Inaugural Anti-Racism Grant Recipients and Racial and Social Justice Fellows

Bianca Chavez ’22 cares deeply about public defense and prison reform. She graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. She is the first in her family to attend law school.

What type of public interest work do you plan to pursue?

My experiences thus far have centered around criminal defense work—from post-conviction capital litigation to family defense to holistic defense work. I will spend this summer at Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, a public interest law firm representing survivors of wrongful imprisonment and police brutality. While I do not know exactly how my legal career will unfold, I know that I will continue to serve justice-impacted people and their families. 

How do you think this fellowship will help you achieve your career goals?

This fellowship empowered me to take financial risks. As I apply to criminal justice fellowships around the country, I feel comforted knowing that I have a bit of extra financial security provided by Columbia. 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

The Public Interest/Public Service Fellows Program has been one of the highlights of my law school experience. Thank you to Devi Patel for envisioning the program and for creating an inclusive, supportive community. 

Raisa Elhadi ’22 is interested in working with populations who are systematically oppressed. Elhadi has a B.A. in Global Studies from the University of Minnesota. As the daughter of an immigrant, her heritage and family history sparked Elhadi’s interest in human rights.

What type of public interest work do you plan to pursue?

I am planning to pursue human rights law. I hope to use international and U.S. constitutional mechanisms to hold the U.S. government accountable for human rights abuses it has perpetrated. . . . I also hope to help survivors of human rights abuses obtain justice, either by securing legal relief or by helping them gain access to resources to create a better life moving forward.

How do you think this fellowship will help you achieve your career goals?

This fellowship will allow me to stay committed to the work that I care about and that I came to law school to do, lessening the financial burden and opening up many more options with regard to the kinds of human rights jobs I can feasibly pursue after graduation.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I am deeply grateful that [Columbia Law School and Social Justice Initiatives] are willing to support their public interest students in a field that often leaves them behind or forces them to switch careers just to stay financially afloat. Programs like this fellowship and the Public Interest/Public Service Fellows Program show that Columbia has begun to support its public interest students not only nominally, but practically as well. I feel incredibly lucky to be one of the first (hopefully of many!) to benefit from this support. 

Ailee Katz ’15 BC, ’22 LAW is passionate about criminal justice reform and civil rights advocacy, particularly as it relates to race and gender equality. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Barnard College and is the first in her family to attend law school.

What type of public interest work do you plan to pursue?

My immediate goal is to work as a public defender. As a public defender, you are in the trenches serving as a direct advocate and ally for indigent clients who are often overlooked or outright disrespected. It is your job to tell each person’s story and make sure every client is heard, even though the system is built to process as many people as quickly as possible. . . .  I also hope to address systemic racial and social inequality throughout my career and am hopeful that the law can be an effective tool to achieve that end, even if only marginally.

How do you think this fellowship will help you achieve your career goals?

I was committed to working in public interest law when I came to law school. This fellowship provides the financial support and assurance that I need to sustain my public service career for the long term. 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I am truly humbled by this fellowship—to be in the company of so many incredible public interest lawyers, advocates, social workers, and organizers—and am incredibly grateful that the committee believes in my ability to advance racial and social justice throughout my career.

Roger Tejada ’22 is passionate about social justice issues. He holds a B.A. in Government and Legal Studies from Bowdoin College. As a child of immigrants from the Dominican Republic and the first in his family to graduate from college and earn a graduate degree, Tejada is committed to empowering others to achieve the American dream.

What type of public interest work do you plan to pursue?

I came to law school with the goal of becoming a civil rights lawyer, and that remains unchanged. At the same time, I’ve become increasingly interested in administrative law (and the administrative state). Ultimately, I hope to be an appellate litigator and public servant who uses the law to make our society more racially and economically just. 

How do you think this fellowship will help you achieve your career goals?

This fellowship is pivotal to helping me pursue my career goals. As someone who grew up in poverty, it is very important for me to be able to provide financial security to my family while still following a path to become the best possible advocate for others. 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

This fellowship helps me see that Columbia Law School is working to support students who want to pursue the public interest. I expect and am excited to see this continue. I want to give my warmest and most heartfelt thanks to Alexis Hoag. . . . She is a visionary who drives many of us toward becoming better people, better advocates, and better lawyers. 

Brandon Vines’ focus is using the open-source evidence generated online to pursue accountability for wrongful state violence both domestically and internationally. Vines graduated magna cum laude and as an Honors Scholar from Kennesaw State University. He is a native Georgian and a first-generation graduate student.

What type of public interest work do you plan to pursue?

I am committed to fighting the death penalty and cruel prison conditions in the Deep South.

How do you think this fellowship will help you achieve your career goals?

I am keenly aware that race and racism have never lost contact with the law, and that the racial justice dimension of challenging state violence is far from theoretical. The Racial and Social Justice Fellowship helps in a few very practical ways.

It is no secret that finances are the greatest barrier to public interest careers. . . . The salary for those positions is abysmal and an active barrier for first-generation and BIPOC students in particular. . . . For me, this fellowship helps me see a viable path to doing the work I want to do and having a family. 

Beyond clearing financial hurdles, being a Racial and Social Justice fellow affirms my drive to pursue honest accountability and prevent unjust state violence. The fellowship is a sign to employers, partners, and the communities I am fighting alongside that I am here for the long haul.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I want to thank Professors [Alexis] Hoag and [Bernard] Harcourt for helping a first-generation student see that we can have a tangible impact with our degrees.