Alex Cárdenas

Boulder County District Attorney’s Office

Boulder, Colorado

Alex Cárdenas will be serving as a PRP Fellow in the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office, where he will be focusing on consumer, housing, and workers rights initiatives. Prior to the fellowship, Alex worked as a law clerk for three years in the Eastern District of New York and the District of Vermont. He attended Fordham University School of Law, where he earned distinction for performing more than 1,000 hours of pro bono work during his tenure. Alex was previously a part of the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs, and participated in the U.S. Department of Labor honors program following his graduation from law school.

Derrick De Vera

Seattle City Attorney’s Office

Seattle, Washington

Derrick De Vera, as a native-Seattleite, is passionate about serving the community he has always called home. Prior to being a Public Rights Project Fellow, he was a litigator at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt and helped champion its 1L Diversity Program. Throughout his career, he has cultivated relationships through local civic organizations such as Leadership Tomorrow, Institute for a Democratic Future, and APACEVotes. Derrick’s work in the Seattle City Attorney’s Office will include cases to enforce civil rights and labor standards codes as well as involvement in multi-jurisdictional litigation and advocacy. Derrick embraces the fellowship as a powerful opportunity to advance justice by effectively navigating the interwoven realities of individuals in the context of broader systems. A proud product of Seattle Public Schools, he also attended the University of Washington for his undergraduate and law school education.

Ifrah Esse

Minnesota Attorney General’s Office 

St. Paul, Minnesota

Ifrah Esse will be working at the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office in the Wage Theft Unit. Originally from Somalia, she migrated to the U.S. with her family when she was ten years old. She grew up in Minneapolis and attended the University of Minnesota as an undergraduate. Prior to law school, she worked as a social worker for several years. Ifrah attended the University of North Dakota Law School, where she worked closely with local immigrant communities and helped start a daycare center. Ifrah is passionate about serving marginalized communities. In her fellowship placement, Ifrah will enforce Minnesota’s wage laws and protect workers’ economic and civil rights as well as direct community outreach to the workers and communities most affected by wage theft.

Deepa Goraya

Delaware Attorney General’s Office 

Wilmington, Delaware

Deepa Goraya joins the PRP Fellowship with extensive experience enforcing the rights of people with disabilities in the areas of public accommodations, transportation, employment, and education. After growing up in Southern California and attending UCLA as an undergraduate, she graduated from the University of Michigan for law school. Her past advocacy has focused on improving the accessibility of websites, mobile applications, and touchscreens for the blind. Deepa is currently a Board Member of both the Disability Rights Bar Association and National Association of Blind Lawyers. She is an active leader and member of the National Federation of the Blind, a civil rights advocacy organization led by, and consisting of, blind individuals from around the country. In the Delaware Attorney General’s Office, Deepa will work out of the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust and address civil rights abuses by investigating and litigating pattern and practice discrimination.

Ying Wang

Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office

Boston, MA

Ying Wang was born in Texas and traded in her cowboy boots for a Red Sox cap when she moved to Boston, which she considers her hometown. She is the proud daughter of immigrants and is energized by her community volunteer work serving this population among other causes she is passionate about. Ying has a background in financial services and held a variety of roles at State Street, including as in-house counsel and as the "voice of the CFO" driving the communications, employee engagement, and learning programs. She currently serves as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) Officer in the United States Army Reserves, providing legal assistance and support to national defense operations. As a fellow in the Suffolk County DA’s Office, Ying will be working to support the implementation of the District Attorney’s criminal justice reform initiatives. In her spare time, Ying enjoys hiking with her two golden retrievers and taking improv comedy classes.

NICK DEFIESTA

OAKLAND CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE,

COMMUNITY LAWYERING & CIVIL RIGHTS UNIT

Nick DeFiesta is a Public Rights Project and Stanford Law School Public Interest Fellow working in the Oakland City Attorney's Office. During his fellowship, Nick will collaborate with Oakland’s Community Lawyering and Civil Rights Unit and work on projects to promote racial justice and LGBTQ+ rights. During law school, he pursued litigation on behalf of the labor movement at Altshuler Berzon and represented members of minority faiths in anti-discrimination lawsuits as part of Stanford’s Religious Liberties Clinic. Prior to law school, Nick was a fellow at Connecticut Voices for Children, where he conducted policy research and legislative advocacy.

