The Columbia Law School Public Interest/Public Service Council is a large group of senior Law School alumni who are experts and leaders (past and present) in the public interest and government sectors, both in the U.S. and abroad. Members are representative of the large array of Columbia alumni who have served in meaningful ways to foster social change or protect the public good.
Council members actively support Columbia's core belief that serving the public interest should be part of the professional life of every student and graduate. Members are available to engage with current students or recent alumni to provide support or advice.
Members
Hon. Rolando T. Acosta ’82
Partner, Litigation, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Fmr. Presiding Justice, Appellate Division, First Department, New York State Supreme Court
Fmr. Supervisor & Attorney-in-Charge, Civil Trial Office, Legal Aid Society
Zainab Ahmad ’05
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Fmr. Senior Assistant Special Counsel, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller’s Office
Fmr. Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York
Cathy Albisa ’89
Executive Director, National Economic & Social Rights Initiative
Fmr. Co-director, International Women’s Human Rights Clinic, CUNY Law
Liz Aloi ’06
Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia
Fmr. Deputy Chief, Money Laundering & Asset Recovery Section, U.S. Department of Justice
Linda M. Baldwin ’93
General Counsel, New York State Office of Cannabis Management
Fmr. General Counsel, New York State Department of State
Amy Barasch ’96
Executive Director, Her Justice
Fmr. Executive Director, New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence
Elisabeth R. Benjamin ’92
Vice President of Health Initiatives, Community Service Society
Max W. Berger ’71
President, Baruch College Fund
Founding Partner, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP
Jonathan Berry ’11
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, U.S. Department of Labor
Fmr. Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy, U.S. Department of Justice
Anurima Bhargava ’02
Founder & President, Anthem of Us
Fmr. Chief, Educational Opportunities Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice
Antony J. Blinken ’88
United States Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State
Fmr. Managing Director, Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy & Global Engagement
Fmr. Deputy Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State
Michael Garcia Bochenek ’95
Senior Counsel, Children’s Rights Division, Human Rights Watch
Fmr. Director of Law and Policy, International Secretariat, Amnesty International
Gretchen Borchelt ’02
Vice President for Reproductive Rights & Health, National Women’s Law Center
Lisa M. Bornstein ’98
Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Fmr. Vice President of Strategy & Policy, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Hon. Richard F. Boulware II ’02
U.S. District Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada
Fmr. Trial Attorney, Federal Public Defender’s Office
Hon. Anita Brody ’58
Senior Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Fmr. Judge, Montgomery County of Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas
Deborah Brown ’98
Senior Vice President, External and Regulatory Affairs, NYC Health + Hospitals
Fmr. Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer for Health, New York City Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services
Judith A. Browne Dianis ’92
Executive Director, Advancement Project
Steve Bullock ’94
Independent Monitor of Purdue Pharma
Fmr. Governor of Montana
Michael A. Cardozo ’66
Partner, Proskauer Rose LLP
Fmr. Corporation Counsel, New York City Law Department
Rudy Carmenaty ’90
Deputy Commissioner, Nassau County Department of Social Services
Juan Cartagena ’81
Visiting Associate Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School
Fmr. President & General Counsel, LatinoJustice PRLDEF
Brian Cheu ’90
Director of Community Development, San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development
Julie Chinitz ’00
Development Director, Tubman Center for Health & Freedom
Fmr. Senior Analyst, Main Street Alliance
Fmr. Policy Director, Alliance for a Just Society
Elaine M. Chiu ’94
Professor of Law & Faculty Director, Ron Brown Center for Civil Rights, St. John's University School of Law
Fmr. Assistant District Attorney, Manhattan District Attorney's Office
Jennifer R. Clarke ’82
Fmr. Executive Director, The Public Interest Law Center
Fmr. Partner, Dechert LLP
Andrea G. Cohen ’95
Senior Vice President & General Counsel, NYC Health + Hospitals
Sara Corello ’92
Partner, Spivak Lipton LLP
Michele Cortese ’87
Executive Director, Center for Family Representation
Robert T. Coulter ’69
Executive Director & President, Indian Law Resource Center
Justice, Citizen Potawatomi Nation Supreme Court
Bill Dauster ’84
Fmr. Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Valerie P. Dent ’93
Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Deputy for Student Success, The State University of New York
Fmr. Deputy Chief Operating Officer, The State University of New York
Richard Dicker ’87
Director, International Justice Program, Human Rights Watch
Jessica Evans ’07
Chief of Staff, Minister for Education and Training, Western Australia
Fmr. Principal Policy Adviser, Attorney General of Western Australia
Fmr. Senior Researcher/Advocate for International Financial Institutions, Human Rights Watch
Angela Fernandez ’98
Commissioner, New York State Division of Human Rights
