Justice Catalyst Announces 2021 – 2022 Catalyst Fellows
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jacob Lipton, Associate Director
Email: jlipton@justicecatalyst.org
https://catalystfellowships.org
JUSTICE CATALYST ANNOUNCES 2021 – 2022 CATALYST FELLOWS
Justice Catalyst is proud to announce its 2021 – 2022 fellowship projects. The projects will be housed at public interest organizations around the United States, furthering Justice Catalyst’s mission of activating path-breaking approaches to lawyering for social and economic justice that have real-world impact and improve the lives of those denied access to justice.Projects selected include proposals from:
Jordan Brewington, who will be advocating for local reparative and environmental justice for descendants of those enslaved on plantations in southeastern Louisiana with the support of the ACLU of Louisiana.
Trillium Chang, who will work with Innovation Law Lab to ensure that detained asylum seekers in the Deep South have legal representation by activating pro bono counsel nationwide and leveraging data analysis to inform representation and advocacy efforts.
Lee Ann Felder-Heim, who will work with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area to stop private, for-profit prison corporations from harming detained immigrants in their custody, hold them accountable for the harms they have already inflicted, and liberate immigrants who are currently in harm’s way.
TJ Grayson, who will use the practices of movement lawyering at the Advancement Project to help abolitionist organizers address the influences of police unions in pursuit of their goal.
Mackenzie Halter, who will work with The Debt Collective to create a Bail Debt Dispute Tool to assist co-signers on bail contracts with outstanding bail debt to challenge these debts and cease enforcement actions against them.
Sarah Kahn, who will develop legal tools in support of community movements in Southern California to reduce incarceration and discrimination by investing in housing, mental health care, and services in the community rather than incarceration with the ACLU of Southern California.
Sarah Lee Day, who will work with NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts to create a statewide compliance report on recent victories and a Legislative Toolkit to assist other grassroots organizations to learn from and emulate Massachusetts’ successes.
Sarah Medina Camiscoli, who will lead the Peer Defense Project at IntegrateNYC, an organization centering an unprecedented intergenerational movement lawyering model that catalyzes youth-led movements for civil rights, in collaboration with Public Counsel.
Lauren Michel Wilfong, who will grow the power of detained people to challenge the constitutionality of immigration detention and seek release in federal court through strategic litigation and by fostering a rapid response habeas network at Justice Action Center.
Marie Evelyn Sheehan, who will be working with Street Democracy on the Property Tax Appeals Project (PTAP), which appeals the over assessment of property taxes on low-value homes in minority communities, helping at-risk homeowners avoid over-taxation and tax foreclosure.
Ming Tanigawa-Lau, who will build the first asylum-seeker-led systemic reform program in the United States with the Asylum Seekers Advocacy Project.
Anita Yandle, who will advocate at Public Justice for farmworkers facing forced arbitration clauses through litigation, legislative advocacy, and education using a lens specifically focused on racial justice.
Justice Catalyst is also proud to partner with Public Rights Project on a joint fellowship program to promote innovative affirmative litigation and enforcement work in state, local, and tribal government offices. The 2021-2022 Justice Catalyst-Public Rights Project fellowship projects includes proposals from:
Aidan Graybill, who will be addressing predatory student lending affecting Navajo Nation citizens while working with the Navajo Nation Department of Justice.
Molly Gupta, who will be working in the City Attorney’s office in Nashville to promote sustainable and equitable urban development.
Samuel Kuhn, who will serve as the first in-house specialist designated to support the New York State Attorney General’s Office in exercising its newly-expanded authority to structurally reform police in the state.
Brian Remlinger, who will harness the Michigan Secretary of State’s regulatory authority to standardize election administration across Michigan and increase ballot access for all Michiganders.
Sara Zollner, who will create a recommended case development framework at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office for newly-formed workers’ rights units in local government offices that center workers’ voices and equity concerns.
A full list of fellows will be available at https://catalystfellowships.org/category/fellow/. If you are a law student or recent graduate interested in a 2022-2023 fellowship, or an organization interested in hosting a fellowship project, please visit https://catalystfellowships.org/fellowships/or contact fellowships@justicecatalyst.org.
Justice Catalyst prioritizes groundbreaking ideas, including early-stage projects that are boundary-pushing in the pursuit of systemic solutions to major injustices, whether at an established legal organization or an organization looking to hire its first lawyer. More information at https://catalystfellowships.org/fellowships/