Public Service Venture Fund

In January, Leora will begin work with the Human Rights Legal Support Centre where she will provide free legal services to people experiencing discrimination in violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Korey is from Tucson, Arizona and has long been interested in international and environmental law issues. He received a B.S. in sustainability and a minor in political science from Arizona State University, where he focused on renewable energy generation. Before coming to law school, he spent a year in the eastern Turkish city Erzurum, teaching English to engineering university students and doctors on a Fulbright ETA grant.

After transferring to Harvard Law School, I was provided with the valuable opportunity to intern for Public Counsel’s Opportunity Under Law project, where I worked with their talented attorneys in their endeavor to ensure educational equity. Having become enamored with their goal of implementing trauma-sensitive school districts, I worked with them to design my fellowship project around that goal, which is the basis of my Public Service Venture Fund Fellowship.

Katie Sandson has been awarded a fellowship to work with the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC), where she will work to address the impacts of pesticide use on farmworkers, small farms, and consumers.

Silvia will work at Dejusticia in Bogotá, Colombia, where she will be a part of the litigation team. She will work on local and international human rights cases at the local and international level. At HLS, Silvia was a clinical student with the Human Rights Clinic for three semesters, where she worked on a case before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights regarding prisoners’ rights in Brazil and on a Torture Victims Protection Act case regarding events in Bolivia in 2003.

Jessica Ranucci has been awarded a fellowship to work with the New York Legal Assistance Group's Special Litigation Unit to litigate on behalf of debt collection defendants in New York City civil court.

Kelly Jo Popkin has been awarded a PSVF fellowship to work as a traditional staff attorney in Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s national office in NYC, focusing primarily on federal and state litigation and policy work addressing anti-choice extremism, Medicaid cuts, and TRAP laws. Prior to this fellowship, Kelly Jo served as a James Vorenberg Equal Justice Fellow at Planned Parenthood of California, where she assisted the General Counsel in drafting and passing legislation to protect abortion providers from security breaches and invasions of privacy.

Brian will spend his fellowship year at the CPCS Innocence Program working on post-conviction appeals and new trials for indigent people who were wrongfully convicted in Massachusetts. Brian is returning to CPCS after spending two summers in CPCS Public Defender Division Trial Unit offices advocating on behalf of criminal defendants in Massachusetts Superior and District Courts.

Lan has been awarded a PSVF Fellowship and Henigson Fellowship to work with the Forest Peoples Programme in Guyana. At the FPP, Lan will focus on litigation and advocacy around indigenous land rights. While at HLS, Lan was a student attorney in the International Human Rights Clinic for two years and was involved in the Prison Legal Assistance Project and HLS Advocates for Human Rights.

Will works with Still She Rises, Tulsa to provide dedicated eviction defense and housing advocacy to single mothers in the criminal justice system. Still She Rises, Tulsa is a holistic defense organization that seeks to address clients' criminal and civil legal needs.

Erika will spend her fellowship year working as a staff attorney at the Prisoners' Rights Office of the Vermont Defender General, which handles issues concerning the fact, length, and conditions of confinement and community supervision for people serving sentences in the state of Vermont. Erika will be representing individuals in post-conviction relief criminal appeals, parole board and bail hearing, and prison conditions litigation.

Jina John has been awarded a fellowship to serve at the New York Attorney General’s Office. She will join the Bureau of Internet and Technology working on protecting consumers from digital threats.

As a PSVF fellow at the Learning Rights Law Center in Los Angeles, I will continue working on special education issues and help disadvantaged students obtain meaningful educational opportunities. 

MacKennan Graziano has been awarded a PSVF Fellowship to work at the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) in Johannesburg, South Africa. SALC is a regional human rights organization that uses strategic litigation to advance human rights and the rule of law throughout Southern Africa.

Ariel has been awarded a PSVF fellowship to work with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) Permanent Delegation to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium. Ariel will provide legal, advocacy and policy research to FIDH’s Permanent Representative to the EU regarding two main initiatives: implementing human rights, workers rights and land rights protections into the EU-Myanmar Bilateral Investment Treaty, and analyzing methods to challenge and appeal decisions regarding the EU-Turkey Deal to the European Court of Justice.

As a Sumner M. Redstone Fellow, Laura Gault will work to advance the Refugee Protection efforts of Human Rights First. She will provide legal analysis of current statutes and proposed legislation affecting refugees in the United States, support the development of amicus briefs and other strategic litigation efforts, and represent Human Rights First in external engagements in Washington, DC.

Roni Druks is a Public Service Venture Fund fellow who has devoted her legal academic career to the study of international human rights law. Prior to coming to law school, Roni worked as a data coordinator for the New York Legal Assistance Group’s Storm Response Unit where she helped write reports and FEMA appeals for individuals impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

Rebecca will use her fellowship to work in her hometown of Milwaukee and partner with Legal Action of Wisconsin where she will help lead a pilot project focused on aiding victims of violent sexual crimes.  Oftentimes, victims are required by law to provide their mental health records which, if given, can be used to discredit them.

Sara Dewey will be a legal fellow with the Conservation Law Foundation’s Healthy Communities and Environmental Justice program in Boston. While at Harvard Law School, Sara served as the Environmental Law Program Fellow and as a student attorney in the Environmental Law and Policy Clinic.

Julia has been awarded a fellowship to work at Conectas, an international human rights organization based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She will work on projects related to development policy and human rights, as well as Business and Human Rights.

Naomi Campbell will be joining the Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc. (CDM) in Mexico City on a Public Service Venture Fund Fellowship and a Frederick Sheldon Traveling Fellowship.