USLAW launches Legaltech Hub In-House Legal Team Referral Program
USLAW NETWORK is extending its collaboration with Legaltech Hub - the leading platform for legal technology insights,… Continue Reading
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
USLAW NETWORK FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT ALUMNI
Adetokunbo “Dayo” Adeoye | Columbia Law School (USLAW NETWORK Foundation Class of 2025)
Hometown: Chicago, IL & Marysville, OH
- M.A., Union Theological Seminary, in Religion & The Black Experience
- B.A., with honors, University of Chicago, in Law, Letters and Society and Religious Studies, minor in Human Rights
- Excelled as Best Oral Advocate at the Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition
- Staff Editor for the Journal of Race and Law and A Jailhouse Lawyers’ Manual
- Led advocacy efforts in the Parole Advocacy Project and Racial Literacy for Racial Justice Project
- Co-president of the Christian Legal Society
“My journey toward becoming a lawyer began at age 14 when I participated in my first mock trial competition. As someone who grew up extremely shy, I found that the courtroom was where I felt most at home in my body. “May I please the court,” became a personal call to action. It is a promise that my voice would find its place in a system that wasn’t designed for people like me.”
Isabella Ang | Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School (USLAW NETWORK Foundation Class of 2022)
Hometown:
Mackenzie Blackwell | University of Maine School of Law (Expected Graduation May 2026)
Hometown: Royal Oak, MI
- B.A., magna cum laude, Franklin & Marshall College, in Government and American Studies
- Prestigious recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to teach English in Latvia
- Serves as Chair of the Women’s Law Association; Student Affairs Fellow and Co-Chair of the Youth Justice Society at Maine Law
- AccessLex Champion, representing AccessLex and Helix Bar Review
“Education must be treated as a necessity, not a privilege. This is why I am in law school. I want to fight for equal access to equal education in the courts. I want to make education a fundamental, non-contestable right. It may be through lawsuit or Constitutional Amendment, I do not know yet. But what I do know, is that Education, or lack thereof, gets the rich, richer, and the poor, poorer. It has kept entire communities from rural Montana to urban Detroit city, locked into oppression. The key to freedom? Education as a fundamental, constitutional right.”
Ronesha Braxton | University of Alabama School of Law (USLAW NETWORK Foundation Class of 2022)
Hometown:
Sarah Cartagena | DePaul University College of Law (USLAW NETWORK Foundation Class of 2023)
Hometown:
Deena Chahadeh | South Texas College of Law, Houston (USLAW NETWORK Foundation Class of 2024)
Hometown:
Myla Croft | Southern Illinois University Simmons Law School (Expected Graduation May 2026)
Hometown: St. Louis, MO
- B.A., summa cum laude, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, IL, in Political Science; minor in Global Studies
- Serve as Director of Advocacy & External Affairs for the Midwest Black Law Students Association
- Served as Vice President of the SIU Black Law Students Association and Vice President and Philanthropist Chair of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs., Women of Action Chapter
- Served on the Honor Code Revision Committee, collaborating with faculty and other students to ensure that ethical standards within the law school reflect the values of equity and inclusion
“When I was eight years old, my mother encouraged me to watch a movie called The Great Debaters. It was about a group of African American college students who participated in debate competitions, during a time of segregation. Their passion for civil rights and debate deeply inspired me. From that day forward, I knew that I wanted to become an attorney. With time, my life’s journey began to move in the direction of law, advocacy, and community service.”
CLICK HERE FOR MYLA’S TESTIMONIAL VIDEO
Jessica De Los Santos | Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law (USLAW NETWORK Foundation Class of 2023)
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Elizabeth Hernandez | Gonzaga University School of Law (USLAW NETWORK Foundation Class of 2023)
Hometown:
Tatiyana Lewis | University of Tennessee College of Law (USLAW NETWORK Foundation Class of 2022)
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Samantha Magdaleno | Michigan State University College of Law (USLAW NETWORK Foundation Class of 2024)
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Matthew Mayers | Syracuse University College of Law (USLAW NETWORK Foundation Class of 2022)
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Tiffany Okeani | Georgetown University Law Center (USLAW NETWORK Foundation Class of 2025)
Hometown:
Victor Qiu | University of California, Hastings College of Law (USLAW NETWORK Foundation Class of )
Hometown: Queens, NY
- B.A., Howard University, in Political Science; minor in Spanish
- Committed to fostering conscientizacao, a concept developed by Paulo Freire that emphasizes recognizing and challenging social, political, and econonic oppression
- President of La Alianza, the Latine Law Students’ Association
- Former President of Chango!, Howard University’s Afro-Latine society, including the first Spanish-language and Latin America-focused podcast at any HBCU
- Co-founded the globally award-winning Peer Defense Project
- Spearheaded legal action for equitable sports access for Black and Brown athletes in NYC
” Diversity is more than just identity – it is wealth of perspectives, experiences, and skills that individuals bring to the table. As an Afro-Latino, first-generation college graduate, and law student, my journey has been shaped by the systemic inequities I have both witnessed and endured. Raise in a low-income household in Queens, New York – within the most segregate school system in the country – I experiencedd the consequences of racial capitalism, including homelessness, food insecurity, and economic instability.”
