallo – Family Justice Law Center
Justin Gravlee – Federal Defenders of New York
Sharlene Green – Criminal justice project
Abdala Hamida – International Legal Foundation, West Bank Office
Rukaya Hamza – Reprieve UK, Unlawful Detention Unit
Amita Joshua – Bronx Defenders, Family Defense Practice
Anna Kim – Gender Equality Law Center
Charlotte Pope – Advancement Project
Andy Ratto – NYLAG, Pro Se Clinic
Jennifer Rubinshteyn – Environmental Protection Agency Region 2, Air Branch
Laith Shalabi – International Legal Foundation, New York Office
Julia Weingarden – Make the Road NY, Immigration Practice
Camerian Williams – NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Caitlin Wright – Urban Justice Center, Free to be Youth Project
Special Thanks
Jill and Jay Bernstein’s Harold P. Bernstein Fellowship Fund
Haywood Burns Global Fellowship Fund
Joel Z. Hyatt
An Invitation
If you would like to be involved as a mentor to a law student or supporter of the Fellowship Program, please contact us. 100% of your gift will enable talented, young law students to pay for internship travel and basic cost-of-living expenses, so they can learn while helping communities from local to global.
2023 FELLOWS
Natalie Allen – Louisiana Capital Assistance Center
Shaheed Ansari – Legal Aid Society, Queens Housing Unit
Lorraine Bishop – LGBTQIA+ project
Anand Bradley – Manhattan Legal Services, Government Benefits Unit
Wenrui Chen – NYC Commission on Human Rights, Law Enforcement Bureau
AD Dunn – Georgia Capital Defender’s Office
Elyse Dye – GMHC, Inc.
Rae Ellis – Queens Legal Services, HIV/LGTBQ+ Advocacy Unit
Lena Ghrama – CAIR-NY
Amada Guapisaca – Make the Road New York
Nusayba Hammad – Federal Defenders of New York, Southern District
Yadira K. Hernández Pérez – Legal Aid Society, Queens Criminal Practice
Cara Hoffman – The Bronx Defenders, Criminal Defense Practice
Constance Hosannah – Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights
Taewoo Kim – Environmental Justice Initiative
Avery Leshan – Legal Aid Society, Exploitation Intervention Project
Paulina Leyva Hernandez – Immigrant Defense Project
Amanda Lotspike – Missouri State Public Defender, Kansas City Trial Office
Katherine Macrae – National Labor Relations Board, Region 29
Priscilia Martínez – The Bronx Defenders, Criminal Defense Practice
Lindsay Matheos – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2
Stephanie Mendez – The Door
A.J. Naranca – Legal Aid Society, Bronx Tenant Defense Unit
Ashley Andrea Pinilla – Brooklyn Defender Services, New York Immigrant Family Unity Project
William Quinn – Voting rights project
Sriram Sridharan – Office of the New York State Attorney General
Angelika Thomas – Legal Aid Society, Queens Juvenile Rights Practice
Ashley Toruño – NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Chloe Truong-Jones – Reprieve UK, Death Penalty Project
Benita von Lilienfeld-Berry – Gender Equality Law Center
Nia Wilson – Children’s Rights
Nadeem Yamak – Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Survivor and Family Justice Workgroup
Ramin Zareian – Reprieve UK
Cindy J. Zhunio – Brooklyn Defender Services, New York Immigrant Family Unity Project
2022 FELLOWS
Gehad Abdelrehim – National Lawyers Guild
Tessa Blum – NYLAG, LGBTQ Law Project
Kamalpreet Kaur Chohan – East Bay Community Law Center
K.A. Dilday – Worker Justice Center of New York
Maya El Cheikh – New York Center for Law and Justice
Amina Zainab Goheer – Brooklyn Defender Services, Family Defense
Drew Haste – The Bronx Defenders, Criminal Defense Practice
