Meet Our Newest Steins

Kayla Abrams ’27 graduated from Columbia University in 2021 with honors in modern American history and psychology. While in school, she interned at a variety of organizations at the intersection of the criminal legal system, child welfare, and gender-based violence prevention. After graduation, she was a paralegal at A Better Childhood, working on child welfare class action lawsuits before moving to the Incarcerated Gender Violence Survivors Initiative at Sanctuary Families. There, she helped represent survivors of gender-based violence who were involved with the criminal legal system, specifically incarcerated survivors. As a Stein Scholar, she hopes to advocate for those involved in the criminal legal system and to further understand the immense overlap between survivorship and criminal legal system involvement.

Ayla Ahmed ‘27 is from Chicago, Illinois and graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in business law and strategy in 2019. For the past five years, she has worked in digital advertising at Google, where she advised large healthcare, finance, and education startups on their marketing strategies. There, she saw the importance of data privacy and the essential role of the law in keeping consumers safe. As a Stein Scholar, she hopes to explore these intersections of law and technology, particularly when it comes to how to ensure the online safety and privacy of the most vulnerable communities.

Maya Avelino ‘27 graduated from Brown University with honors in Middle Eastern studies and international and public affairs, with a focus on migration, comparative literature, and early twentieth century Palestine. During her time at Brown, she interned for the NAACP Providence Branch, volunteered with the Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice, and ran the Disability Justice Student Initiative. At Fordham, Maya is director of operations for the Disabled and Allied Student Association. As a Stein Scholar, Maya will engage with her interests in international human rights and moving peoples, focusing on justice, accessibility, and transformation.

Maya Chrobot ‘27 graduated from Bates College in 2020 with a B.S. in Nneuroscience. Before law school, she worked for a civil legal aid organization where she assisted clients with eviction defense, bankruptcy filings, and family law cases. Maya enjoyed working directly with clients and having the opportunity to learn about multiple areas of the law and how it was used to support community members in need. Maya is excited to join the Stein Scholars program, and she looks forward to exploring public interest opportunities and learning alongside her peers.

Jonnie Comfort ‘27 (they/them) is a queer, former contemporary vocal artist whose mission-driven arts background led them to pursue a career in voting rights and civil rights litigation. They earned their B.M. in opera performance from the New England Conservatory of Music and their M.M. in vocal arts at the Bard College Conservatory of Music. At Bard, they studied with Grammy Award winners Dawn Upshaw and Sanford Sylvan. Jonnie has performed with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra and the Albany Symphony and has appeared at National Sawdust for the North American performance of Alexander Goehr’s Dark Days. They wanted to assist people in more tangible ways and became interested in law school after seeing the anti-trans* movement rise to prominence. They want to use their law degree to advocate for LGBTQ+ and marginalized communities.

Nell Compton ’27 graduated from Vassar College in 2020 with a B.A. in political science and a minor in French. She spent three years at the Brennan Center for Justice on the development team, working to reform systems of democracy and justice. Nell was also a grant writer for the nonprofit Period Law where she fundraised to end the “tampon tax” in the twenty states in which it still stands. In 2020, she was a field organizer on Sara Gideon’s U.S. Senate campaign in Maine. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Nell hopes to use her law degree to continue to advocate for innovative democracy reform and equitable gender policy on the state and local level in New York.

Sarah Engelberg-Nolan ’27 graduated from Boston College in 2020 with a B.A. in international studies, with a focus on social justice and ethics, and a double minor in history and French. As an undergraduate student, she interned at the Boston College Center for Human Rights and International Justice and assisted with interdisciplinary research on culturally sensitive interventions for refugees. After graduating, she worked at a nonprofit in New York and helped forcibly displaced people apply for humanitarian immigration status. Sarah is passionate about immigration justice and looks forward to advocating for immigrants’ rights and exploring the intersectional issues of housing equity, public policy, and impact litigation.

