LSRJ Reproductive Justice Fellowship Program

Jasmine Amina (Farhadi) Abbas

Jasmine Amina (Farhadi) Abbas was a fellow at the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF). Amina holds a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Chemistry from East Carolina University and graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 2010. As a law student, Amina served as Co-Coordinator of her Law Students for Reproductive Justice chapter and President of the University of North Carolina Domestic Violence Action Project. In addition, Amina completed pro bono projects with AEquitas: the Prosecutor’s Resource on Violence Against Women, the American Civil Liberties Union Capital Punishment Project, and the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence. As a third year law student, Amina gained litigation experience in the University of North Carolina Civil Legal Clinic working on various family law matters and served as an appointed member of the Orange County Commission for Women. Amina will be joining a newly formed policy consulting group in Washington, D.C.

Danielle Hawkes

Danielle Hawkes was a fellow at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health. Danielle received her law degree in 2010 from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law. During law school, she was a staff member of the S.J. Quinney College of Law’s Journal of Law and Family Studies where she published two notes. The first, Locking up Children: Lessons from the T. Don Hutto Family Detention Center, explores the emerging trend of detaining immigrant families, including very young children, in private for-profit detention facilities. The second, Elective Surgery: When Parental and Medical Opinion Supersedes a Child’s Right to Choose, discusses discretionary medical procedures for children including hysterectomies for physically disabled children, cosmetic surgery for children with Down’s syndrome, cochlear implants, reparative therapy, and psycho-altering drugs. Dani also participated in the Pace National Environmental Moot Court Competition where she won two awards for best oralist. During law school, Dani completed over 180 hours of pro bono work by working on individual cases, serving as the student coordinator for a low income legal clinic, and co-founding a free legal clinic focusing on LGBT law. Dani also served as the president of her law school’s LGBT student group and was a member of the legal panel for Equality Utah, an organization promoting legislation on behalf of LGBT Utahans. In addition, she served as an intern at the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah (ACLU of Utah) where she worked on legal protections for transgender prisoners. Upon graduation from law school, Dani received a National Association of Women Lawyers Award and a runner up award from the National LGBT Bar Association. Before attending law school Dani lived in São Paulo, Brazil for one year as a Rotary exchange student, served as an intern at the Brazilian embassy in Washington, D.C., and worked as a senior business analyst in the insurance industry. Dani now resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she has opened her own law firm.

Davida Silverman

Davida Silverman was a fellow at the National Health Law Project (NHeLP). Davida received her B.S. in Political Science from Florida State University in 2003 and her J.D. from the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law in 2010. In college, Davida served as Executive Director of the Women’s Center. In this role, she successfully advocated for the inclusion of emergency contraception in the student health center, called attention to fraternity violence against female and LGBT students, investigated students’ missing sexual harassment complaints, and organized educational events to raise awareness of gender equality. She has worked as a pre-abortion counselor at a feminist-run abortion clinic, and has also worked at a domestic/sexual violence center, where she began as a child advocate but was later promoted to Special Projects Coordinator to develop and manage fundraising efforts. While at CUNY School of Law, Davida served as President of Moot Court, co-founded and co-chaired the Organization of Women Law Students and was an active member of the Domestic Violence Coalition and Law Students for Reproductive Justice. She also co-chaired the CUNY chapter of the Courtroom Advocates Project, a legal services outreach project that allowed law students to advocate for victims/survivors of domestic violence in family court. During her last two years of law school, she was a leader of a student initiative to establish a family law clinic at her school. Davida has interned at the National Center for Youth Law, Georgia Office of the Child Advocate, Honorable Bryanne Hamill in Kings County (Brooklyn) Family Court, and the ACLU of Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Project. Davida is now a staff attorney focusing on reproductive health at NHeLP.

Jessi Leigh Swenson was a fellow at the Rebecca Project for Human Rights. Jessi Leigh received a B.A. in social sciences from Hampshire College in 2003 where she completed a thesis on the history of the NAACP’s work against housing discrimination. She also served as Editor-in-Chief of the student newspaper and published in Hampshire’s literary magazine. After college, she was Assistant to the Director at Family Outreach of Amherst, a non-profit in Amherst, MA. She received her J.D. from University of California Hastings College of the Law in 2010. At Hastings, Jessi Leigh served as President of Law Students for Reproductive Justice and was active with the Hastings Public Interest Law Foundation. As a student in the Civil Justice Clinic at Hastings, she represented low-income clients in housing and disability cases. Jessi Leigh was Co-Editor-in-Chief of Hastings Women’s Law Journal, where she oversaw a symposium on the challenges of regulating reproductive technologies. Her note, “Realizing Ledbetter’s Dream with DIY Sensibility” was published in Hastings Women’s Law Journal this year. Jessi Leigh is currently continuing her work at the Rebecca Project as Policy Counsel.

Alexandria Walden was a fellow at the Center for American Progress, Women’s Health & Rights Program. Alex received her J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law. While there, she served as Managing Editor of the USF Journal of Law & Social Challenges and published her article examining constitutional challenges to restrictions on abortion for ICE detainees in the USF Law Review. Alex conducted research on facial challenges to abortion regulations for Professor Maya Manian, as well as on the ADA Amendments Act for Professor Michelle Travis. During her second year, Alex interned for the U.S. Department of Labor and served as a law clerk for Bay Area Legal Aid, where she assisted clients with health access issues and represented clients at administrative hearings and negotiated termination of benefits. Alex spent both of her law school summers interning for the U.S. House of Representatives in the Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights & Liberties, where she conducted research and assisted with aspects of the drafting process for civil rights-related legislation. She evaluated discrimination claims and drafted declarations and motions as an intern at the SF Regional Office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Alex spent a semester at Georgetown University Law Center and served as a law clerk for the U.S. Senate, Committee on the Judiciary. Prior to attending law school, Alex spent almost four years working in the D.C. Office of Legal Momentum (formerly NOW Legal Defense & Education Fund) on a variety of women’s and civil rights issues, including workplace violence, welfare, reproductive justice, marriage equality, and judicial nominations. She was a co-founder and national board member for the Younger Women’s Task Force, a project of the National Council of Women’s Organizations. Alex received her B.A. in Political Science from American University. Alex is now an associate at the Raben Group.