Professor Susan Sturm smiles while teaching a lecture.

Advisory Groups

  1. Careers
  2. Public Interest and Public Service Careers
  3. 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.

2020-2021 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.

2020-2021 Practitioner Advisory Board Members:

  • Esha Bhandari ’10, Senior Staff Attorney, 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 Women 
  • Valerie Dent ’93, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, State University of New York
  • Maria Foscarinis ’81, Founder & Executive Director, National Homelessness Law Center
  • Margaret Garnett ’00, Commissioner, NYC Department of Investigation
  • Lee Gelernt ’88, Deputy Director, ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project
  • Farhang Heydari ’11, Executive Director, Policing Project
  • Adriene Holder ’91, Attorney-in-Charge, Civil Practice, The Legal Aid Society
  • Carolina Holderness ’06, Chief, Human Trafficking Response Unit & Deputy Chief, Special Victims Bureau, Manhattan District Attorney’s Office
  • Pernille Ironside ’02, Deputy Director, Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring, UNICEF
  • Mayra Joachin ’15, Staff Attorney, National Immigration Law Center
  • Susan B. Lindenauer ’64, Fmr. General Counsel, The Legal Aid Society
  • Nancy Northup ’88, President & CEO, Center for Reproductive Rights
  • Patricia Okonta ’18, Skadden Fellow, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund
  • Nina Perales ’90, Vice President of Litigation, Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund (MALDEF)
  • Brenda Pipestem ’99, Justice, Supreme Courts of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians & the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
  • Susan Butler Plum, Senior Adviser, Skadden Foundation
  • Camilla Taylor ’96, Director of Constitutional Litigation, Lambda Legal
  • Claire Woods ’11, Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) 

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.

  • Katja Botchkareva
  • Bianca Larez Chavez
  • Raisa Elhadi
  • Samuel Fishman
  • Anahi Mendoza
  • Isaiah Strong
  • Brandon Vines
  • Dante Violette
  • Oren Vitenson
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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.”