Current recipients of the Tony Patiño Merit Award

Columbia Law School

Skylar Gleason

Class of ‘25

Skylar Gleason grew up in northern Michigan and graduated from the University of Michigan with highest distinction in 2019. She majored in International Studies and Political Science and minored in Spanish and Law, Justice, and Social Change.

While attending U of M, Skylar was heavily involved in community service through leadership in Circle K. She interned with the Washtenaw County Office of Public Defender, the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, and Perseus Strategies, a DC-based international human rights law firm. Her junior year, she spent a semester in Buenos Aires, which inspired her honors thesis on Argentina’s transitional justice process following the country’s last military dictatorship.

After graduation, Skylar returned to Perseus Strategies for two years as the Liu Xiaobo Human Rights Fellow. In that role, she engaged in legal, government, and media advocacy on a wide variety of human rights projects across the globe, including political prisoner cases, international parental child abduction cases, an international tort claim, and investigative reports on crimes against humanity and war crimes. Although Skylar completed her fellowship, she has remained part of the Perseus team as a pro bono consultant on the case of two American hostages in Iran, one of whom was finally permitted to leave the country in October 2022. Additionally, for the year prior to law school, she served as a member of the Scholar at Risk Network’s advocacy team, which involved advocating for the freedom of imprisoned scholars and chronicling attacks on academic freedom for the organization’s online database.

At Columbia, Skylar is a Public Interest/Public Service Fellow and a Human Rights Institute Advocate. She hopes to pursue a career in international human rights law with a specific focus on transitional justice and mass atrocity accountability.

Nathan Porceng

Class of ‘25

Nathan Porceng was born and raised in Syracuse, New York. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2016 with a B.S. in chemical engineering and minors in history and music.

After graduation, Nathan joined the United States Navy through the Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate Program. He served for 14 months as a Junior Officer Staff Instructor at Nuclear Power Training Unit Ballston Spa, teaching hands-on nuclear operations to sailors and supervising physics testing on a prototype reactor. Nathan then served 32 months aboard the submarine USS Ohio, during which time he completed three deployments and held several roles including Operational Safety Officer, Assistant Engineer, and Chemistry and Radiological Controls Assistant.

Between deployments, Nathan volunteered with Tutoría, preparing prospective immigrants for their U.S. citizenship exams, and with United Way, staffing the Washington State COVID-19 Information Hotline. Nathan left the Navy in April 2022 and began working as a freelance writer. His work on clean energy and sustainable living has been featured by The Daily Beast.

Nathan hopes to pursue a career in climate justice, civil rights, and environmental law.

Brandon Reid

Class of ‘25

Brandon Reid is from Annapolis, Maryland and graduated from Davidson College in 2022. Brandon was first in the college’s history to serve two consecutive terms as student body president. He graduated cum laude from Davidson with honors in philosophy, and is now a JD student at Columbia Law School with a passion for working towards the eradication of the school-to-prison pipeline.

At Davidson in 2021, Brandon completed a project called “Telling the Stories of the Ignored and Forgotten” that contributed to the release of his childhood friend 12 years early from prison. This project received national attention, that included ABC’s Good Morning America, The Washington Post, NBC News, and an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. In Annapolis, Brandon leads Brandon’s Coalition for Success, a mentoring program that has been working with at-risk youth for the past six years.

Ghalia Aamer

Class of ‘26

Ghalia Aamer, a 2023 graduate of the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Commerce and certificates in Leadership and International Learning, is an entrepreneur and education advocate. She founded TalkMaze, an internationally recognized organization focusing on public speaking and debate training for children. Ghalia’s achievements include being a Princess Diana Award recipient and Cansbridge Fellow.

As the youngest Canadian delegate at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance Summit, she crafted policy recommendations for enhancing entrepreneurial ecosystems through education and inclusion. She also served as the youngest member on Junior Achievement’s Board of Directors and Edmonton Unlimited’s Innovation Growth Council, championing youth, women, and visible minorities. With eight years of experience at the intersection of education and business, Ghalia started her first company, Toon Tutors, at 13. She’s a sought-after international speaker, with four TEDx talks, the most recent highlighting her journey as the daughter of Pakistani immigrants.

In her leisure time, Ghalia enjoys globe-trotting and language acquisition, having visited 17 countries and currently learning her fourth language, Spanish.

