Class of 2026
Rachel Bechtel
Rachel (she/her) is a disability justice activist with experience in direct support, advocacy, and research. Rachel is originally from Moscow, Idaho, where she was introduced to disability culture at a young age through her friends and family. She graduated from Carroll College in Helena, Montana with a degree in Psychology. During this time, she researched disability-based wage discrimination and promoted increased accessibility on campus and in her community. After graduation, she provided individual and systemic advocacy as an advocacy specialist at Disability Rights Montana. Rachel then lived and worked as a Direct Support Professional within a cooperative living community for adults with and without intellectual disabilities in Portland, Oregon. She recently finished a Fulbright grant in Canterbury, England, where she completed a Master’s by Research Degree and studied the effects of relationships on prejudice towards people with intellectual disabilities. Rachel is excited to attend AUWCL and hopes to continue to promote disability justice.
zev braun
Zev (he/him) grew up in the small, ideologically-diverse community of Hood River, Oregon. There, glaring inequalities based on ethnicity and immigration status sparked a winding career journey that would eventually lead him to AUWCL. After graduating from Grinnell College in 2015 with a Bachelor’s in Biology, Zev began work as an emergency medical technician and drug addiction recovery specialist in Portland, Oregon, with the intent to become a physician. Discouraged by the quality of our healthcare system and the social determinants of health, however, Zev took a break from that as an AmeriCorps volunteer in a different rural Oregon community than his hometown. Assigned to health education in an alternative high school, he witnessed both terrible impacts of childhood trauma and incredible resiliency in the student body—spurring a fundamental re-evaluation of his career and lifepath; Zev gave up the path of medical professional in favor of policy advocacy and systems change as a lifelong commitment. In graduate school after AmeriCorps ended, Zev studied health policy and law at Boston University School of Public Health, devoting his coursework towards gun violence prevention advocacy. In his spare time, Zev used funding from a university challenge grant to interview family members who had lost loved ones to gun violence in Boston, and develop a website to uplift their voices in pushing for policy changes and systems investments on the city level. After graduation, Zev returned to Oregon, where he first worked for a state policy nonprofit focused on firearm safety—contributing to the eventual passage of Oregon’s safe firearm storage law (SB 554)—and second worked for a Portland metro county’s health department as their suicide prevention coordinator.
christine cha
As a Korean American, Christine (she/her) graduated and received her Bachelor of Arts from Bucknell University in 2021 double majoring in political science and philosophy. Christine became committed to her passion for the law when she interned in Chatham County Juvenile court in Savannah, Georgia, within the prosecutor’s office. Working with the prosecutors, she took and recorded victim statements, helping maintain structure and clarity for the juvenile court as a whole. She saw firsthand how families and children’s lives were being determined by the law, especially those from marginalized communities, for their future and livelihoods. But she also saw how her local government and the juvenile court worked towards making changes within the system, such as thinking of ways to introduce restorative justice and taking a family-first approach. Thus, she found her purpose on how to serve her community through the legal realm. Christine has worked in various realms within the public service and public interest arena, from nonprofit work to local county government. She was one of four people in her school to receive the Shepherd Hill Consortium for Poverty summer internship program and worked for Bread for the City in Washington DC as a housing social service worker. Christine has worked with hundreds of clients on their affordable housing applications in DC and nonnative English speakers for their social security and housing applications. Christine’s perspective on the legal system’s role within the family became more nuanced and enhanced after she became an AmeriCorps member. She worked as a Crisis Rapid Response Coordinator with families in three different counties in Central Pennsylvania (Northumberland, Snyder, Union Counties). As a Crisis Rapid Response worker, when children were at risk of being taken away from their family, often within the end of the day, she made sure that a family meeting was held as soon as possible to face the emergency. Her most rewarding yet demanding role as a Crisis Rapid Response worker meant coordinating with hundreds of family members, their supports, schools, local prisons, and their social workers to make sure the children could stay with kinship support rather than be put in the foster system. Families were often dealing with issues such as poverty, substance use, and mental health crises, and she learned how to serve them, so they felt as much agency in the process as possible. However, Christine felt throughout her career that there were severe limitations as a social worker, whereas attorneys had the power to help their clients feel safe and supported. She chose the law because she could make a greater difference as a lawyer because people trust and rely on their lawyers to protect them and their best interests. Christine’s dedication and drive towards working with marginalized and destabilized families, and committing to family and juvenile law is something that she will pursue within her time and WCL and beyond.
nicole devereaux
Nicole (she/her) has spent nearly 20 years helping people engage in their most important conversations. As a certified Conversational Intelligence® coach, Nicole facilitated innovative conversations around diversity, equity and inclusion practices at public interest organizations, including the NYC Department of Health and the National Housing Trust in Washington, D.C. Nicole was also an anti-bias trainer with AmazeWorks. In that role, she led conversations in K-12 schools about identity, differences, stereotypes, and taking action against bias-based mistreatment. Formerly, Nicole served at a women’s crisis center in Minneapolis. Initially hired to launch a material assistance program, she was inspired by conversations with clients to co-create an education program to support their parenting journeys, mental health, job readiness, and financial freedom. Nicole is also a Restorative Circle Keeper and Nonviolent Communication practitioner. She has planted non-denominational churches in Minneapolis, MN and Brooklyn, NY, where she provided pro bono lay counseling, conflict resolution, and welcomed hundreds of neighbors around her table. For her 40th birthday, Nicole fundraised $40,000. She donated the funds to nonprofits serving refugees, female entrepreneurs, and survivors of sex trafficking. Prior to joining the PIPS community, Nicole spent 2 years living in a motorhome and traveling across the U.S. with her husband, two daughters and dog. She is eager to take on her next adventure as a law student and future public servant, with a particular interest in advancing racial justice.