Obrian Rosario | Howard University School of Law (Expected Graduation May 2026)
Hometown: Queens, NY
- B.A., Howard University, in Political Science; minor in Spanish
- Committed to fostering conscientizacao, a concept developed by Paulo Freire that emphasizes recognizing and challenging social, political, and econonic oppression
- President of La Alianza, the Latine Law Students’ Association
- Former President of Chango!, Howard University’s Afro-Latine society, including the first Spanish-language and Latin America-focused podcast at any HBCU
- Co-founded the globally award-winning Peer Defense Project
- Spearheaded legal action for equitable sports access for Black and Brown athletes in NYC
” Diversity is more than just identity – it is wealth of perspectives, experiences, and skills that individuals bring to the table. As an Afro-Latino, first-generation college graduate, and law student, my journey has been shaped by the systemic inequities I have both witnessed and endured. Raise in a low-income household in Queens, New York – within the most segregate school system in the country – I experiencedd the consequences of racial capitalism, including homelessness, food insecurity, and economic instability.”
Russell Smith | University of Oklahoma College of Law (Expected Graduation May 2026)
Hometown: Apache, OK
- B.A., University of Oklahoma, in Geographic Information Science; minor in Geography
- Advocate for policies that protect the rights of Indigenous peoples and other underrepresented groups
- Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholar Recipient
- Researched and contributed scholarly work in the fields of Native American law, culture, and history, integrating legal frameworks with practical experiences
” As a first-generation college graduate and Kiowa tribal member, I understand the importance of fostering environments where diverse voices are valued. At the University of Oklahoma, I’ve worked to promote diversity through the Native American Law Students Association (NALSA), where I helped organize events to advocate for Indigenous representation in the legal field. This experience has strengthened my commitment to ensuring marginalized an underrepresented communities are heard in the justice system.”
CLICK HERE FOR RUSSELL’S TESTIMONIAL VIDEO
Mikah Semrow | Seattle University School of Law (USLAW NETWORK Foundation Class of 2025)
Hometown: Madison, WI
- B.A., The Evergreen State College, in Psychology
- Served as Co-Executive Director of Partners in Prevention Education (PiPE), including founding the county’s first non-profit encampment outreach program, which became invaluable during the pandemic to ensure unhoused people hadd access to food and supplies
- Serves as the Sexual Assault Services Section Manager for the state of Washington’s Office of Crime Victims Advocacy
“My interest in and dedication to diversity and inclusion in my community comes not only from my own experiences and identity, but from the experiences I have had supporting others and creating systems change. I have the knowledge, opportunity, and ability to help in a way that many of the people I worked with do not and will not.”
Russell Smith | University of Oklahoma College of Law (USLAW NETWORK Foundation Class of 2025
Hometown:
Jasmine Williams | University of California, San Francisco College of Law (USLAW NETWORK Foundation Class of 2024)
Hometown:
Layla Yousef | University of California, Berkeley School of Law (USLAW NETWORK Foundation Class of 2025)
Hometown: Albany, NY
- B.A., Johns Hopkins University, in International Studies and Political Science; minor in Islamic Studies
- Fluent in Arabic & French; Intermediate in Russian
- Supported Syrian refugees – helped with housing, employment, schooling, connections to local mosques; as well as created and taught a class, “Delve Into the Syrian Refugee Crisis” for high school students in Baltimore
- Assistant to the Chair of the UNCRPD (United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) Working Group on Communications and Inquiries
“As the former Co-Representative of my first-year law class – and now Vice President for all three classes – I have drawn on my personal experiences of isolation due to my identity to advocate for my peers. My Egyptian-American upbringing – my culture, language, and religion – has shaped who I am and continues to guide me as I navigate diverse spaces. I believe it is not just important to bring these perspectives into the spaces where I work, study, and socialize – it is imperative.”