Office of Public Interest

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Squire Patton Boggs Fellowship(s)

Squire Patton Boggs maintains a longstanding commitment to corporate social responsibility. By providing a meaningful investment in law students and legal professionals to engage in law, public policy, and public service, the Squire Patton Boggs Foundation embodies this commitment.

The cornerstone of the Foundation is the Public Policy Fellowship Program, which launched in 2005. Each year, the Program awards fellowships to exceptional first- and second-year law students who demonstrate a steadfast commitment to public service and a developed interest in public policy. These law students commit their summers to advancing public policy issues through non-profit institutions, government agencies and domestic or international organizations.

Additionally, the Foundation established a Puerto Rico Sustained Impact Fellowship in 2019. This fellowship focuses on post-hurricane disaster relief, community rebuilding and access to legal services in Puerto Rico. Two organizations in San Juan, Puerto Rico (Centro para Puerto Rico and Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico) partner with the Foundation to host one fellow each.

In response to the killing of George Floyd, the Foundation created three Racial Justice Sustained Impact Fellowships. The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Citizen Complaint Authority for the City of Cincinnati, and the Lone Star Justice Alliance in Dallas, Texas, will each host one fellow to work on issues surrounding voting rights, policing in Black communities, and juvenile justice in minority communities, respectively.

Selection Criteria

Public Policy Fellowship:

The Squire Patton Boggs Foundation seeks an AUWCL student who has finished their first or second year of law school and will work during the summer in a public policy position, for either a non-profit organization, NGO or government institution (but not a for-profit organization). Students may seek opportunities in foreign countries and in the United States. A preference is given to military veterans. The Foundation also wishes to further opportunities for students who contribute to the diverse economic, educational, and ethnic background of AUWCL's student body. To apply, students must submit a resume, a personal statement responding to the questions contained in the fellowship application, a brief supporting statement from the internship employer, a letter of recommendation, and other documents as provided in the job posting in CareerLink. Applications must be submitted through CareerLink.

Puerto Rico Sustained Impact Fellowship:

The Squire Patton Boggs Foundation seeks an AUWCL student who has finished their first or second year of law school and will work during the summer at one of the organizations participating in the Puerto Rico Sustained Impact Fellowship program. Spanish fluency is required. A preference is given to military veterans. The Foundation also wishes to further opportunities for students who contribute to the diverse economic, educational, and ethnic background of AUWCL's student body. To apply, students must submit a resume, a personal statement responding to the questions contained in the fellowship application, a letter of recommendation, and other documents as provided in the job posting in CareerLink.  Applications must be submitted through CareerLink.

Racial Justice Sustained Impact Fellowship:

The Squire Patton Boggs Foundation seeks an AUWCL student who has finished their first or second year of law school and will work during the summer at the organizations participating in the Racial Justice Sustained Impact Fellowship program. A preference is given to military veterans. The Foundation also wishes to further opportunities for students who contribute to the diverse economic, educational, and ethnic background of AUWCL's student body. To apply, students must submit a resume, a personal statement responding to the questions contained in the fellowship application, a letter of recommendation, and other documents as provided in the job posting in CareerLink.

Former AUWCL Participants

Participants

2021 Public Policy Fellow

Nicole Ledesma

Nicole Ledesma worked in the Office for Inspector General for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for her Fellowship. Nicole was extremely excited to start this internship because it combined her passions for law and public policy. Nicole has seven years of professional experience working in public interest positions as a Foreign Affairs Advisor and Investigator, assisting in international investigations covering arms trafficking, labor and human rights, and as an associate at Inter-American Dialogue, providing financial management to development projects in Guatemala and Nicaragua. Nicole graduated from American University’s School of International Service in 2015, and will receive her J.D. in May 2023 from American University Washington College of Law.

2020 Public Policy Fellow

Gaelen Molina

Gaelen Molina interned at Demos, where her public policy work focused on the economic and racial impacts on voting rights. Gaelen brings her research background in fair redistricting, voting accessibility and voting rights to her internship. Gaelen graduated from Rutgers University cum laude with a double major in history and religion. Dean Nelson’s recommendation highlighted “Gaelen’s passion for voting rights advocacy and support of advancing legislation promoting equity and fairness,” adding that this passion “is not newly formed, especially Gaelen’s commitment to the promotion of youth political participation.”

