The Labor and Employment Law Section of the California Lawyers Association, and the California Lawyers Foundation are committed to fostering the career growth of persons of color, women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, and members of other underrepresented groups who are interested in practicing labor and employment law in areas that support and promote the goal of diversity in the labor and employment law field. The purpose of the scholarships is to provide funding to diverse law students to engage in legal endeavors in an employment or labor related field that are non-compensated or undercompensated.
2025 Summer Law Scholarship Recipients
Amada Ariana Otero, a rising 2L at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, is driven by a strong desire to pursue a career in public interest law. Her interest in this field was sparked at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she graduated in 2023 with a B.A. in Political Science and American Politics concentration. Amada’s career aspirations are deeply rooted in her desire to advocate for those most vulnerable to shifting policies, who often lack the means to advocate for themselves. At Loyola, Amada is the development chair for the Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) and is a standing member of the Latinx Law Student Association (LLSA). She also looks forward to being a student advocate next year in the Loyola Anti-Trafficking Law & Policy Practicum. She has served her local community as a Congressional intern for the U.S. House of Representatives, in both her local Congresswoman’s LA district office and in Washington, D.C. Amada hopes to continue to represent her Angelino, Mexican-American community in her effort to make large-scale, national reform that represents these overlooked interests going forward. This summer, she will be externing for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission at the Los Angeles District Office, contributing to the office’s mission of ending workplace discrimination for all.
Anita Zeng (she/her) is a rising 2L at the UCLA School of Law, specializing in Public Interest Law and Policy. She attended the University of Washington for her undergraduate degree, where she worked with the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies as an intern and research assistant. With the Bridges Center, she helped publish research reports on pre-apprenticeships and perceptions of Starbucks on campus. She also produced a podcast called “Building Bridges,” which interviewed people of the labor movement. At UCLA Law, she is a volunteer with the El Centro Labor and Economic Justice Project. Next year, she will serve as the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Pacific American Law Journal and as a board member of the Asian Pacific Islander Law Students’ Association. This summer, she will be working at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Los Angeles District Office with the Legal Unit. She is excited to gain more experience advocating for workers’ rights using the legal system.
Julie De Vaulx is a rising 2L at UC Law San Francisco, where she is a member of the Employment and Labor Law Student Association, the Legal Advice and Referral Clinic, and the Internal Vice President of the Homeless Legal Services Clinic. Prior to law school, Julie found her passion for the law while earning her B.A. in Political Science at UC Berkeley. After graduation, she worked as a paralegal representing the interests of incarcerated individuals in California prisons, where she discovered a passion for direct services to the community. This summer, Julie is working as a judicial extern at the Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals in San Francisco. After graduating from law school, Julie intends to pursue a career in labor and employment litigation.
Lily Rafanan is a rising 2L at the University of San Diego School of Law. She graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a B.A. in Sociology, where she conducted research on colorism and student speech rights. This summer, she will be working as a judicial extern for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. During her upcoming 2L year, she will serve as an associate member of the USD Appellate Moot Court Board and as an Academic Success Fellow (Teaching Assistant) for Torts. Lily is passionate about employment and labor law, with an emphasis on complex litigation and class actions.
Olivia McCarren (she/her) is a rising 2L from Washington, D.C. At Berkeley, she is a Henderson Center Scholar, Programs Director of Ecology Law Quarterly, Associate Editor for the Berkeley Journal of Entertainment and Sports Law, and a volunteer with the Political and Election Empowerment Project. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Political Science. Prior to law school, Olivia worked in political communications with a specific focus on racial justice work. Outside of law school, Olivia enjoys staying updated on the latest music industry news, cheering on the USWNT, and exploring the best coffee spots in the Bay Area.
Shayok Chakraborty is a rising 2L at UCLA Law pursuing a specialization in the David J. Epstein Program for Public Interest Law and Policy. He was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, and cares deeply about the ability of immigrant families to live with dignity and security. Before law school, he was a director of organizing for five years at a broad-based, interfaith coalition of tens of thousands of working and middle class Bostonians fighting for affordable housing. He has organized public housing tenants to fight for black mold removal, formerly incarcerated service providers to triple reentry services funding in Boston, and won a Massachusetts-wide campaign for over $2 billion to renovate public housing and build affordable homeownership units. He believes in the power of organized people to challenge the powerful and make real change, and so this summer he has joined UNITE HERE Local 11, the LA hotel workers’ union, to fight for workers and learn about the lawyer’s role in the movement. At UCLA Law, Shayok is incoming president of the Public Interest Students’ Association (PISA), co-chair of the student-run Labor and Economic Justice Project (LEJP), a member of the National Lawyers’ Guild, and a member of the UCLA Trial Team. He is also the chair of the Solidarity and Organizing Society (SOS), a student organization that has responded to the LA ICE raids with community patrols, know your rights information, and grocery fund distribution to families targeted. He hopes to own his own plaintiff-side civil and workers’ rights firm one day.
2024 Scholarship Recipients
Alexandra Sarkis is a rising 2L at UCLA School of Law pursuing a specialization in the Epstein Public Interest Law and Policy Program. Prior to attending law school, she worked at a public defenders’ office where she saw how immigrants were not only disproportionately impacted by the system and were simultaneously victims of exploitative working conditions. This summer she will be working with Resilience Force, an organization dedicated to ensuring that workers responding to natural disasters are paid properly and can work in safe working conditions. This upcoming school year she will be a staff member for the Chicanx-Latinx Law Review and serve as the Professional Development Chair for the Latinx Law Student Association. Alexandra hopes to become a holistic public interest supporting immigrants in her hometown of San Diego.