Fmr. Executive Director & Supervising Attorney, Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights
Liana Fiol-Matta ’70
Distinguished Professor of Law, Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico
Fmr. Chief Justice Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
Andrea R. Flores ’17
Chief Counsel, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Fmr. Director of Border Management, United States National Security Council
Fmr. Deputy Director of Immigration Policy, American Civil Liberties Union
Maria Foscarinis ’81
Founder and Fmr. Executive Director, National Homelessness Law Center
Emma Freudenberger ’07
Partner, Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP
Brian Frosh ’71
Attorney General of Maryland
Fmr. Senator, Maryland General Assembly
Paul Gallay ’84
Lecturer, The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Senior Staff Associate & Resilient Coastal Communities Project Leader, Center for Sustainable Urban Development, The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Fmr. President, Hudson Riverkeeper
Hon. Nicholas G. Garaufis ’74
Senior United States District Judge, United States District Court, Eastern District of New York
Fmr. Chief Counsel, Federal Aviation Administration
Rhea Gordon ’05
Senior Vice President & General Counsel, American Museum of Natural History
Peter C. Harvey ’82
Partner, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP
Fmr. Attorney General of New Jersey
Eric L. Hirschhorn ’68
Retired Partner, Winston & Strawn LLP
Fmr. Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry & Security
Eric H. Holder Jr. ’76
Partner, Covington & Burling LLP
82nd Attorney General of the United States
Roderick L. Ireland ’69
Distinguished Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Northeastern University
Fmr. Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Pernille Ironside LL.M. ’02
Deputy Director, Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring, UNICEF
Marc E. Jaffe ’76
CEO, Children's Learning Centers of Fairfield County
Cheryl Johnson ’75
Fmr. Deputy Attorney General, California Department of Justice
Roberta A. Kaplan ’91
Partner, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP
Founder, TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund
Ramzi Kassem ’04
Professor of Law, City University of New York
Founding Director, Creating Law Enforcement Accountability and Responsibility (CLEAR)
Akshaya Kumar ’13
Director of Crisis Advocacy, Human Rights Watch
Lecturer in Law, Columbia Law School
Fmr. Deputy U.N. Director, Human Rights Watch
Carla Laroche ’12
Felder-Fayard Associate Professor of Law, Tulane University School of Law
Fmr. Director and Associate Clinical Professor, Washington and Lee University School of Law
Fmr. Director and Clinical Professor, Gender and Family Justice Clinic, Florida State University College of Law
Benjamin Lawsky ’95
CEO, The Lawsky Group
Fmr. Superintendent, New York Department of Financial Services
Fmr. Special Assistant to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York
Hon. Leslie Leach, Ret. ’77
Retired Justice, New York State Supreme Court, Queens County
Fmr. Executive Deputy Attorney General, Division of State Counsel, New York State Office of the Attorney General
Jin Hee Lee ’00
Senior Deputy Director of Litigation, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund
Peter H. Lehner ’84
Managing Attorney, Sustainable Food & Farming, Earthjustice
Fmr. Executive Director, Natural Resources Defense Council
Fmr. Chief, Environmental Protection Bureau, New York State Office of the Attorney General
Susan B. Lindenauer ’64
Fmr. Counsel to the President, The Legal Aid Society
Fmr. Attorney-in-Chief, The Legal Aid Society
George W. Madison ’80
Principal, Madison Governance Advisors LLC
Fmr. Partner, Sidley Austin LLP
Fmr. General Counsel, U.S. Department of the Treasury
Laurie Magid ’85
Assistant United States Attorney, United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Fmr. United States Attorney, United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Dinah M. Manning ’14
Director of Public Safety: Accountability & Oversight, Los Angeles City Controller's Office
Fmr. Deputy Federal Public Defender and Supervising Attorney, Trial Division, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Central District of California
Catherine R. McCabe ’77
Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
Fmr. Environmental Appeals Judge, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Andrea McChristian ’13
Research Director, Southern Poverty Law Center
Fmr. Law & Policy Director, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
Jonathan Miller ’05
Legal Director, Public Rights Project
Fmr. Chief, Public Protection & Advocacy Bureau, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General
Jim Millstein ’82
Co-chairman, Guggenheim Securities
Fmr. Chief Restructuring Officer, U.S. Department of the Treasury
Carol Ann Baldwin Moody ’82
President and CEO, Legal Momentum
Fmr. Acting Chief Operating Investment Officer, California Public Employees' Retirement System
Irvin B. Nathan ’67
Fmr. Attorney General of the District of Columbia
Fmr. General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives
Annette L. Nazareth ’81
Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Fmr. Commissioner, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
Nancy Northup ’88
President & CEO, Center for Reproductive Rights
Founding Director, Democracy Program, Brennan Center for Justice
Fmr. Deputy Chief of Appeals and Assistant U.S. Attorney, Southern Distrcit of New York
Suzannah Phillips ’08
Deputy Director, Women Enabled International, Inc.
Fmr. Legal Adviser for International Advocacy, Center for Reproductive Rights
Brenda Toineeta Pipestem ’99
Associate Justice, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Supreme Court
Fmr. Associate Justice, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Supreme Court
Alka Pradhan ’07
Human Rights Counsel, Guantanamo Bay Military Commissions, U.S. Department of Defense
Bruce Rabb ’66
Director Emeritus and Board Secretary, Human Rights Watch
Director, National Center for Law & Economic Justice
Director, International Coalition of Sites and Conscience
Harriet Rabb ’66
Retired Vice President & General Counsel, The Rockefeller University
Fmr. General Counsel, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Fmr. Vice Dean & George M. Jaffin Professor of Law & Social Responsibility, Columbia Law School
Hon. Timothy Reif ’85
Judge, United States Court of International Trade
Fmr. Senior Advisor to the U.S. Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President
Fmr. Chief Trade Counsel, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives
Hon. Jenny Rivera LL.M. ’93
Judge, New York State Court of Appeals
Fmr. Special Deputy Attorney General for Civil Rights, New York State Office of the Attorney General
Fmr. CUNY Law School Professor and Director of the Center on Latino and Latina Rights and Equality
Jonathan Sacks ’00
Director, Michigan State Appellate Defender Office
Fmr. Executive Director, Michigan Indigent Defense Commission
Ajay Saini ’12
Trial Attorney, Educational Opportunities Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice
Fmr. Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Bureau, New York State Office of the Attorney General
Sasha Samberg-Champion ’04
Counsel, Relman, Dane & Colfax PLLC
Fmr. Appellate Attorney, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice
Jocelyn Samuels ’82
Vice Chair, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Fmr. Director, Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Fmr. Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Justice
Alexander Sanger ’74
Co-Chair, Fòs Feminista Leadership Council
Fmr. Chair, International Planned Parenthood Council
Fmr. President and CEO, Planned Parenthood of New York City
Sandy Santana ’01
Executive Director, Children’s Rights
William E. Schaeffer ’93
Chief Operating Officer, Office of the Inspector General, New York City School Construction Authority
Fmr. Investigations Division Chief, Westchester County District Attorney’s Office
Fmr. Investigations Division Chief, Kings County District Attorney’s Office
Lynn Hecht Schafran ’74
Legal Director & Director, National Judicial Education Program, Legal Momentum
Fmr. National Director, Federation of Women Lawyers Judicial Screening Panel
Warren B. Scharf ’83
Executive Director, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House
Theodore M. Shaw ’79
Julius L. Chambers Distinguished Professor of Law & Director of the Center for Civil Rights, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law
Fmr. Director-Counsel & President, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Galen Leigh Sherwin ’03
Special Counsel, Reproductive Justice, Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York
Fmr. Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU Women's Rights Project
Clive Stafford Smith ’84
Founder, Reprieve
Founder, Louisiana Capital Assistance Center
Brendan Stewart ’03
Assistant Chief, Criminal Division, Fraud Section, U.S. Department of Justice
John J. Sullivan ’85
United States Ambassador to the Russian Federation
Fmr. Deputy Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State
Fmr. Deputy Secretary of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce
Kim Sweet ’92
Executive Director, Advocates for Children of New York
Mozelle W. Thompson ’81
CEO, Thompson Strategic Consulting, Inc.
Fmr. Commissioner, US Federal Trade Commission
Fmr. Deputy Assistant Secretary, US Department of Treasury
Rachel B. Tiven ’03
Experienced Practitioner in Residence, Columbia Law School
Fmr. CEO, Lambda Legal
Ethan Torrey ’99
Legal Counsel, Supreme Court of the United States
Melanie Velez ’01
Regional Director, Office for Civil Rights (Region IV), U.S. Department of Education
Donald B. Verrilli Jr. ’83
Partner, Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP
Fmr. Solicitor General of the United States
Hector O. Villagra ’94
Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California
David C. Vladeck ’76
A.B. Chettle, Jr., Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Fmr. Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission
Fmr. Director, Public Citizen Litigation Group
Liz Vladeck ’06
General Counsel, New York City Department of Education
Fmr. Senior Labor Policy Adviser, New York City Mayor's Office of Policy and Planning
Fmr. Deputy Commissioner & Founding Director, Office of Labor Policy & Standards, New York City Department of Consumer Affairs
Monica Wagner ’81
Deputy Bureau Chief, Environmental Protection Bureau, New York State Office of the Attorney General
Fmr. Assistant Solicitor General, Appeals & Opinions Division, New York State Office of the Attorney General
Annie J. Wang ’88
Senior Staff Attorney, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Fmr. Director, Immigrant Justice Project, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Mariann Wang ’96
Partner, Cuti Hecker Wang LLP
Mary Lynne Werlwas ’92
Director, Prisoners’ Rights Project, Legal Aid Society
Anne Williams-Isom ’91
CEO, Harlem Children’s Zone
Fmr. Deputy Commissioner, New York City Administration for Children's Services
Sheena Wright ’94
Deputy Mayor of Strategic Initiatives, City of New York
Fmr. President & CEO, United Way of New York City
Fmr. President & CEO, Abyssinian Development Corporation
Ursula Wynhoven ’02
Representative to the United Nations, International Telecommunication Union
Fmr. Chief, Social Sustainability, Governance & General Counsel, U.N. Global Compact
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Erica Smock
Dean for Public Interest/Public Service Law and Careers