Wyatt Feinberg ’27 graduated from Haverford College with a B.A. in political science and a minor in economics. While in school, he interned for a Senate Office where he  provided support to constituents in need of assistance from federal agencies, including emergency passport situations during the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Wyatt also interned for a nonprofit, lobbying for increased international aid, and for a political campaign centered on providing health care for constituents. After graduation, he worked for the Department of Justice Antitrust Division and volunteered with the Department’s Pro Bono Program, working on an appeal of a trial court decision on behalf of a  foreclosure rescue scam victim. As a Stein Scholar, Wyatt hopes to improve legal outcomes for underserved communities.

Jessie Gorovitz ’27 is scholar and activist who worked in state and national politics at the intersection between gun violence prevention and racial justice. After graduating in 2019 with honors in political science from Kenyon College where she studied  the original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment, Jessie pursued a master’s degree in human rights and politics at the London School of Economics. Her graduate study focused on political reconciliation following periods of mass violence. Her dissertation explored how memories of the Founding Fathers were used by Democrats and Republicans during debates over the Reconstruction Amendments. She is a co-author on a forthcoming article in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. Her article with University of Pennsylvania law professor Kermit Roosevelt III is titled “The Past is Always Changing: A Story in Three Parts.”

Gus Huiskamp ’27 is from Massachusetts and graduated from Hamilton College in 2021 with a B.A. in history and French. After college, he moved to Tucson, Arizona, and worked as a plumber with Community Home Repair Projects of Arizona in no -cost home repair for low-income homeowners in Pima County. After two years, he moved back east and worked in constituent services for State Senator Toby Stavisky in Queens, connecting residents to state and city services and engaging with local community boards. Gus is passionate about providing  secure housing for all and is interested in tenant defense, affordable housing development, and rent control enforcement.

Diana Kennedy ’27 graduated from CUNY Hunter College in 2022 with a B.A. in women and gender studies, with a double minor in political science and music. As a part of the Andrew Mellon public humanities research program at Hunter, Diana researched prison labor policies and conducted interviews with individuals who had been forced to work while incarcerated in New York state correctional industries. Following college, she worked for two years as a legal analyst for a plaintiff-side firm which specialized in class action lawsuits and mass torts. In this role she conducted fact-based research on a range of complex issues including pharmaceutical product defects and mental health injuries related to social media use. There she became interested in the litigation process and hopes to pursue her interest in post-conviction litigation and working with marginalized workers. As a Stein scholar, Diana hopes to continue her pursuit of abolitionist and labor justice work.

Kathryn Keyser ’27 graduated from Dartmouth College in 2020, where she studied sociology modified with Hispanic studies and a minor in English. During college, Kathryn volunteered with previously incarcerated individuals and also worked as a research assistant with the Reimagining Justice Lab, investigating the historical origins of “hidden sentences” or additional penalties to incarceration for criminal convictions. After graduating, Kathryn worked as a paralegal at the Amica Center, a nonprofit that provides direct legal services to detained immigrants without legal representation. Kathryn is passionate about working with detained populations and upholding their due process rights. She plans to build a career advocating for the rights of legally vulnerable communities through appellate or impact litigation.

Larsen Klein ’27 graduated from Colgate University in 2022 with double majors in peace and conflict studies and women's studies. After graduating, Larsen worked at a law firm in New York City, largely focusing on a pro bono prisoners’ rights class action lawsuit. Alongside her legal education, Larsen also organizes with Court Watch NYC, a volunteer project that mobilizes the public to monitor court proceedings in order to provide valuable data on judges’ application of bail laws for the advocacy campaigns and release strategies of the Legal Aid Society. As a Stein Scholar, Larsen hopes to utilize her public interest legal education to safeguard and advocate for the rights and freedom of those most marginalized by our legal systems.

Ree Ree Li ’27 is from Waxhaw, North Carolina, and graduated from Yale University in 2016 with a B.A. in political science. Before coming to Fordham Law, she spent eight years working in tech, seeking to utilize technology to foment change—from starting the Civil Rights Law Group at Google, to funding underrepresented founders, and using AI to support local shelters at startups. She is passionate about ensuring safe and secure housing for all unhoused persons and developing effective AI regulation to prevent harmful use of the technology. As a Stein Scholar, she looks forward to diving into the public interest world and further advocating for marginalized communities.