My name is Angeleah Manosalva and I was born and raised in San Diego. I graduated from San Diego State University with my bachelor’s degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology. I am currently a student at the University of San Diego School of Law with a passion for employment law. During my upcoming 2L year, I will be on the Appellate Moot Court Board and will serve as the secretary for the Employment and Labor Law Society. This summer, I will be working in my first legal position as a law clerk at Ferraro Vega Employment Lawyers.”
My name is Bianca Montes, and I am a rising 3L at UC Law San Francisco. I am from Oxnard, CA.
Justine Lim (she/her) is a rising 2L Public Service Scholar at UC Irvine School of law. Justine is a proud Filipino-Chinese Immigrant from Quezon City, Philippines. After graduating from UCLA (go Bruins!) with a B.A. in Political Science and Labor Studies, Justine spearheaded the Asian American Racial Justice Project with the UCLA Labor Center, where she co-authored a book titled, “Did You Eat Yet?” on the Undocumented Asian American experience, mentored two national cohorts of undocumented Asian and Pacific Islander youth with the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO, and served as a lead organizer for the inaugural University of California Labor Summer Fellowship in 2023. At UC Irvine Law (zot zot!), Justine sits on the executive board of PILF and APALSA, in addition to serving as a student representative for the Philippine American Bar Association (PABA). She also values giving back to her community through her pro-bono work with Legal Aid at Work and mentoring pre-law students.
This summer, Justine will be working with UNITE HERE, Local 11 in Los Angeles alongside labor attorneys at the forefront representing hotel and food services workers throughout Southern California and defending the rights of immigrants, people of color, and women in the workplace and political sphere. After law school, Justine hopes to build a career as a union-side labor attorney and is passionate about advancing worker’s rights. In her free time, Justine enjoys vlogging and exploring local coffee shops.
This summer, Nate Nguyen is a rising 2L at Berkeley Law, working at the Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor. He studied Business Administration with a concentration in accounting at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. In the future, he hopes to continue fighting for employment and labor rights in both the private and public sectors.
Sala Kurtz is an incoming third-year dual-degree student at the University of San Diego where she is pursuing both a Juris Doctor at the School of Law, and a Master of Arts in Peace and Justice at the Kroc School of Peace Studies. She received her bachelor’s degree in Global International Relations jointly from both the American University in Washington, DC, and Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, as an inaugural member of the Sakura Scholars program. On campus, she currently serves as the Clinic Participant Coordinator for the Name and Gender-Marker Change Clinic, and has previously held board positions for Pride Law and the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association.
Sala’s prior work with international climate justice organizations like the Kiko Network and the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance served as inspiration to pursue law. Since the start of her law school experience, she has had the opportunity to continue her climate work with the Center for Climate Integrity, but has also discovered a new interest in labor and employment law through her most recent experience doing plaintiff-side wage and hour work. This summer, Sala will be externing with the Worker Rights and Fair Labor Section of the California Attorney General’s Office, where she is excited to continue advocating for California’s most vulnerable workers.
Sanyika Maloney am a rising 2L at UCLA School of Law in the David J. Epstein Program for Public Interest Law and Policy and the Critical Race Studies program. I have a strong background in labor and social justice, having done work with returning citizens, migrant construction workers and rank and file members of unions alike. I hope to use the time spent with Global Labor Justice this summer to broaden my skillset to support workers from all corners of the world.
Stella Linardi is a passionate, dedicated, and conscientious activist, organizer, and advocate, who works to advance economic justice, immigrant justice, and racial justice. Stella Linardi is rising 2L at UCLA Law School in the David J. Epstein Public Interest Law and Policy Program, where she is training to be a champion of justice. At UCLA Law School, she is the Chair of the Labor and Employment Law Association, an Executive Director of Law Students for Immigrant Justice, and the administrative Chair of the Women of Color Coalition. She graduated with a B.S. in Labor Studies and a minor in Inequality Studies from Cornell University, where she received the Irving M. Ives Senior Award for best demonstrating the qualities of good faith, integrity, responsibility, cooperativeness, and goodwill among her graduating class. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Cornell ILR Alumni Association and is an active member of the National Lawyers’ Guild. She also currently serves on the Executive Board of the Los Angeles chapter of APALA, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO, to honor and advocate for the interests and needs of Asian American and Pacific Islander workers and immigrants in Los Angeles. This summer, she is working at Public Counsel to provide crucial services to historically marginalized neighborhoods, support and invest in community development, and strengthen existing community networks and infrastructures.
Ting Xu is a rising 2L at UC Law San Francisco, where she is a member of the Employment and Labor Law Student Association, the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, and the Individual Representation Clinic. Prior to law school, Ting found her passion for employment law while working at a small plaintiff-side employment law firm. She assisted in creating educational videos, podcasts, and blogs on topics including minimum wage, wrongful termination, and agricultural workers’ rights.
During her 1L year, Ting volunteered with Workers’ Rights Clinic at Asian Americans Advancing Justice, where she worked face-to-face with low-income community members to help them understand their rights. This summer, Ting is working as a judicial extern at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. After graduating from law school, Ting intends to pursue a career in labor and employment litigation.