Prameela Kottapalli

Class of ‘26

Prameela Kottapalli graduated from Cornell University in 2023, earning top honors for her thesis on the political and economic landscape of the United States migrant detention system. Her most intensive involvement was founding the Cornell Anti Detention Alliance, a community organization dedicated to supporting migrants incarcerated in upstate New York. Through this initiative, she most notably led a campaign that contributed to the release of multiple women from the Buffalo Federal Immigration Detention Facility at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For her leadership, advocacy, and service, she was recognized as a 2022 New York State Truman Finalist and a Cornell Merrill Presidential Scholar. On campus, she was also an active leader in the Pi Beta Phi sorority, where she promoted diversity initiatives as a new member instructor, and the Cornell outdoor education program, where she guided pre-orientation backpacking trips on the Finger Lakes trail for incoming freshmen. She is a proud daughter of immigrants and grew up in San Jose, California.

Wassa Bagayoko

Class of ‘27

Wassa Bagayoko is a Malian American from Harlem, New York. She graduated from Brown University in 2021 with a Bachelors of Arts in International Relations. At Brown, Wassa focused her studies on the intersections of climate change and human rights, specifically the issue of forced climate migration. Outside of the classroom, was a member of Sunrise RI (formally the Rhode Island Student Climate Coalition) and ThoughtsPrayersAction (TPA), a Brown-based, gun violence prevention organization. As the head of TPA, Wassa worked with local groups to pass common sense gun reform and was honored by the Governor for her efforts. Wassa was also active on campus as a community service chair of the Black Student Union and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Immediately after Brown, Wassa was awarded a Fulbright English teaching fellowship in Cote d’Ivoire, where she spent nine months teaching in Abidjan and volunteering at a women’s library. After her fellowship, Wassa returned to New York City where she worked as a consultant in Ernst & Young’s business practice. During this time, Wassa became the first alumni member of Harlem Academy’s junior board and a member of The Chapin School’s alumnae board. She remains passionate about sustainability, education, and justice.

At Columbia Law School, Wassa is a Richard Paul Richman Scholar and a member of the 1L Human RightsAdvocate Program.

Ria Kanani

Class of ‘27

Ria Kanani is dedicated to advocating for survivors of sexual harassment and domestic violence, with a focus on representing individuals at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities. For the past five years, she has worked at a family law firm, specializing in domestic violence and Minor’s Counsel cases and advancing initiatives to better support children navigating legal proceedings. Ria also interned at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women, where she contributed to key research on improving juvenile court resources for domestic violence victims.

While originally from the Bay Area, Ria also calls DC home as a graduate of Georgetown University. There, Ria founded and led The Women’s Network, fostering a community for ambitious women to connect and support each other. At Columbia Law, she is a fellow of the Max Berger Public Interest Program and the Human Rights Institute Advocacy Program. After law school, she aims to build a national public interest law firm dedicated to using a victim-centered approach to advocate for survivors of sexual harassment.

UC College of the Law San Francisco

Nooran Alhamdan

Class of ‘25

Nooran Alhamdan was raised in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She attended the University of New Hampshire (UNH) from 2016-2019, where she received degrees in Analytical Economics, Political Science, and a minor in Middle Eastern Studies. During her time at UNH she was an International Research Opportunity Program (IROP) grant recipient, funding her 9 week research in Jordan on Palestinian refugee identity construction. She also interned at the United Nations Population Fund Agency and the Arab American Institute. In her junior year she was awarded the Harry S. Truman Scholarship in recognition of her commitment to refugee and immigrant rights.

Upon graduation, Nooran attended Georgetown University from 2020-2022 and received her Masters degree in Arab Studies from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foriegn Service. Her graduate research focused on refugee advocacy, human rights in the Middle East, and transitional justice in Palestine. She interned at Perseus Strategies, an international human rights law firm based in Washington DC. Throughout this time she was also a graduate fellow at the Middle East Institute, where she published policy memorandums on Palestinian refugees and digital rights in the Arab world.

At UC San Francisco, Nooran hopes to launch her legal career. She is currently a representative for the UC San Francisco Technology and Law Society and for the Middle Eastern Law Society. In her free time, Nooran enjoys exploring the Bay Area and spending time with her husband and their two cats.

Julie Mendoza

Class of ‘25

Julie Mendoza is a Bay Area native and a student at UC College of the Law San Francisco. Julie graduated from UC Berkeley in 2017, a first generation college graduate, where she studied Psychology and Legal Studies. After graduating with High Distinction, Julie became a 7th grade humanities teacher in East Oakland’s District 2 while simultaneously earning a Masters in Education Policy from Loyola Marymount University.

As an educator in Oakland, she was the faculty advisor to multiple student organizations, served as the Humanities Department Chair, and became a lead organizer for the Oakland Education Association. As an organizer, she fought against school closures and advocated for targeted support for high need students across the district. In her last year as a classroom educator, 50% of her English Language Learners received the highest score possible on their English Language Proficiency Assessments, preparing them for high school and beyond. Julie believes deeply in the power of public education and intends to use her law school education to continue to advocate for underserved students and families in Oakland.

