Malak Behrouznami is a JD candidate at the University of San Diego School of Law. She will graduate in May 2018 and plans to work as a Graduate Law Clerk with the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office after completing the BAR. Malak always knew she wanted to study law but she wanted to make sure that this would serve as the best vehicle to promote social justice and change. In 2009, Malak graduated with honors and received her B.A. from U.C. Berkeley where she studied Peace and Conflict Studies with a self-created concentration focused on Conflict Transformation through Arts and Media. Shortly thereafter, Malak moved to Israel and Palestine where she lived for eight months and worked with local communities and organizations to better understand the conflict and advocate for social justice.​

Malak’s motivation for advocacy work stems from her personal experiences and exposure to social injustices in the Valle of Juarez and in Ciudad Juarez where she grew up as a child, and their stark contrast to the protections her and her family received when they were in the United States. Upon returning from Palestine and Israel, Malak wanted to work in an arena that would amplify those voices muted by mainstream media so she worked as a journalist at a non-profit news network for three years in the East Coast and Canada. Malak decided to pursue law because she knows what it feels like to grow up in a system that affords minimal protection to victims. Prior to attending law school, Malak owned and operated a juice bar in the neighborhood of Point Loma here in San Diego for several years. Malak used her business as a means for providing healthy fast food alternatives to the community and as an opportunity to expose her clientele to the fruit-stand culture of Mexico where she grew up as a child.