Professor Susan Sturm smiles while teaching a lecture.

Advisory Groups

  1. Careers
  2. Public Interest and Public Service Careers
  3. The Max Berger ’71 Public Interest/Public Service Fellows Program
  4. Advisory Groups

PI/PS Fellows benefit from the following advisory bodies that are closely involved with the PI/PS Fellows Program.

This interdisciplinary group of faculty members provides guidance on various elements of the program, assists with the development of curricular guidelines, hosts programming, and serves as mentors to PI/PS Fellows.

Current Faculty Advisory Group members:

Practitioner Advisory Board members represent a range of public interest and public service practitioners (diverse in practice area, geographic location, and experience level) who help oversee the program, serve as mentors to PI/PS Fellows, and participate in key events.

Current Practitioner Advisory Board members:

  • Esha Bhandari ’10, Deputy Director, ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project
  • Molly Biklen ’04, Deputy Legal Director, New York Civil Liberties Union
  • Michael Bochenek ’95, Senior Counsel, Children’s Rights Division, Human Rights Watch
  • Caitlin Boyce ’10, Policy Specialist, UN Development Programme
  • Carmen Cheung ’02, Executive Director, Center for Justice and Accountability

  • Kinara Flagg ’11, Trial Attorney, Housing and Civil Enforcement Section, U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division

  • Madeline Gomez ’15, Policy Counsel, Planned Parenthood Federation of America

  • Margaret Garnett ’00, Deputy U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York
  • Lee Gelernt ’88, Deputy Director, ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project
  • Farhang Heydari ’11, Legal Director, Policing Project
  • Adriene Holder ’91, Attorney-in-Charge, Civil Practice, The Legal Aid Society
  • Hon. Carolina Holderness ’06, Judge, Criminal Court of the City of New York
  • Pernille Ironside ’02, Deputy Director, Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring, UNICEF
  • Mayra Joachin ’15, Staff Attorney, National Immigration Law Center
  • Oscar Lopez ’13, Senior Staff Attorney, Mental Health Practice Group (MHPG), Disability Rights California (DRC)
  • Dinah Manning ’14, Deputy Federal Public Defender, Trial Unit, Office of the Federal Public Defender Central District of California
  • Jonathan Miller ’05, Legal Director, Public Rights Project
  • Patricia Okonta ’18, Law Clerk, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • Nina Perales ’90, Vice President of Litigation, Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund (MALDEF)
  • Susan Butler Plum, Senior Adviser, Skadden Foundation
  • Ami Shah ’15, Deputy Director, Housing Unit, Manhattan Legal Services
  • Jeff Stein ’19, Litigation Counsel, PETA Foundation 
  • Camilla Taylor ’96, Director of Constitutional Litigation, Lambda Legal

View Practitioner Advisory Board Member bios

This large group of senior-level alumni are experts and leaders (past or present) in the public interest and government sectors, and are available to provide support or advice to PI/PS Fellows. A list of council members can be found here.

This group of upperclass PI/PS Fellows provides insight and recommendations to ensure the program meets the needs of the Fellows.

Current Student Advisory Group members:

  • Chakshu Hurria
  • Jamie Jenkins
  • Zachary Kayal
  • William Oh
  • Rubí Rodriguez
  • Nayzak Wali-Ali
  • Isabel Zúñiga
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“To build effective careers in public service, students will need to prepare both inside and outside the classroom. The Public Interest/Public Service Fellows Program enables students to explore public interest and public service opportunities more deeply, while having fun doing so.”