UC Law SF Students Honored for Public Interest Service
The Public Interest Celebration annually recognizes UC Law SF students’ outstanding performance in our clinics, in pro bono service, and contributions to the community.
Nine clinics honored 15 students for outstanding performance. A dozen students (out of 39 students nominated by their peers, faculty, and community members) were honored with Community Public Interest Awards. Five graduating students received the inaugural Nancy Stuart Public Interest Award, to recognize their exemplary commitment to closing the access to justice gap for marginalized communities, exceptional contributions to the public interest community at UC Law SF, and their professors’ confidence that they will be courageous and effective advocates for social justice.
Malea L. Chavez ’03, Deputy Director of the Homeless Prenatal Program, kicked off the event by delivering the keynote speech. She reflected upon her own pubic interest work at UC Law SF, which included founding the UC Law SF Race and Poverty Law Journal, before the honorees received their awards.
This year’s recipients have shown leadership through organizing social justice or public interest campus events, creating innovative social justice projects, or showing consistent representation for a voice of conscience in student organization meetings.
Jordyn Bishop ’17 and Angelo Sandoval ’17 received Community Public Interest Awards for reinvigorating the Native American Law Students Association and working in solidarity with other student groups and their fellow Social Justice Lawyering concentrators to press for a more supportive environment for students of color and social-justice-minded students.
Rising 3L Elizabeth Lincoln was honored with a Community Public Interest Award for dedicating herself to Legal Services for Children and traveling hours each week to meet with children in detention to listen to their personal, often horrific, stories, while preparing their legal cases.
All of the inspiring and selfless awardees have worked tirelessly on nights and weekends, sacrificed breaks, and/or demonstrated strong leadership as part of their dedication to public interest service.
The full list of awardees are as follows:
Wiley W. Manuel Honorees
Abraham Andrade
Alexandra Andorfer
Amanda Bernetsky
Griffin Estes
Gabrielle Gee
Anupa George
Gabrielle Lion
Lisa Mccreadie
Brooke Murphy
Gabrielle Parris
David Pasca
Brandi Robinson
Gabriella Rodezno
Deborah Rodriguez
Kristina Rosales
Hector Ruiz
Kea Scullion
Rebecca Shuman
Tyra Singleton
Kaitlin Toyama
Belle Yan
AT&T Pro Bono Award
Griffin Estes
Nancy Stuart Public Interest Awards
Jordyn Bishop
Rebecca Richardson
Hector Ruiz
Jade Smith-Williams
Paulina Torres
Outstanding Performance in the Community Group Advocacy & Social Change Lawyering Clinic
Natasha Jha
Outstanding Performance in the Individual Representation Clinic
Abraham Andrade
Patrick Boyle
Outstanding Performance in the Mediation Clinic
Alexia Arocha
Matt Reneris
Outstanding Performance in the Medical-Legal Partnership for Seniors Clinic
Elina Protich
Outstanding Performance in the Social Enterprise & Economic Empowerment Clinic
Arnulfo Sanchez
Outstanding Performance in the Refugee and Human Rights Clinic
Hector Ruiz
Alexandra Avram
Outstanding Performance in the Workers’ Rights Clinic
Natasha Jha
Outstanding Performance in Lawyers for America
Cameren Ripoli
Legal Services for Children Certificate in Child Advocacy
Dustin Hovda
Stephanie Quintero
Rebecca Richardson
Outstanding Performance in Multiple Clinics
Gabriella Rodezno
Clinical Legal Education Association – CLEA Outstanding Student Award
Ursula Lindsey
Social Justice Lawyering Concentration 2017 Graduates
Ehud Appel
Deborah Awolope
Jordyn Bishop
Bianca Bisson
Jacqueline Bonhorst
Skyler Clary
Ursula Lindsey
Gabrielle Parris
Rebecca Richardson
Angel Sandoval
Jade Smith-Williams
Paola Tobias
Kaitlyn Toyama
Community Public Interest Awards
Jordyn Bishop
Briana Desch
Stephen Ferris
Gabby Gee
Mayra Hernandez
Elisabeth Lincoln
David Osorio
Zena Ozeir
Leanna Sac
Angelo Sandoval
Tyra Singleton
Alyssa Yoshida
Experiential Learning at UC Law SF
At UC Law SF, we believe legal education should be an active, engaging process that prepares students for real world law practice. Every day, our renowned clinical programs fuse the powers of innovative classroom and experiential learning opportunities with our unique location and relationships in San Francisco to educate and inspire the country’s future lawyers, legislators, mediators, judges, and partners in business.
Nancy Stuart Public Interest Fund
The Nancy Stuart Public Interest Fund is established to continue the work of UC Law SF alumna and former Associate Dean Nancy Stuart, in advancing social justice work within the UC Law SF community and supporting students committed to closing the access to justice gap for marginalized communities. The fund provides scholarships to rising 2L and 3L UC Law SF students with a demonstrated record of public interest and social justice commitment. In addition to academic scholarships, the fund will also provide grants to graduating students to reduce financial burdens while studying for the Bar Exam. Scholarships and grants will be awarded to students based on a variety of considerations including the student’s record of public interest work, financial need, professional pursuits, and contributions to social justice efforts at UC Law SF.