2020 Peggy Browning Summer Fellows

2020 Peggy Browning Summer Fellows Rebecca Andruzzi JD’21 Chicago-Kent College of Law Chicago, IL National Legal Advocacy Network Chicago, IL Raised by a union family, Rebecca’s eagerness to promote a fair workplace was sparked during her many years working in a restaurant, serving alongside a diverse workforce. She developed relationships with her coworkers, many of whom also came from hardworking backgrounds, and felt the urge to pursue a career in which she could instill social justice into a piece of their lives – the workplace. Since then, Rebecca has immersed herself in the world of labor and employment law; she is a member of the Labor and Employment Law Society as well as the Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, and she helped defend workers’ rights in the Plaintiffs Employment Law Clinic at her school. Kathy Amiliategui JD’22 University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Gilbert and Sackman Los Angeles, CA Prior to law school, Kathy gained experience as a community and labor organizer in both Los Angeles and New York. She was first exposed to the labor movement through an internship at the Garment Worker Center in Los Angeles. There, she learned how to organize workers while conducting ethnographic research as part of her senior thesis. Following her undergraduate years, Kathy was a workplace justice organizer for Make the Road New York. There, she organized Amazon warehouse workers on-the-ground and was part of the Neighbors Against Amazon campaign, fighting to prevent Amazon from receiving millions in tax subsidies to build their second headquarters in New York. A child of immigrant parents, Kathy is interested in the role lawyers can play in building worker power and holding employers and corporations accountable.  Alberto Aguirre JD’21 City University of New York School of Law Long Island City, NY New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) New York, NY Alberto has worked on a factory floor, an oil rig, and in a high school. For him, the struggle for labor rights is a deeply personal one, amounting to a culmination of personal and intergenerational experiences. Alberto interned at a Farmworkers Center on the border between the US and Mexico. There, he learned the nuances of the struggle for workers’ rights and about the fundamentally exploitive system that necessitates that exploitation. Alberto founded the local Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter during his undergrad years and joined unionizing efforts in Ciudad Jaurez, Mexico. Alberto is a current co-chair of the Labor Coalition student group and is currently conducting research on international corporations’ violations of human rights in Latin America with a focus on labor abuses in Columbia. Elsa Lopez Alvarez JD’22 University of Idaho College of Law Moscow, ID Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs Washington, DC Before law school, Elsa worked full time as a Court Clerk for the Travis County Justice of the Peace in Austin, Texas. She also did seasonal work for the Internal Revenue Service as a Data Transcriber and a Tax Examiner. In her spare time, she volunteered for the Worker’s Defense Project, leading “Know Your Rights” classes and assisting in recovering unpaid wages for construction workers who often worked in unsafe conditions and suffered workplace injuries. Elsa advocated for her parents, who are migrant farm workers, served as a translator and helped them fill out forms. Her father was a member of the United Farm Worker’s Labor Union, which has inspired her to advocate for equal rights for the marginalized members of our society with the least resources.