Clinical Experience Paves The Way – Congratulations to the 2021 Skadden Fellows!

by Grace Yuh

The Skadden Foundation named its 2021 class of Skadden Fellows in late November and of the 29 recipients, nine are current students or recent graduates of Harvard Law School. Congratulations to Molly Broderick, Anna Carlsson, Mahroh Jahangiri, Kelsey Miller, Kenneth Parreno, Molly Prothero, Alexis Yeboah-Kodie, Jessica Zhang, and anneke dunbar-gronke on their acceptances!

Started in 1988, the Skadden Foundation has since funded 906 public interest fellowships. This year’s class has plans to “work in 18 cities in 14 states across the United States. Issues the new Fellows will address include education equity, gender-based violence, housing, immigration and immigrants’ rights, LGBTQ+ rights, police accountability, voting rights, and worker rights”.

Molly Broderick J.D.’20
Prospective Fellow
Greater Boston Legal Services
Boston, MA

Molly will provide direct services and systemic advocacy to combat the wave of COVID-19 related evictions, in coordination with a Massachusetts statewide housing and racial justice coalition to combat COVID-19 related evictions. At HLS, Molly was a student at the Housing Law and Health Law clinics, as well as the HLS Immigration Project and Project No One Leaves. Molly also took part in two independent clinical projects with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.

“I am thrilled to be joining GBLS’s Housing Unit next fall and grateful for the opportunity to continue working with tenants, organizers, and advocates fighting for housing justice across Massachusetts, including current efforts to pass the Guaranteed Housing Stability Act, which would provide meaningful support and protections for the thousands of households, disproportionately from communities of color, facing eviction during the COVID-19 public health crisis. At HLS I’ve participated in the Legal Services Center’s Housing Clinic and an independent clinic with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, both of which deepened my understanding of how crucial it is that legal work be driven by the needs of communities most affected, as determined by those communities themselves.”

Anna Carlsson J.D.’20
Prospective Fellow
Legal Services of Eastern Missouri
St. Louis, MO

Anna will represent low-income St. Louis homeowners burdened with unfair property tax burdens. Direct assistance will include challenging assessments, foreclosure defense, and claiming excess funds from forced sales. At HLS, Anna was a member of the Tenant Advocacy Project, Project No One Leaves, and the Community Enterprise Project of the Transactional Law Clinics.

“Looking back on my time at HLS, I am most grateful for the learning that I was able to do in the Tenant Advocacy Project community, especially from our amazing clients. I feel very lucky to be continuing to work towards housing justice in my hometown of St. Louis next year.”

Mahroh Jahangiri J.D.’21
Prospective Fellow
Advancement Project
Washington D.C.

Mahroh will provide community outreach and education, impact litigation, and movement-driven policy advocacy to vindicate rights of low-income women of color impacted by police sexual violence. At HLS, Mahroh is a member of Harvard Defenders and has been a student at the Crimmigration Clinic and the Criminal Justice Institute. Mahroh has also worked with the Muslim Justice League and the ACLU of Southern California in two independent clinical projects.

“I came to HLS to support survivors of color and police abolition is a necessary part of that work. Cops routinely perpetrate sexual violence, and people survive it without legal support. I am enormously grateful to join the Advancement Project and organizers to challenge police sexual violence. This work is profoundly shaped by the Crimmigration Clinic, CJI, and Harvard Defenders communities, who have provided extraordinary space to learn and practice lawyering against a carceral legal system that enables and shields daily, relentless suffering and brutality.”

Kelsey Miller J.D.’21
Prospective Fellow
American Civil Liberties Union – Voting Rights Project
New York, NY

Kelsey will work closely with low-income voters of color who have been disenfranchised by racially disparate wait times at the polls on Election Day, using litigation and advocacy to reverse polling place closures and provide sufficient electoral resources, beginning in Alabama and Arizona. At HLS, Kelsey is a member of the Tenant Advocacy Project and a student with the Voting Rights Litigation and Advocacy Clinic.

Kenneth Parreno J.D.’19
Prospective Fellow
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
San Antonio, TX

Kenneth will provide direct representation, information and outreach, and impact litigation to empower low-income English language learners and their families to secure the educational resources they need. At HLS, Kenneth was a member of the HLS Immigration Project and the Tenant Advocacy Project. Kenneth was also a student with the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.

Molly Prothero J.D.’21
Prospective Fellow
Bread for the City
Washington D.C.

Molly will build a medical-legal partnership with Bread for the City’s new SE DC medical clinic to provide direct representation in housing conditions and public benefits cases. At HLS, Molly is a student at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and also participates in Harvard Defenders and Project No One Leaves.

“I’m thrilled to have funding to work at Bread for the City for the next two years. Being a part of Defenders and the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau has been the best part of my time at HLS. I’m especially grateful to have had the opportunity to work with clients and community organizers in Boston, and to the students who have pushed me to simultaneously engage critically with our existing legal system and think expansively about what we could create instead. These SPOs and clinics have prepared me for this work far more than any course, and I look forward to applying this experience to creating a new medical-legal partnership at Bread for the City’s SE office.”

Alexis Yeboah-Kodie J.D.’21
Prospective Fellow
New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice
New Orleans, LA

Alexis will provide wage theft litigation, including enforcing a recent increase in the living wage for city contractors, criminal records clearing, policy advocacy, and grassroots organizing to strengthen worker protections. While at HLS, Alexis works with the Prison Legal Assistance Project and has been a student at the International Human Rights Clinic. Alexis has also conducted an independent clinical project with the Community Justice Project and will be a student at Making Rights Real: The Ghana Project Clinic in Winter 2021. 

“My purpose as an organizer coming to HLS was to understand how the law hinders grassroots movements and to use this knowledge to protect and support these movements. I am humbled and ecstatic to do just that at the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice, supporting their Full and Fair Employment campaign.”

Jessica Zhang J.D.‘19
Prospective Fellow
RAICES
San Antonio, TX

Jessica will file administrative complaints and federal lawsuits, on behalf of individuals and classes, under the Federal Tort Claims Act, seeking damages against the federal government on behalf of non-citizens living in Texas who have been injured in federal immigration detention. At HLS, Jessica was a member of the Prison Legal Assistance Project and the HLS Immigration Project. Jessica was a student at the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program and the Crimmigration Clinic and also conducted an independent clinical project with the American Immigration Council – Legal Action Center

anneke dunbar-gronke J.D.’19
Prospective Fellow
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Washington D.C.

anneke will address housing precarity for low-income Black renters in and around Baltimore through a community-based approach: eviction defense plus provide community education about, and support to, housing cooperatives and community land trusts. While at HLS, anneke was a student at the Criminal Justice Institute and a member of Harvard Defenders.