MEET OUR SUMMER 2019 INTERNS AND FELLOWS!
Left to right- Natasha Wilkins; Ashli Giles-Perkins; Katie Kokkas; Bernardo Rocha; Julie Pasco; Ben Kabe; Shenna Johnson
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights is thrilled to have an incredible group of interns and fellows joining us for the summer. Learn more about them below!
Natasha Wilkins is a rising 3L at Michigan State University College of Law and is an intern working with our Education Equity Project. After law school, she hopes to go on vacation (!!!), but after that she wants to work for a Civil Rights or Human Rights organization that focuses on domestic and/or international policy in education or immigration. She is originally from Springfield, Illinois and her favorite book is “Dreams from My Father” by former president Barack Obama.
Ashli Giles-Perkins is a rising 3L at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and is an intern working with our Education Equity Project. After law school, she wants to utilize her JD/MA dual degree to work with grassroots efforts, communities, and forward-thinking lawyers to mitigate and ultimately dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline, with a focus on pre-school through higher education to death row and beyond. She is originally from Bridgeport, Connecticut and her favorite movie is “500 Days of Summer”.
Katie Kokkas is a recent graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and is a Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) fellow working with our Voting Rights Project. After her fellowship, she will begin working at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom LLP. She is originally from Davis, California and her favorite tv shows are “Game of Thrones” and the “Great British Baking Show”.
Bernardo Rocha is a rising 3L at DePaul University College of Law and is a PILI intern working with our Community Law Project. After graduating from law school next year, he hopes to get a position working on intellectual property issues, and he eventually wants to help artists and musicians navigate through the legal issues they face. He is originally from Chicago’s Gage Park neighborhood, and his favorite book is “The Big Picture” by Sean Carroll.
Julie Pascoe is a rising 3L at Washington University School of Law and is an intern working with our Voting Rights Project. After law school, she would like to clerk or do a fellowship, but as a career she would like to work in policy. She is originally from Springfield, Illinois and her favorite movie at the moment is “Booksmart”.
Ben Kabe is a rising 2L at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and is an intern working with our Housing Opportunity Project. After law school, he hopes to litigate and specialize in labor and employment law, and he would also like to clerk for a judge at some point. He is originally from Naperville, Illinois and his favorite book is “This Side of Paradise” by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Shenna Johnson is a recent graduate of Howard University School of Law and is a PILI fellow working with our Housing Opportunity Project and Voting Rights Project. After her fellowship, she will begin working at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom LLP. She is originally from Southampton County, Virginia and her favorite tv show is “Black Mirror”.