Galadriel Jarque – Day One
Chai Jindasurat – Still She Rises
Leora M. Johnson – Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Salimah Khoja – Immigration project
Marina Kumskova – Justice Call
Rebeca Lafond – NYLAG, Immigration Protection Unit
Dawa Lhamo – Nationality for All
Fatima Maryam – New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Jake McGourty – Communities Resist
Amelia Mullaney – National Labor Relations Board
Audrey Pan – Amistad Law Project
Rachel Pincus – Legal Aid Society, Health Law Unit
Dakota Porter – Global Justice Center
Ana Puente Flores – Lakota Law Project
Erin Quinn – Reprieve
Daena Reynolds – Legal Aid Society, Wrongful Conviction Unit
Jazmin Reynoso Ortiz – KIND
Sema Sarsour – Housing Works
Pedro Sepulveda – Immigrant Defense Project
Noor Zara Sheikh – Staten Island Legal Services, Immigration Unit
Monica N. Sobrin – New York Cyber Sexual Abuse Task Force
Stephanie Sorquira – Al Otro Lado
Clementine Stormes – The Chosen Family Law Center
Misaël Syldor – Law for Black Lives
Julia Wang – Movement Law Lab
Atiya Ward – Youth justice project
2021 FELLOWS
Lucía Caballero – Legal Aid Society, Wrongful Conviction Unit
Lisa Weimen Cho – City Bar Justice Center, Veterans Assistance Project
Elena Christofi – Legal Services NYC, Pro Bono Immigration Unit
Justin Engles – Children’s Law Center of California
Kelly Folkers – Community Service Society of New York
Clarissa Gonzalez – The Bronx Defenders
Prince Grant – Goddard Riverside Law Project
Krystin Hernandez – Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem
Chai Jindasurat – Transgender Law Center
Shilpa Jindia – Department of Justice, Environmental and Natural Resources Division
LaToya Johnson – LA County Public Defenders Office
Nayeon Kim – Southern Center for Human Rights
Paulina Leyva Hernandez – AsylumConnect
Yulia Marshak – Access Now
Meghan McDermott – Digital rights project
Mathias Melo – New York Legal Assistance Group, Immigration Protection Unit
Fatima Mohammed – National Lawyer’s Guild – George Floyd/BLM Civil Litigation Taskforce
Kirsten Nelson – The HIV Law Project
JaLoni Owens – Law 4 Black Lives
Mona Patel – Reprieve
Jack Pellicano – Brooklyn Legal Services, LGBTQ/HIV Advocacy Project
Daniela Peña – Make the Road New York
Matt Propper – The ABA Death Penalty Representation Project
Reachelle Ramirez – The Door
Uruj Sheikh – Law 4 Black Lives, Baltimore Action Legal Team
Eden Shlomi – Nome Public Defenders Office
Gabriela Tedesco – Legal Momentum
Colby Williams – Legal Aid Society, Homicide Defense Task Force
John Yates – Voting rights project
Roxanne Zech – Mental Hygiene Legal Services, Bellevue Hospital Center
As a Sorensen Center Fellow, Myriah interned at the Immigrant Defense Project (IDP), an organization that provides legal support to non-citizens who have had contact with the criminal legal system. She advised non-citizens of the immigration consequences of a criminal plea (commonly known as Padilla advisals) and assisted non-citizens navigate the impact their criminal histories may have on their immigration cases. She also prepared a governor’s pardon for an elderly legal permanent resident with a series of misdemeanor criminal convictions from the 1990s. As an intern at IDP, Myriah had the opportunity to witness the impact of the Padilla decision on non-citizens in arraignments while shadowing criminal defense attorneys, and she regularly worked the IDP immigration helpline, advising callers on their “crim-imm” matters and tracking ICE community raids in the New York area.
