The Human Trafficking Institute selected seven students from some of the nation’s top law programs for the 2018-19 Douglass Fellowship class. This 8-month public service fellowship is named for abolitionist Frederick Douglass and his commitment to freedom, education, and advocacy.

The Douglass Fellowship provides exceptional law students a unique opportunity to utilize what they are learning in the classroom and engage with the Institute’s mission to decimate modern slavery at its source. Throughout the year, Fellows will complete research and writing projects, participate in advocacy events, and work closely with program mentors.

This year’s Fellows class was selected is based on demonstrated academic ability, leadership potential, research and writing ability, and demonstrated commitment to human rights and anti-trafficking efforts. They are:

Alana Broe – University of Virginia School of Law
Alana is a fellow in the Program for Law & Public Service at the University of Virginia, where she is conducting research on sexual assault reform. She has interned for the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, Criminal Section and for a District Attorney’s office in the metro-Atlanta area, where she assisted in the prosecution of human trafficking crimes.

Jasmine Dela Luna – University of Chicago Law School
Jasmine served as the president of the Human Rights Law Society and the Christian Legal Society at the University of Chicago Law School. She has also participated in the Domestic and Sexual Violence Project. She previously worked as a Kirkland & Ellis Pro Bono Fellow at the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Emma Eastwood Paticchio – Stanford Law School
Emma is an online editor of Stanford Law Review and leads a pro bono project focused on domestic violence policy work and direct services at Stanford. She interned at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office as a Fair and Just Prosecution Fellow, WhilmerHale, and Equal Rights Advocates.

Whitney Kramer – Harvard Law School
Whitney worked for the FBI in Washington, D.C. and Virginia, where she focused her efforts on crimes against children, including sex trafficking and child abduction. While at Harvard, she interned for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and served as a student prosecutor in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

Sarah Parker – Pepperdine University School of Law
Sarah participated in Pepperdine’s Global Justice Program in Uganda, serving as an extern for a justice on the Ugandan Court of Appeals and partnering with the Ugandan Judiciary to implement plea bargaining for prisoners in Western and Eastern Uganda. She also helped coordinate an Anti-Trafficking in Persons Conference in Uganda in 2017.

Meghan Poole – Boston University School of Law
At Boston University, Meghan serves as Co-President of the Public Interest Project and volunteers as an Admissions Ambassador to prospective students. She also participates in Boston University’s Human Trafficking Clinic, where she provides pro-bono legal representation for survivors of human trafficking in immigration, family reunification, and criminal matters.

Jessica Skocik – University of Notre Dame Law School
Jessica is currently a Fellow for the Center for Civil and Human Rights and an Article Submissions Editor on the Journal of International and Comparative Law at Notre Dame. She has also worked for the Community Activism Law Alliance in Chicago, where she assisted clients on immigration related issues, and interned at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division in the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.

“We are thrilled to have another incredibly gifted cohort of Douglass Fellows,” said Victor Boutros, Institute Founding Director. “They come from some of the top schools in the country and many have already demonstrated a sustained interest in combatting human trafficking. It is encouraging to see these young leaders stepping into this field with such a commitment to excellence, and we are grateful to do this work alongside them.”

The 2018-19 Douglass Fellowship begins with a two-day orientation on September 13-14 in Washington, D.C. where the fellows will learn about the Institute’s vision and model for combatting trafficking, receive an introduction to their research projects, and meet with their mentors.

This year’s mentors work in a variety of anti-trafficking organizations including anti-trafficking non-governmental organizations, prosecution units, law enforcement units, victim service providers, law firms, and U.S. Government offices. They are:

Martina Vandenberg, Founder & President of the Human Trafficking Legal Center
Yiota Saurus, Senior Vice President & General Counsel for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Betsy Hutson, Associate at McGuire Woods
Laura Rundlet, Acting Deputy Director for the State Department’s Office to Monitor & Combat Trafficking in Persons
Carl Benoit, Chief of the Office of the General Counsel for the FBI
Ben Hawk, Deputy Director of the Justice Department’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit
Christine Raino, Senior Director of Public Policy at Shared Hope International

“Mentorship is one of the most rewarding aspects of the Douglass Fellowship program,” said Kyleigh Feehs, Associate Legal Counsel at the Institute. “It provides a unique opportunity for passionate and bright law students to connect with leaders in the anti-trafficking field and gain their advice and insight. We are greatly encouraged by the collective level of expertise from this years’ mentors, and we are excited to facilitate the beginning of these pivotal relationships.”