2020 Peggy Browning Summer Fellows

2020 Peggy Browning Summer Fellows Mollie Ponds JD’22 Southern University Law Center Baton Rouge, LA New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice New Orleans, LA Mollie was exposed to the importance of unionizing and standing up for workers’ rights as the daughter of an AFT member. She witnessed the mobilization of the members fighting for employee benefits and how the outcome directly impacted families and their needs. After graduating with her Bachelor’s in Political Science, Mollie became a young leader with organizations focused on fighting to protect marginalized communities and workers. She now sits on the Executive Committee of her local NAACP chapter and is a board member of her school’s local Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Mollie plans to use her law degree to advocate for civil and human rights and use her experience to impact policies and legislation. Hill Pickens JD’21 University of Chicago School of Law Chicago, IL United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Triangle, VA A native of rural northern Florida, Hill has always been concerned with economic justice and regional disparities. After college, he worked in a non-union grocery store, where the low-pay and constant understaffing led Hill and his coworkers to contact organizers at the UFCW and to begin the work of organizing a union. Inspired by this campaign, he entered law school committed to the labor movement. Last summer he was a Peggy Browning Fellow at UFCW, where he was able to help in litigation to protect the safety standards for slaughterhouse workers and determine the legal implications of new organizing tactics to be used in an upcoming campaign. Hill works in his law school’s employment law clinic and is president of its Labor and Employment Law Society. Samantha Perry JD’21 Wayne State University Law School Detroit, MI United Auto Workers (UAW) Detroit, MI The daughter of two public school teachers active in the Michigan Education Association and the granddaughter of a union steward, Samantha learned at a young age the important role unions play in protecting the rights of working people. This sparked her interest in pursuing a career in workers’ rights law. In furthering her goals, she studied public policy at Michigan State University. Last summer, she interned at the Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice, where she had the opportunity to provide legal services to low-income workers. She is excited to continue fighting for workers rights this summer as a Peggy Browning Fellow. Edward Peters JD’21 Georgetown University Law Center Washington, DC United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Washington, DC Ted is a native of Ann Arbor, MI and graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in political science. Before law school, Ted worked for a nonprofit organization inDetroit that connected other nonprofits serving low-income communities with pro bono legal assistance. This gave him a deep appreciation for the importance of good legal counsel. He also worked as a stower at an Amazon Fulfillment Center, which only strengthened his belief in the need for unionization and defending the rights of workers. Ted originally became interested in labor issues through his family. His father is a labor educator and researcher and his maternal grandfather was a long-time UAW member and one of the Flint sit-down strikers of 1936-37.