Yulisa Ortiz ’27 graduated from the University of Michigan in 2022 with a B.A. in biopsychology, cognition, and neuroscience, along with a minor in crime and justice. While at Michigan, she volunteered with the Washtenaw County Jail, the Center for Forensic Psychiatry, and the Washtenaw County Office of the Public Defender. After graduation, she worked at an immigration law firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she served as both a legal assistant and as a translator for client interviews at USCIS. She is deeply committed to immigrant rights advocacy and policy reform. As a Stein Scholar, she is eager to further her passion for justice and to learn from others within the justice system.

Sheeba Pawar ’27 graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S.in neuroscience and a M.P.H in health behavior and health education with a concentration in social epidemiology. She currently works as a research associate at the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit organization focused on ending the overcriminalization and mass incarceration of people of color, immigrants, and people experiencing poverty. Her work focuses on the intersections of public health issues and criminal legal system responses, including improving access to community-based care for mental health and substance use treatment and promoting alternatives to policing, arrest, and incarceration. Before joining Vera, she worked as a healthcare specialist at Planned Parenthood of Michigan where she provided education and bedside support for family planning and abortion care services. Sheeba looks forward to using her law degree and experience as a Stein Scholar to advance and protect reproductive rights and ensure that all individuals can make pregnancy-related decisions without the threat of criminalization.

Cordelia Perez ’27 graduated from Bryn Mawr College with B.A. in anthropology. Her studies focused on race and gender in online subcultures. She has a decade of experience in the hospitality industry, where her passion for labor justice and worker’s rights grew. She looks forward to exploring law and advocacy at the intersection of immigrant, disability, and labor justice.

Bennett Sherr ’27 graduated from Cornell University in 2021 with a B.S. in industrial and labor relations and a minor in LGBT studies. Afterward, Bennett moved to London, England, where he received his M.Sc. in international migration and public policy from the London School of Economics. His master's thesis examined why labor unions in the United States began to welcome immigrants into their rank-and-file in the 1980s. Bennett now comes to Fordham after two years of teaching elementary school science and history in Los Angeles. As a Stein Scholar, Bennett is excited to build on his passion for union advocacy while surrounded by similarly driven students, all seeking to make a positive impact in public interest law.

Christian Veliz ’28 graduated from Georgetown University in with a B.A. in sociology and Brooklyn College with an M.S. in special education. Christian has over a decade of experience fostering achievement-oriented and inclusive school environments in Harlem. As a former special educator and current dean of students at KIPP Infinity Middle School, Christian has specialized in ensuring equitable access to learning for students with diverse needs and championed restorative practices.The son of Mexican immigrants, Christian has a passion for empowering underrepresented communities by supporting them in navigating complex and unjust systems. As a Stein Scholar, he aims to leverage his legal education to dismantle systemic barriers faced by underrepresented groups, particularly in education and civil rights.

Michaela Warshaw ’27 graduated from Barnard College in 2018 with a degree in anthropology and archaeology before receiving her master's degree in museum anthropology from Columbia University. Prior to law school, Michaela worked in collections management at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History. Her background in archaeology and museums has fueled her passion for cultural property law, and she is particularly interested in issues of cultural property restitution, repatriation, and cultural heritage protection. As a Stein Scholar, Michaela is excited to grow within a community of other students dedicated to serving the public interest in their future careers.

Doris Zhang ’27 graduated from Georgetown University in 2022 with majors in philosophy and math. She spent most of her extracurricular hours working as a student journalist, eventually serving as executive editor and as a member of the board of directors. Before law school, she worked at the American Constitution Society, and more recently, she also worked on combating online abuse of journalists at PEN America. Through the Stein Scholars Program, she hopes to further develop her interest in protecting  freedom of speech and freedom of the press.