gabriela dickson la rotta
Gabriela (she/her) joins PIPS after almost three years at the Public Justice Center, a Baltimore-based impact litigation firm, where she supported the Human Right to Housing Team on eviction-related matters. Helping attorneys represent clients in Baltimore housing court and pushing for policy solutions in the Maryland state legislature informed her decision to pursue a career working with clients and effecting change at the systemic level. Born in Brazil to journalist parents from Colombia and Argentina, Gabriela grew up in Miami, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and New York. She graduated in 2020 with a B.S. in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University. Upon graduation, she was a Spanish/English interpreter for the Cornell Law School farmworker legal assistance clinic. She is currently Special Projects Coordinator for Project Lifeline, a non-profit organization that supports legal practitioners in their work with immigrant youth. She co-created the Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Predicate Order Resource Center, including the State-by-State Age-Out Database, a tool used by thousands of attorneys around the U.S. every day. In her free time, she enjoys reading romance novels, baking for friends and family, and singing in her Baltimore-based a cappella group.
lydia galvan
Lydia (she/her/ella) is a Chicana woman from Texas. She is dedicated to transforming the legal and policy systems that impact immigrant families, like hers, to better serve and honor the sacrifice, bravery, and dreams of those who journey to the United States. In previous roles, Lydia has explored areas of interest, including education and housing. She worked within Fort Worth, Texas, organizing community members to advance racial equity efforts in public education. In her real estate career, she saw the realities of redlining and gentrification across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. She brings a diverse set of experiences from designing advocacy campaigns locally and statewide to negotiating contracts for home sales. Lydia is a graduate of Texas Christian University, where she studied political science with an emphasis in comparative race and ethnic studies. She is a yoga teacher, amateur gardener, and loves exploring new interests and she is eager to join the PIPS community at AU!
kayla keech
Kayla (she/her) continues her studies at the Washington College of Law after three years at the Office of Generic Drug Policy in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). While at FDA, she served as the subject-matter expert on all administrative matters for the office. Kayla led the office’s transition to a fully remote office during the COVID-19 global pandemic and, eventually, to a hybrid workplace. She streamlined workflow processes and developed and communicated policies and procedures to staff. Kayla also volunteered to serve on the Office of Generic Drugs Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Committee. Leveraging her experience as a person with a disability, she organized the Committee’s inaugural event on incorrect stereotypes and interacting with people with disabilities. Previously, Kayla interned in the Office of the Parliamentarian in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she assisted a team of lawyers who advised members of both parties on House rules. Here, she helped edit the second volume of Precedents of the U.S. House of Representatives. Kayla graduated summa cum laude from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with a B.S. in Public Policy and Administration and a minor in Spanish.
junnah Mozaffar
Junnah (she/her) is incredibly grateful to join this year’s PIPS cohort. After the United States’ hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Junnah quickly shifted her priorities. In her senior year of college, she joined Development Alternative Inc. 's (DAI), Emergency Response Team to manage their Special Immigration Visa (SIV) requests. In her role, she researched, wrote, and processed application materials that would allow DAI’s Afghan employees to enter the U.S. The raw experiences of Afghans fleeing the Taliban while stranded in the visa system exposed the shortcomings of immigration policy. As much of the world remained silent, Junnah paused her pursuit of law school for a year to continue her work at DAI. Outside of work, she taught adult English classes and helped newly-arrived families integrate to their new home. Junnah is a Virginia native. She holds a B.A. in both Philosophy and Psychology from the College of William and Mary.
kayla Rivers
Kayla (she/her) joins the PIPS community from St. Thomas, U.S Virgin Islands, where she was born and raised. Her interest in law school and community advocacy is rooted in her passion for social justice. In the 2 years prior to entering Washington College of Law, Kayla served as a Legislative Staffer in the 34th and 35th Legislatures of the US Virgin Islands, focusing primarily on education, public safety and labor policy. In her role, she worked on policy that aimed to improve student achievement for students with behavioral issues, advocated for victims of crimes against a person and sought to increase equitable opportunities for employment. In addition to her work in policy, Kayla worked in the nonprofit realm increasing civic engagement in Generation Z and Millennial populations. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Anthropology and a minor in International Relations from Seton Hall University. Research in her undergraduate studies explored educational and social programs for youth that would limit gun violence in the Virgin Islands, criminal justice reform, and social determinants of health in historically marginalized communities. By the culmination of her undergraduate studies Kayla earned Seton Hall University’s 2021 University Award for Distinguished Leadership due to her extensive efforts working to increase equity and inclusion on college campuses through facilitation, program coordination and policy implementation. Kayla looks forward to her experience as a PIPS scholar at WCL hoping to combine her background in research, policy and advocacy for historically marginalized communities with the law.
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