“We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in your hands to make a difference.”
— Nelson Mandela, human rights lawyer

We have so much to share and celebrate in this issue of Create Change. The reality of course is this is also an immensely difficult time for many of our students and alumni.

Many of our students, including many aspiring to public interest or government work, feel uncertain about the viability of their career paths in light of the recent federal hiring freeze and attempts to chill lawyers’ advocacy. However, it is precisely because lawyers can and do hold the powerful accountable for abuses that we see such intense efforts to stifle the legal profession. And it’s precisely because students are so often at the forefront of justice movements — thinking critically, envisioning a more just and compassionate world, and courageously leading change — that attempts to intimidate and silence them are escalating. Our law students are grappling with attacks on lawyers and students along with other threats they may face connected to their particular circumstances and identities. Yet those attacks are evidence of their power.

We take seriously our responsibility to support our public interest and public service students and alumni as they navigate this environment, and we feel privileged to do so. Many have had to pivot their summer internship plans or even their careers in the last months due to federal layoffs and offer revocations. Our team has been supporting those students and alumni to secure new roles. We encourage any students or alumni pursuing a public interest or public service job search to reach out if they have not yet done so. We are eager to help!

SLS students have, as usual, been meeting the moment. They have been even more active in pro bono efforts this year. You can read below about how many travelled to Nevada on Election Day to monitor elections with the ACLU of Nevada’s Voter Protection Alliance. And we look forward to sharing news of students’ Alternative Spring Break Trips — when they contributed pro bono service with organizations around the country — in our next, summer issue.

Our students have also been engaging and building relationships with leading public interest practitioners through our new Visiting Public Interest Practitioners Program, which brings celebrated public interest leaders from across the U.S. and beyond to our campus each academic quarter. You can read about programming with our inaugural Visiting Public Interest Practioner, Nina Perales, and our winter Visiting Public interest Practitioner, Amanda Alexander, below. This week, we’re excited to be hosting Ashwini K.P., United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, as our spring Visiting Public Interest Practitioner.

Finally, we are fortunate and thrilled to have expanded our team this year with two new research assistants, Arjun Ayyappan and Nicol Roman, who are contributing their skills and creativity. We hope if you are on campus you may have a chance to meet and welcome them.

I hope you enjoy this issue of Create Change. I welcome your feedback.

In solidarity,

Shannon

The Levin Center was privileged to host Amanda Alexander, founder and former executive director of the Detroit Justice Center — a movement lawyering organization working to create economic opportunities, transform the legal system, and promote equitable and just cities — as our winter Visiting Public Interest Practitioner from February 10-12.

Prior to her founding the Detroit Justice Center, Amanda was also a 2013 Soros Justice Fellow, launching the Prison & Family Justice Project at University of Michigan Law School to provide legal representation to incarcerated parents and advocate for families divided by the prison and foster care systems. She also facilitated the Inside-Out Theory Group at Macomb Prison near Detroit for many years and drove a successful effort to establish an Inside-Out Prison Exchange program at UM-Ann Arbor and local prisons. She has additionally worked with the Detroit Center for Family Advocacy, the Bronx Defenders, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and the Centre for Civil Society in Durban, South Africa. Amanda is a board member of the Center for Constitutional Rights and has served on the national steering committee of Law for Black Lives and the board of the James & Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership.

During her visit, Amanda gave an inspiring address titled Movement Lawyering and Radical Imagination at the law school, visited law school clinics and classes, and mentored students individually and in small groups. In her timely and moving address, she discussed the DJC’s “defense, offense and dreaming” model. She also encouraged students to approach movement lawyering with common sense (though less commonly practiced) principles of accountability to decenter ourselves as lawyers and build trust with organizers and communities: asking people what they need, delivering, then repeating. We were so honored to host her and fortunate to benefit from the insights she has gleaned over her impressive career.

One hundred fifty Stanford Law alums convened in Washington, DC on February 27 for the second annual Public Service Dinner event, which coincided this year with a stop Dean George Triantis, JSD ’89, was making in the city on his inaugural welcome tour. The event, celebrating the law school’s longstanding tradition of serving as a key talent pipeline to the federal government and public interest sector in Washington, took place at Washington’s Willard Hotel with the support of a host committee of alums from both public and private sectors. Judge Florence Pan served as master of ceremonies for the event and introduced Dean Triantis and Joshua Bolten, JD ’80, former White House chief of staff and CEO of Business Roundtable. Josh asked George about his career in academia and how Stanford has influenced his journey. 

Other DC-area tour events in the same week included an AI & Digital Policy Lunch hosted by Marc Rotenberg, JD ’87, a recent grads meetup, and a diverse communities dinner.

The greater Washington, DC region is home to more than 1,000 SLS alums, making it one of the largest regional markets of alumni outside of the Bay Area. 

We are always excited to share news of our SLS Public Interest and Public Service alumni. Please feel free to forward us links to include in future issues.

Matt Ball, JD ’18
Matt Ball was elected to the Colorado State Senate.

John Harabedian, JD ’10 
John Harabedian was elected to the California State Assembly.

Ethan Herenstein, JD ’19
Ethan Herenstein joined the ACLU Voting Rights Project as a Staff Attorney.

Leah Kennedy, JD ’22
Leah Kennedy joined WorkLife as a Staff Attorney.

Megan Koushik, JD ’19
Megan Koushik was selected by WilmerHale as a Pickering Fellow and spent her fellowship working with Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF).