The Child Advocacy Program (CAP) invites you to join us Friday, October 30, 12:00-1:00PM (EST), when three HLS and CAP/Clinic alumni will discuss their experiences seeking a public interest career while at HLS, how the CAP Clinic influenced their trajectory, and their current work in the field of child advocacy. The panelists’ remarks will be followed by a Q&A.
This is a remote event with registration required. Please click here to register for the Zoom link.
We are honored to welcome the following panelists and Child Advocacy Clinic supervising attorneys:
Alice Abrokwa is a senior attorney on the National Center for Youth Law’s Legal Advocacy team, where she pursues impact litigation on behalf of low-income and marginalized children and youth in areas including mental health, education, disability rights, and juvenile justice. Prior to joining NCYL, Alice was a Trial Attorney with the Disability Rights Section of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. Alice previously worked at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law as a Skadden Fellow, where her work focused on representing students with mental health disabilities attending D.C. public charter schools in special education matters. Alice received her B.A. from Princeton University and joint J.D. and Master in Public Policy degrees from Harvard Law School and Harvard Kennedy School. After law school, she clerked for Judge James R. Spencer on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and for Judge Roger L. Gregory on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Lisa Lana is a trial attorney with the Somerville office of the Youth Advocacy Division (YAD) of the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) appointed to represent juveniles (12-18) in delinquency and youthful offender cases in the Juvenile Court at all stages of their court cases, as well as in school disciplinary hearings. During her time at HLS Lisa served as president of the Student Representative Board, the HLS student government, for two years. Her clinical activities included serving as co-chair of the Mississippi Delta Project, and student attorney for the Prison Legal Assistance Program, Child Advocacy Clinic, and Harvard Immigration Project. After law school Lisa clerked for Justice Mark Green of the Massachusetts Appeals Court. In addition to her J.D., Lisa holds a Master of Social Work from University of Denver.
Jason Szanyi is the Deputy Director of the Center for Children’s Law and Policy, where he oversees the Center’s work to end dangerous and inhumane conditions for youth in custody, collaborates with communities to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system, and helps public officials reduce the unnecessary incarceration of children. In 2015, Jason was recognized by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as a Next Generation Champion for Change for his leadership in youth justice reform. Jason joined the Center as a Skadden Fellow through a partnership with the District of Columbia Public Defender Service’s Juvenile Services Program. Jason has lectured on the juvenile justice system at several law schools and universities, and he has served as a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at HLS. Jason is a graduate of Northwestern University and Harvard Law School.
This event is co-sponsored by Harvard Law Child & Youth Advocates (CYA).