A graduate of Stanford Law School and Yale College, he was the Senior Development Editor of Stanford Law Review and the co-president of OutLaw, Stanford Public Interest Law Foundation, and Stanford Law School’s student government.

LAUREN MILLER

COOK COUNTY STATE’S ATTORNEY’S OFFICE,

CIVIL ACTIONS BUREAU

A 2018 law school graduate, Lauren clerked for the Honorable John R. Blakey in the Northern District of Illinois following graduation. During law school, she worked with New Haven Legal Assistance Association to represent individuals in wage theft actions and immigration proceedings. She also worked with organizations such as the National Women’s Law Center, the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section, and the ACLU Women’s Rights Project on employment issues ranging from equal pay to pregnancy accommodations and national origin-based discrimination. Lauren earned her J.D. from Yale Law School and her B.A. from Stanford University.

COLIN STROUD

WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Colin Stroud was born and raised in Madison, and is thrilled to return home to serve the citizens of Wisconsin. Colin began his legal career as a law clerk for United States Magistrate Judge James C. Francis, IV, in the Southern District of New York. Following his clerkship, Colin joined the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice in October 2016 through the Attorney General's Honors Program. As a trial attorney in the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section, Colin handled investigations and enforcement actions, including pattern or practice litigation, under the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and other federal civil rights statutes.

Colin is a graduate of Colorado College and the New York University School of Law.

HALLAM STANTON

DETROIT MAYOR’S OFFICE

Hallam is a Detroit-based attorney with an interest in affirmative litigation at the state and local levels. Prior to joining the fellowship, Hallam clerked for the Honorable Judith E. Levy of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. There, his caseload included the class actions and individual lawsuits that arose from the Flint Water Crisis, giving him the opportunity to observe the repercussions of poor decision making in government and the potential for litigation to remedy the impact of those decisions. Hallam has also demonstrated an interest in public service internationally as an intern at the Rule of Law and Democracy Section of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.

Hallam is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, where he was a contributing editor of the Michigan Law Review and a Dean’s Public Service Fellow. He obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.

KARUN TILAK

OAKLAND CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE,

COMMUNITY LAWYERING & CIVIL RIGHTS UNIT

Karun joins the fellowship after 3 years as an associate at Covington & Burling LLP. At Covington, Karun litigated several notable public interest cases, including successfully challenging the Trump administration's decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census and representing individuals harmed by President Trump's travel ban executive order. Karun also represented the State of Minnesota in a natural resources damages lawsuit against the 3M Company, which resulted in a landmark $850 million settlement.

Karun is a graduate of the Yale Law School, and clerked for Judge Jerome A. Holmes on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and Judge Anita B. Brody of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

David UREÑa

Massachusetts attorney general's office,

civil rights division

David is an experienced attorney with a background in litigation and advocacy on behalf of low-wage workers. David began his career as a Staff Attorney in the Workers’ Justice Project of Mobilization for Justice (formerly MFY Legal Services), where he provided direct legal services to hundreds of low-wage workers in New York City. He went on to join the Workers’ Rights Practice of the Community Development Project at the Urban Justice Center as a Staff Attorney. At the Community Development Project, David worked with low-wage workers, in partnership with New York City-based grassroots workers’ centers and community groups organizing for systemic workplace change, and provided representation in state and federal court litigation to vindicate their rights.

David is a graduate of Fordham Law School, where he was a Stein Scholar for Public Interest Law and Ethics, and the University of Pennsylvania.

callie wilson

oakland city attorney's office,

community lawyering & civil rights unit 

We have partnered with Justice Catalyst to host an additional fellow in the Oakland City Attorney's office on a one-year fellowship. As a PRP/Justice Catalyst Fellow, Callie will collaborate with Oakland’s Community Lawyering and Civil Rights Unit and work on projects to promote gender equity. During law school, she collaborated with the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office to litigate issues ranging from housing rights to gender equity and climate change. Prior to law school, she served as the Communications Director for Assembly Member Daniel O’Donnell, the first openly gay man elected to the New York State Assembly. In that capacity she helped further legislation to combat in-school bullying and facilitate the involvement of parents of ESL students in advisory positions with the New York City Board of Education.

A graduate of Yale Law School and Barnard College, she was a co-Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Journal of Law & Feminism.