Mariam

Law Student

After 9/11, Mariam's father was placed on a national security registration list, simply because he was a Pakistani immigrant. Mariam and her family, like many Muslim families, have been caught in the middle of our country's discriminatory policies. That's why Mariam has a uniquely vigilant and attuned perspective. At the ACLU, she worked on a project to monitor ICE and hold them accountable for civil rights violations. Mariam received a scholarship from California ChangeLawyers. She will graduate from Berkeley Law in 2019.

Alfonso

Deportation Defense Lawyer & DREAMER

Alfonso is a lawyer uniquely suited to defend immigrants. That's because stopping deportation is deeply personal. He himself is DACAmented, a DREAMER whose parents brought him to the US at the age of 5. In law school, he successfully argued before the Ninth Circuit to stop a deportation of a father of three. Despite the considerable risk he faces as a public face of DACA, he can't sit in the shadows. Alfonso sees his law degree as a privilege that he must use to protect his community. His fearlessness earned Alfonso a fellowship from California ChangeLawyers to work full time on deportation defense at Immigrant Defenders Law Center in Los Angeles.

David

General Counsel & Vice President

David is a changelawyer through and through. He serves as General Counsel & Vice President of Basketball Legal Affairs for the Golden State Warriors. He's also a musician who got his start as an underground rapper in Chicago. For David, representation and legitimacy are one and the same. If young people of color do not see lawyers who look like them, they'll lose faith that the justice system is fair. David serves on the board of directors of California ChangeLawyers.

Isa

Activist

Isa is not a lawyer, but that hasn't stopped her from being a changelawyer in spirit. She's a fearless translatina activist who empowers lawyers to fight for the rights of LGBT immigrants. She is Deputy Director of Transgender Law Center and under her leadership, TLC has sued for the release of transgender women from ICE detention and to end all deportations. Isa wants to see more transgender lawyers in positions of power because only they can articulate what it means for the transgender community to feel safe in our society. Transgender Law Center's pioneering legal work earned them a fellowship grant from California ChangeLawyers in 2018. 

Tamika

Racial Justice Advocate

Tamika has spent her entire career fighting  for Black, Brown, & Queer communities.  She's been a lawyer, a community organizer, and now an executive director. In every role, she lets her lived experience as a queer Black woman inform her social justice vision. As the newly-appointed head of the LA Neighborhood Land Trust, she works to ensure that kids of color have access to parks and open spaces. Tamika received a scholarship from California ChangeLawyers in 2009.

Michelle

Law Firm Partner

Any lawyer can be a changelawyer and Michelle is living proof. She's a partner at Keker, Van Nest & Peters, specializing in trade secret, IP, class action, and legal malpractice disputes. In her spare time, she's also a social justice warrior. She successfully challenged California's Prop. 8 on behalf of queer couples and stayed capital punishment in California when she represented a San Quentin death row inmate. In 2017, her firm filed suit against multiple discriminatory executive orders, including the Muslim travel ban and the order that would have denied funding to sanctuary cities. Keker lawyers were some of the first responders during the January 2017 airport protests. Michelle serves on the board of directors of California ChangeLawyers