2020 FELLOWS
Shezza Abboushi Dallal – Federal Defenders of New York
Farzana Ali – Physicians for Human Rights
Sarah Axtell – Legal Aid Society (Health Law Unit)
Elisabeth Bernard – Common Justice
Jacqueline Bonilla – Make the Road
Jeremy Chan-Kraushar – Race, Law, and Public Education project
Nishat Choudhury – New York State Housing and Community Renewal (Fair and Equitable Housing)
Daniel Cirincione – Federal Defenders of the Eastern District of California
Maya Demianczuk – Corporate Accountability Lab
Madison Griffin – Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Rachel Guffey – Housing Works, HIV Law Project
Simone Harstead – Kids in Need of Defense
Mo Hossain – District Council 37 Public Employee Union
Nora Howe – NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Nusrat Khan – Crime Victims Treatment Center
Hannah Kohn – OutRight Action International
Ignacia Lolas Ojeda – Make the Road
Danielle McCoy – National Conference of Black Lawyers, NY Branch; Detroit Justice Center
Jeri Milan – Immigration and Surveillance project
Molly Pearlman – CONPAZ Colombia
Abigail Ramos – Justice in Motion
Pablo Rojo – Legal Aid Society (Criminal Defense Trial Division)
Cesar Ruiz – LatinoJustice PRLDEF
Christian Seno – Queens Legal Services
Nowmee Shehab – Brooklyn Defenders Service
Amal Thabateh – Defense for Children International – Palestine
Fatima Youssef – Federal Public Defender Northern District of Texas; Texas RioGrande Legal Aid
2019 FELLOWS
Jennifer Acevedo – Safe Passage Project
Lamar Bennett – Legal Aid Society
Leslie Caraballo – Bronx Defenders, Criminal Defense Practice
Cristina Carvajal – Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (Colombia)
Adam Edwards – Common Cause
Ashley Franklin – American Civil Liberties Union (Detroit)
Phoebe Gittelson – Food & Water Watch (Washington, DC)
Matthew Glover – Universidade Estadual do Ceará (Brazil)
Ashley Gonzalez – Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Myriah Heddens – Immigration Defense Project
Rebecca Horton – Al-Marsad – Arab Human Rights Centre in Golan Heights (Syria)
Dana Jabri – International Refugee Assistance Project (Lebanon)
Genevieve Marcy – National Advocates for Pregnant Women
Vladimir Martinez – Universidad de la Habana (Cuba)
Alex Matak – Brooklyn Legal Services
Susan Mellender – Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Brendan Moloney – Red Hook Community Justice Center
Zeyna Noor – Urban Justice Project (Peter Cicchino Youth Project)
Daniel Peña – Legal Aid Society
Nigeena Rahmanzai – Council on Islamic-American Relations
Dannelly Rodriguez – Make the Road New York
Lara Russo – New York Legal Assistance Group (LGBTQ Law Project)
Mahum Shabir – Reprieve (New York)
Dennis Tejada – Centro Montalvo (Dominican Republic)
2018 FELLOWS
Charles Cooper – Sustainable Development Institute (Liberia)
Juliet Critsimilios – Women’s Legal Centre and Rape Crisis with a University of Cape Town research, litigation, and advocacy project (South Africa)
Christina Das – Attorney General’s Office (New York) and Breakthrough (India)
Abigail Downs – Legal Resources Centre (South Africa)
Mirna Haidar – Muslims for Human Rights (Kenya)
Jessica Halperin – Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (South Africa)
Christina Scotti – Women’s Link Worldwide (Colombia)
Ariana Smith – Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (New York)
2017 FELLOWS
Lovely Bonhomme – L’Ecole Superieure Catholique de Droit de Jérémie (Haiti)
Victor Cheng – New York Immigration Coalition (New York)
Alana Doherty – Women’s Link Worldwide (Colombia)
Abigail Downs – New York City Commission on Human Rights Legal Enforcement Bureau (New York)
Lorre-Ann Fisher – Southern African Litigation Centre (South Africa)
Rachel Goodman – Legal Resources Centre (South Africa)
Zaineb Hamdan – International Refugee Assistance Project (Lebanon)
Christina Peña – Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration (Israel)
Jordan Weiner – Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (Texas)
2016 FELLOWS
Ifrah Ahmed – Center for Constitutional Rights (New York)
Vidya Dindiyal – American Civil Liberties Union (New York) and Center for Reproduction Rights (New York)
Jorge Gomez – New York Legal Assistance Group (New York)
Chelsea John – International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (The Hague)
My Le – East Bay Community Law Center’s Immigration Clinic (California)
Margo Lourdel – Make the Road (New York)
Mujtaba Sarwar – ABA’s Center for Human Rights (Washington, DC)
Naomi Young – Centre for Law and Society (South Africa)
2015 FELLOWS
Shoshana Brown – Khmer Rouge Trials (Cambodia)
Nora Hirozawa – Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project (Arizona)
Navid Khazanei – Immigration Equality (New York)
Megan Lynch – Women’s Link Worldwide (Colombia)
Katy Naples-Mitchell – Human Rights First (New York)
Guillermina Passa-Quevedo – Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia (Argentina)