2020 Peggy Browning Summer Fellows

2020 Peggy Browning Summer Fellows Ayesha Nizhoni JD’22 Wake Forest University School of Law Winston-Salem, NC National Employment Law Project Washington, DC As the daughter of a union member, Ayesha has spent her entire life with workers’ rights in the forefront of her mind. Working at 15, her eyes were opened to the everyday struggles that affect marginalized and often voiceless working people. However, it was her work in the food service and cruise line industries that brought a new understanding of exploitative employment practices. Before law school, Ayesha pursued graduate studies in the Film MFA program at Ohio University. There, she was among the first members of the Graduate StudentsEmploymentOrganization, founded to ensure a living wage and benefits for graduate students who could not unionize. As a screenwriter, she committed herself to interviewing and writing about women of color whose untold narratives often intersected with her own. Ella Nalepka JD’22 City University of New York School of Law New York, NY CASA Hyattsville, MD After receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Middle East Studies, Ella moved overseas for the next five years to pursue her passion of learning languages and to teach EFL. During this time, she realized she enjoyed working directly with people and returned home to pursue a career in public interest law.  Since returning to New York, she has been involved in CUNY’s Labor Coalition, canvassing and phone banking for a presidential candidate’s campaign, and volunteering as a legal observer with the National Lawyers Guild. Ella is interested in learning more about immigration law and the fight for workers’ and tenants’ rights. She’s also excited for the opportunity to work with an organization that fights for grassroots change through legal services, community organizing, policy, and education.  Claudia Morera JD’21 Northeastern University School of Law Boston, MA Justice At Work Boston, MA Claudia moved to Boston, MA at the age of twelve from Caracas, VE. In college she studied international relations and French literature. After college, Claudia was active in Latino community organizing for the democratic party during the 2016 Presidential race. She then joined the Voto Latino team as their national organizing manager and worked to promote latinx youth political and community engagement. Organizing in communities such as Denver, Las Vegas, and Fresno exposed Claudia to the different challenges faced by immigrant communities across this country. This further instilled in her a passion for advocating for marginalized immigrant communities. She hopes to continue to uplift marginalized communities by providing them with the resources and rights in which they are entitled in order to be successful in the workforce. Ryan Morrison JD’21 Penn State Law University Park, PA National Legal Advocacy Network Chicago, IL Ryan is from a line of union steelworkers and teachers and has continued his work as a hotel bellhop and driver since his days as a Penn State undergraduate. After his 1L year, he returned to his home jurisdiction of Prince George’s County, MD in service of indigent juvenile defendants through Maryland’s Office of the Public Defender. Ryan’s passion for the labor movement is rooted in this background. He is driven by his interests in queer liberation and postcolonial literature, by gratitude for our heroic queer and labor movement forebears, and by the belief that the call to Solidarity Forever means that our march towards a just society – and, in many cases, our survival – is predicated on standing for and with one another.