2019 Public Policy Fellow

Daniel Schwaber

Danny Schwaber is a rising 2L at American University Washington College of Law. He worked as a law clerk at the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. At the committee, he worked with the Ranking Member’s oversight and investigations office. Danny worked closely with committee counsels, and he conducted policy and legal research, memo drafting, and letter drafting for the committee’s ongoing oversight of agencies and industries under the committee’s purview. He also contributed to hearing and meeting preparation, legislative tracking, attended agency briefings, and supported various projects with a focus on policies that strive to protect patients, students, workers and the public.

2018 Public Policy Fellow

Shally Kim

Shally Kim will intern with the Office of Regulatory Policy (ORP), Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Through her internship at CDER, she plans to work to protect and promote public health by helping to ensure that human drugs are safe and effective for their intended uses, meet established quality standards, and made available to patients. Shally plans to conduct legal research and analysis on drug-related issues and contribute to regulatory projects involving the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Shally wants to assist in developing policies and guidance affecting the drug approval process, to promote patient safety and public health.

2017 Public Policy Fellow

Tatiana Devia

Tatiana Devia worked with the Human Rights Law Section of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Americas Regional Support Team (RST). Working with special agents, researchers and lawyers, Tatiana collaborated with RST to further specific investigations and litigation of cases involving suspects allegedly involved in human rights violations. A major component of her work involved the investigation of war crimes, genocide torture, extrajudicial killings and violations of religious freedoms in order to deny "safe haven" to perpetrators within the US. She also developed cases involving human trafficking and smuggling, which strengthen prevention initiatives.

2016 Public Policy Fellow

Anupama Selvam

Anupama Selvam is a J.D./M.A. in International Affairs candidate at American University. She worked for Vital Voices Global Partnership in the Human Rights Division. Anu helped develop multidisciplinary trainings for law enforcement, prosecutors and judges of various countries to ensure more effective responses to gender-based violence through understanding of gender dynamics and the law. She also conducted research and wrote reports to help link these trainings with international legal obligations of states to prevent, prosecute and punish gender-based violence, torture, and human trafficking.

2015 Public Policy Fellow

Marie Durane

Marie Durane interned with the Eurasia and Sub-Saharan Africa programs at the Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) with the U.S. Department of Commerce, in Washington, D.C. Through her internship, Marie learned how the CLDP is uniquely tasked with providing legal technical assistance programs to help countries to achieve their economic development goals. Working with CLDP’s development lawyers, Marie had the rare opportunity to engage in various projects that improved her legal research and writing skills, allowed her to gain knowledge in areas of the law that are particularly important to development, and facilitated networking opportunities with experienced lawyers in public international law.

2014 Public Policy Fellow

Alexandra Arango

Ms. Arango interned at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) in San José, Costa Rica. She worked worked closely with a legal team on three contentious cases and an advisory opinion. Ms. Arango focused on extrajudicial killings, amnesty laws, migrant children, and evidence-based compensation.

2013 Public Policy Fellow

Marisa E. Menezes

Ms. Menezes worked as an intern for the Appeals Chamber at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). She researched, drafted, and edited sections of the draft judgment for Prosecutor v. Popovi?, et al., the largest appeal in the history of international criminal law. Ms. Menezes specifically focused on genocide, joint criminal enterprise, and evidentiary issues.

2012 Public Policy Fellow

Catlin Meade

Ms. Meade worked as a foreign affairs intern in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, the Office of Peace Operations, Sanctions, and Counter-terrorism. She had a portfolio of conflict areas for which she provided guidance to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations regarding the introduction, monitoring, and termination of sanctions.  Ms. Meade also analyzed foreign relations, litigation, and public policy risks to draft U.S. government strategy papers for specific sanctions regimes.

2011 Public Policy Fellow

Adriana Ingenito

Ms. Ingenito interned with the U.S. Department of State, Office of the Assistant Legal Advisor for International Claims and Investment Disputes.  Her particular responsibilities focused on legal research related to ongoing NAFTA arbitrations and litigation related to U.S. investment disputes in Iran. Ms. Ingenito is a first generation American.  With parents who immigrated from Poland and Italy respectively, her parents’ struggle for freedom and the significance of a tolerant legal system has influenced her focus on international law and policy.