Emma Johnston

Class of ‘26

Emma grew up in the East Bay Area, California, and graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Government in 2016. She is interested in pursuing a career in environmental and climate change law working for the State of California. Before starting law school, she was a regulatory analyst at the California Public Utilities Commission, working on safety and risk policy for energy utilities. At Cornell, she served as a student government representative, co-founded a student-run grocery store on campus, and established an environmental council of sustainability-related clubs.

From 2016-2017, she was an Executive Fellow through the Capital Fellows Program. Placed at the California Natural Resources Agency during her fellowship, she helped develop the State’s climate change adaptation plan. She continued working at the California Natural Resources Agency from 2017-2019, helping to create California’s climate change strategy for natural and working lands. She was also a Clean Energy Leadership Institute Bay Area Fellow from 2021-2022.

Outside of work, Emma was involved in climate justice organizing in Sacramento, her home for over six years. As a young girl, she always dreamed of living in San Francisco and is grateful to have the opportunity to go to law school here. For fun, Emma enjoys distance running, walking with her dog, drinking coffee, and cooking.

Edgar Rosales

Class of ‘26

Edgar is from Contra Costa County, California, and is a U.S. Army Veteran. After his time in the service, Edgar earned a bachelor’s degree in political economics from the University of California, Berkeley. Before pursuing a law school, Edgar had a fruitful career in federal, state, and local government.

He has spearheaded several campaigns in the East Bay, and most recently, advised a congressional candidate on local issues. Edgar worked for several elected officials in the Bay Area, of those: Contra Costa County Chair Supervisor, John Gioia; Congressman Mike Thompson; Congressman Mark DeSaulnier; California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond (then Assemblymember Tony Thurmond); and Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks. Edgar has a long history of community involvement in Contra Costa County, starting with his first job at the RYSE Youth Center at the age of 16. Edgar is also a board member of the El Sobrante Chamber of Commerce and the Contra Costa County Red Cross Leadership Council.

Edgar’s areas of interest are veteran issues, public education, economic mobility, immigration, and gun reform. Edgar is also a running and cycling enthusiast and has run several marathons and ultra-marathons. But, most importantly, he is a proud uncle to two nieces and one nephew.

Nilab Nawabi

Class of ‘27

Nilab Nawabi was born and raised in the Los Angeles San Fernando Valley, to Afghan immigrant parents and is a proud graduate of the California public school system. Nilab has spent the past decade working for health care related nonprofits across the state, including San Ysidro Health Center in San Diego, Kheir (Care) Center in LA’s Koreatown, and most recently, at HealthRIGHT 360, an organization providing health care to thousands of Californians experiencing homelessness headquartered in San Francisco.

As HealthRIGHT’s current Chief People Officer, Nilab has developed private and public partnerships to put together workforce development and paid training programs for people with lived experiences of homelessness and mental health conditions. Harnessing the power of human resources, Nilab has successfully advocated to raise wages for workers across the state, and has helped bridge the workforce shortage gap in behavioral health, including running the state’s largest Mentored Internship Program with funding from the California Department of Health Care Services.

Nilab is thrilled to achieve her long-time goal of attending law school, and is honored to be selected as a Tony Patiño Fellow-Elect.

Kavita Rai

Class of ‘27

Kavita Rai is from Ventura County, California, and graduated from the University of Southern California, where she majored in Public Policy. A cancer survivor and women’s health advocate, Kavita is focused on advancing health equity and addressing public health challenges. After graduation, Kavita helped build Ethos, a digital health startup delivering behavioral health and early detection technology to patients and providers, with a focus on substance abuse. She previously founded and led Justice in the Classroom, an education nonprofit that expanded racial equity resources to school districts across California during COVID-19. During her time at USC, she spearheaded Title IX reform in partnership with students, USC Health, and EEO-TIX.

For her leadership, advocacy, and service, Kavita was recognized as a 2024 Vital Voices Fellow by the Estée Lauder Fund and honored by the UN Campaign Girl Up as the 2024 Young Woman of the Year. She previously held roles as a national fellow at the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) and as a NextGen Board Advisor at Female Quotient. Kavita has been invited to speak at the 2021 World Economic Forum in Davos and Los Angeles City Hall for the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Day.

Kavita’s legal interests include working at the intersection of health innovation and law, fighting for reproductive rights, and advancing health justice.

University of Chicago Law School

Kelly Bridges

Class of ‘25

Prior to joining the class of 2025 at the University of Chicago Law School, Kelly worked as an advocate to increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation in developing countries. From 2018 to 2021, Kelly served as a Senior Associate at Global Water 2020, a time-bound advocacy and facilitation initiative aimed at solving critical challenges in the global water, sanitation, and hygiene (commonly known as WASH) sector. These included addressing issues at the intersection of WASH and public health, as well as the relationship between water insecurity and conflict in transboundary river basins. In the year following her time at Global Water 2020, she worked as a consultant with the philanthropic initiative, The END Fund, supporting the integration of WASH, global health, nutrition, and education policies, strategies, and investments.

Kelly remains involved in the water sector as a Board Member of the Philadelphia-based non-profit organization, Global Water Alliance, as well as serves as the Young Professional Director on the Board of Directors of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association. In 2016, Kelly graduated from the University of Pennsylvania as a Benjamin Franklin Scholar with a B.A. in Science, Technology, and Society, concentrating in Energy, Environment, and Technology. Upon completing her studies at the University of Pennsylvania, she pursued her M.Sc. in Water Science, Policy, and Management at the University of Oxford, graduating in 2017. In her next chapter in law school, Kelly is looking forward to gaining new tools that can be deployed to help realize the human rights to water and sanitation.

Sahar Omer

Class of ‘25

A native of Sudan, Sahar Omer immigrated with her parents as an infant to Auburn, Alabama, where she was raised. Sahar graduated from Harvard College in 2020 with an AB in Government and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations with Honors.  At Harvard, Sahar was active in religious and cultural organizations, serving on the board of the African Students’ Association for one year, the board of the Society of Arab Students for four years, and the President of the Islamic Society for two years. In recognition of her work, she received the Harvard University Pforzheimer House Public Service Award, the Harvard University Muslim Alumni Martin Nguyen Community Service Award for Excellence in Service of the Muslim Community, and the Harvard Arab Alumni Association Recognition for Service to the Arab Community.

After graduation, Sahar worked for the World Justice Project as part of the Rule of Law Index team, which published the flagship, independent quantitative research report on the rule of law in 140 countries globally. She also co-founded and co-directs ZAHARA for Education, an education initiative focused on creating and facilitating educational opportunities for students in Sudan and the United States.

Sahar is a student at the University of Chicago Law School, where she hopes to learn about all facets of the legal field, especially comparative constitutionalism. She hopes to continue public service work through a legal profession by promoting the protection of human and civil rights internationally.

Alec Greven

Class of ‘26

Before beginning law school, Alec Greven worked as a Research Fellow at the Institute for Free Speech where he focused on First Amendment issues in the areas of political assembly, campus speech rights, and campaign finance regulation. Alec has a Master of Public Policy from the University of Oxford and is a New York Times bestselling author published in over 20 languages. His work has appeared in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Arizona Republic, and has been featured on syndicated radio. Alec has published 28 articles on free expression issues.

He grew up in Castle Rock, Colorado, and loves to ski, hike, and bike in his free time.

Turner Stanton

Class of ‘26

Turner Stanton hails from Danville, California. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and Political Science minor from the University of California, Riverside where he graduated summa cum laude.

Service is a core part of who Turner is. From his formative, victorious student Presidential elections to his time as President of the Association of Latino Professionals to running for City Council to uplift his community amidst the global pandemic, Turner focuses on applying his passion for service to help people of all backgrounds and ages. Most recently, he worked for Deloitte as a Senior Consultant where he provided technology and business strategy services to executives in the technology and mobility industries.

Turner plans to focus on the technology and mobility industries with future aspirations to serve as an elected public servant. Turner is deeply humbled to be a part of the 2023 – 2024 Tony Patiño Fellows-Elect cohort.

Vadim Trubetskoy

Class of ‘27

Vadim Trubetskoy was born in Moscow and emigrated to the United States with his family at a young age. After growing up outside of Boston, he graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California with a B.A. in Political Science. While at USC, Vadim was heavily involved in the community, both on and off campus, through his leadership in numerous organizations, volunteer opportunities, and civic engagements. He captained the USC Trial Advocacy team to its first appearance at the National Championship in nearly a decade and served as the Vice President of the California College Democrats. Additionally, Vadim did research at the Brookings Institution and worked for the White House.

Upon graduating, Vadim was commissioned as an Army officer in the Military Intelligence Corp and now serves as a 1LT on the Joint Staff J2, supporting the Director of Intelligence and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Between graduating from USC and matriculating at UChicago Law, Vadim helped run a successful Congressional campaign in California’s 42nd district, after which he led the transition and then worked as the Legislative Assistant and Member Services Director on Capitol Hill. At UChicago Law, Vadim is excited to learn about civil rights and work on issues affecting immigrant and underserved communities and hopes to clerk after graduation.