2017-2018 ACS at YLS Board
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Wally Hilke, Co-President (3L) Wally Hilke is a 3L. He grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and lived in Chicago for eight years before starting law school. After graduating, he hopes to work with Chicago activists and organizers to achieve social change - a model he saw in action during summer internships at Community Activism Law Alliance and Cabrini Green Legal Aid. In addition to chairing ACS's Advocacy Committee, which works in coalition with other student groups to fight for progressive change, he works with students and community activists to advocate for independent, meaningful civilian review of police misconduct in New Haven; serves as a Coordinator of the school's National Lawyer's Guild; and served as a Director of the 2017 Rebellious Lawyering Conference. Juan Ruiz, Co-President (2L) Juan Ruiz is a 2L. He’s originally from Puerto Rico, where he lived until he attended Brown University as an undergraduate. Prior to law school, he spent three years pursuing a PhD in History at Yale. In his first summer as a law student, he worked on issues related to voting rights and money in politics at the Brennan Center for Justice’s Democracy Program. Within ACS, he has coordinated efforts to develop new resources for career development and community engagement. He’s also a clinical student in the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project, and he will be an Executive Editor of Volume 37 of the Yale Law and Policy Review. Shikha Garg, Vice President for Programming Shikha Garg is a 2L from Plano, Texas. Prior to law school, she worked for the Hillary for America campaign doing finance and advance work. Before that she graduated from Yale University where her primary academic focus was comparative politics and international human rights law. Samantha Godwin, Vice President for Programming Samantha Godwin works in health law, family law, and civil rights law. Her research interests concern questions of equality and liberty interests for legally incapacitated persons, including children and people with mental health or intellectual disability issues. More recent work has included studying public communication concerning addiction. Alyssa Peterson, Vice President for Programming Alyssa Peterson is a second-year student and a member of the ACS Programming Committee. Alyssa also serves as a member of the Civil Rights Project, the law school’s Title IX working group, and the Veterans Legal Services Clinic, where she works to combat discrimination against students and workers. Since 2014, she has also volunteered for Know Your IX, a survivor-led organization that empowers students to end sexual and dating violence in their schools. Sesenu Woldemariam, Vice President for Programming Sesenu is a second-year student from Houston, Texas. A former teacher, he currently serves as a Co-Director of the Yale chapter of the Marshall-Brennan Project for Constitutional Literacy and a Student Director of the Education Adequacy Project Clinic. After finishing his time at Yale, Sesenu intends to return to Texas to work in public interest law. Tony Binder, Vice President for Mentorship and Career Development Tony Binder is a 3L from Chicago, Illinois. Before law school, he attended NYU Stern School of Business, where he studied business and political economy. His primary academic interests are the intersection of constitutional and environmental law. Brian McGrail, Vice President for Mentorship and Career Development Brian is a 2L originally from Arlington, VA. He’s interested in economic policy and litigation. He graduated from Williams College in 2014. Woo Yong Chung, Vice President for Membership and Community Engagement Before coming to law school, Woo Yong served in the Republic of Korea Army as a demolition and blasting specialist. He is generally interested in poverty law. Now as a 2L at Yale Law School, he assists formerly incarcerated individuals reentering the community at the New Haven Legal Assistance Reentry Clinic. Also, through the Transitions MLP (Medical-Legal Partnership), he helps patients address legal needs like access to public benefits programs and housing problems. Ashraf Ahmed, Vice President for Scholarship Ashraf Ahmed is 2L at Yale Law School with interests in constitutional law, election law, legal history, and labor law. He is a native of Queens, NY and in his free time enjoys music, sports, literature, and history. Sebastian Brady, Vice President for Scholarship Sebastian is a 2L from Chico, CA. He attended UC San Diego as an undergraduate, where he majored in Political Science, minored in Philosophy, and played on the volleyball team. Before law school, he worked for a couple of think-tanks in DC and as an AmeriCorps VISTA for a housing legal services organization in Brooklyn. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, doing crosswords, and reading and writing fiction. Kayla Oliver, Vice President for Judiciary Kayla was raised on a small cattle ranch in the Texas Hill Country. After graduating from the University of Texas, she worked at the State Capitol before coming to law school. She is interested in feminist legal theory and legal history, especially the history of American slavery. After graduation, she will return to Texas to clerk, first for a federal district court and then in the Fifth Circuit. Cara Reichard, 1L Representative Cara Reichard grew up in San Diego, CA before heading to Stanford for college, where she studied Political Science. After graduating, she moved to Yangon, Myanmar to work for a year at the Yangon School of Political Science, a local non-profit with the goal of fostering civic engagement through political education. She then spent a year in Brooklyn working for the Social Science Research Council. At YLS, Cara is interested broadly in the intersection of law and policy. She will be spending her 1L summer working in the D.C. office of California Governor Jerry Brown. Melanie Sava, 1L Representative Melanie Sava is a 1L representative on the ACS Board, and a member of the Mentorship and Career Development Committee. Melanie grew up in South Carolina and Florida before moving to Los Angeles for college. She graduated from Mount Saint Mary’s University in 2017 with a degree in Political Science and Global Politics. Sophie Lipman, Transfer Representative Sophie Lipman is a 2L at Yale Law School. She is originally from Covington, Louisiana, and studied history, philosophy, and political science at Millsaps College. Sophie is interested in constitutional law and biomedical ethics, particularly issues involving scarce resource allocation. She is a member of Yale Journal on Regulation and the Yale Law & Policy Review and serves as a teaching fellow for a course on bioethics and the law. Valeria Pelet del Toro, Transfer Representative Valeria M. Pelet del Toro is a 2L at Yale Law School. Prior to law school, she worked as an editorial producer for The Atlantic magazine's events division in Washington, D.C. Originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Valeria attended Harvard College, where she earned a B.A. in History and Literature. Not pictured: Mark Andriola, Vice President for Mentorship and Career Development Mark Andriola is a 2L at Yale Law School and a member of the Mentorship and Career Development Committee. He is originally from New York and attended Dartmouth College, majoring in Government and History. After college, Mark worked for two years at McKinsey & Company, focusing on government, non-profit, and healthcare clients. In his spare time, he is watching college basketball. Andrew Miller, Vice President for Mentorship and Career Development Christian Neumeier, LLM Representative Brian Moore, Treasurer Natalia Nazarewicz, President Emerita Natalia Nazarewicz sdied public health at Brown University and worked several years for domestic and international healthcare-related nonprofits before starting law school. She was born in Poland and grew up in East Tennessee, but considers Rhode Island home. Clare Kane, Vice President for Communications |