Environmental Law Section Fosters Diversity & Inclusion

The Environmental Law Section was proud to recognize its 2019 Diversity & Inclusion Fellows at a reception hosted by Holland & Knight in San Francisco on July 16, 2019. This year’s Fellows are Mina Arasteh of UC Davis, Michael Damasco of UC Irvine, Elias Rodriguez of Santa Clara University, and Idalmis Vaquero of UCLA.

The Environmental Law Section’s Diversity & Inclusion Fellowship Program is designed to help foster diversity within the California environmental bar by giving law students from underrepresented backgrounds a chance to spend 8 to 10 weeks over the summer practicing environmental, energy, land use, and/or natural resources law at a government agency or public interest organization. Each Fellow receives a $5,000 stipend. The Section assists students with placement at the governmental agency or public interest organization and matches the Fellows with mentors who practice in the field. The Section also coordinates gatherings and provides opportunities for Fellows to meet other Section members and attorneys who practice in environmental, energy, land use, and natural resources law fields, and it invites each Fellow to attend the Section’s Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite® in October following the Fellowship with free conference registration.

The July 16 reception was attended by the Fellows, their supervisors from the organizations where they are spending the summer, their mentors, representatives from the firms that sponsored the program, and members of the Environmental Law Section Section’s Executive Committee, among others. Jennifer Novak, the incoming Chair of the Executive Committee, introduced the Fellows and thanked the program’s sponsors for their support. Dan Golub of Holland & Knight then introduced the evening’s keynote speaker, the Honorable Judge Jon Tigar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, who shared some remarks about the importance of ensuring that the legal profession reflects the great diversity of the state that we serve. Ms. Novak also presented a certificate of appreciation to Nicholas Targ of Holland & Knight for his tireless support of the Diversity & Inclusion Fellowship program.

The Environmental Law Section thanks Holland & Knight for hosting the July 16 reception, and would like to recognize and thank the Diversity & Inclusion Fellowship Program’s generous sponsors, without whose support the program would not be possible:

• Allen Matkins
• Bay Area Air Quality District
• Beveridge & Diamond
• California Department of Justice
• CEB
• Center for Creative Land Recycling
• Downey Brand
• Earthjustice
• Environmental Law Section
• Executive Director of CLA – Ona Alston Dosunmu
• Greenberg Traurig
• Hanson Bridgett
• Holland & Knight
• Hunton Andrews Kurth
• San Francisco City Attorney’s Office
• Stoel Rives
• The Environmental Law Institute
• The American Bar Association Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice