Final Six PB Fellows Added!

Monday, July 15th, 2013

Six law students have been added to the Peggy Browning Fellowship roster since the 2013 Summer Fellowship brochure was printed. See the listing below with their significant accomplishments!

Meet the final six law students to become Peggy Browning Fellows:

Tania Fonseca

Education:     California Western School of Law C’2015

Fellowship:     National Day Laborer Organizing Network. Los Angeles, CA

Tania’s awareness of workers’ rights began at a very young age as she was tasked with translating employment manuals and union materials into Spanish for her parents. As immigrants to the United States, they worked in low-income jobs and sought a better life for their family. This inspired Tania to seek a vocation that would allow her to advocate on behalf of immigrant families. During her academic career Tania has used her translation skills while working as a legal assistant for a civil litigation firm and was a member of the University of California San Diego’s Mexican Migration Field Research Program. She was also a contributing writer for The Walls Between Us, a solidarity electronic publication for UCSD’s Center for Comparative Immigration Studies.

Andrew Gold

Education:     Widener University School of Law C’2014

Fellowship:     UFCW Local 1776, Philadelphia, PA

Andrew committed himself to labor activism after his experiences with various jobs he held during and after his college years, especially one in particular for a truck-driving company where he briefly attempted to organize the company’s workers. Since his enrollment in law school, Andrew has volunteered as a legal assistant with the ACLU of Pennsylvania and as a policy assistant with the Project on Middle East Democracy, where his work focused on monitoring and reporting on political news and current events relating to democracy efforts in the Middle East and North Africa and blogging daily on regional news, commentary and analysis.

McLean Johnson

Education:     Indiana University Maurer School of Law C’2015

Fellowship:     IUE-CWA, Dayton, Ohio

As a student and advocate of human and civil rights, McLean became intrigued by labor law while campaigning against Ohio Senate Bill 5, also known as the Ohio Collective Bargaining Limit Repeal, in 2011. The more she learned about the fight against collective bargaining in the US, the more she knew that she had to get involved. During her undergraduate studies, McLean interned for Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, a nonprofit organization that provides legal services for the underprivileged in Western Ohio; and at a personal injury firm in Illinois. She was also a communications intern for the Rivers Institute where she learned how to manage conflict resolution.

Charlette Matts-Brown

Education:     Brooklyn Law School C’2015

Fellowship:     UFCW Local 1776, Philadelphia, PA

Charlette was motivated to learn more about how labor issues affect communities and businesses after witnessing the 2007 Writers Guild strike while working for a small film production company in Los Angeles. Her interest in media law, encompassing sports and entertainment law, includes contracts and labor agreements which are a significant part of those industries. Earlier this year, Charlette was a volunteer advocate at the Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals in Brooklyn, NY. She has also previously volunteered as Communications Committee Co-Chair for the I Am Trenton Community Foundation, and as a program coordinator for the South Austin YWCA in Austin,TX.

Ian Seruelo

Education:     Thomas Jefferson School of Law C’2014

Fellowship:     IUE-CWA, Dayton, Ohio

Ian grew up in the Philippines, witnessing widespread poverty, injustice and political turmoil all throughout his childhood.  In later years, he dedicated himself to the labor movement in the Philippines and abroad, and now holds over ten years of experience as a community organizer, journalist and activist on behalf of Filipino workers. Since 2008 Ian has served as a volunteer liaison for the Philippine Labor, helping to organize and advocate for Filipino immigrant workers in the United States. This spring he led the formation of the Labor & Employment Law Association at his law school, and interned with Unitarian Universalist Refugee & Immigrant Services & Education in San Diego.

Alexis Tillett-Saks

Education:     Chicago-Kent School of Law C’2015

Fellowship:     Chicago Newspaper Guild (13-14 School Year Fellow)

Immediately upon graduating from Beloit College in Wisconsin in 2007, Alexis plunged head-first into the labor movement and began working for UNITE HERE as an organizer amid the then-newly formed casino industry in Pennsylvania. During that time, he successfully organized over 1,000 casino workers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida and Ohio. Just prior to entering law school, Alexis served as Organizing Director for the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, where he notably assisted in the defeat of Wisconsin’s Voter ID Bill. In law school, he is the recipient of alumnae labor law and merit scholarships and is a member of the Labor & Employment Law Society, National Lawyers Guild and Kent Justice Foundation.

To see the other 2013 Peggy Browning Fellows, click the link below: