Equal Justice Works Celebrates the Work of Fellows for MLK Day

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, we celebrate the work of our Fellows who are bringing us closer to Dr. King’s vision of a “Beloved Community”—a society based on justice and equal opportunity. 

Equal Justice Works Fellows have shared their work advocating for civil rights and equal opportunity in their communities across the country. Learn more about these Fellows through the dispatches below: 

• Bringing Justice to Communities in Need: 2022 Fellows Norrel Hemphill and Marianela Funes share their work advocating for environmental and housing justice for underserved and BIPOC communities. 
• Making Our Communities More Equitable: 2021 Fellow Madison Wiegand Brown and Kevin Perry, alongside 2020 Fellow Courtney Sweat, share their work helping low-income tenants, small business-owners, and victims of elder abuse access justice. 
• Building a Better Future Together: 2020 Fellows Anne Piervil and Carlos Andino, along with 2019 Fellow Kateland Woodcock, share their work providing legal aid to their communities through medical-legal partnerships, and finding new approaches and arguments to empower individuals who have been left behind by the institutions that are supposed to serve their communities. 

Many Fellows have also shared in-depth updates on their work across the country as they advocate for civil rights, indigenous people’s rights, environmental justice, immigrant rights, and racial justice: 

• Advocating for My Fellow Hawaiian Homesteaders: 2020 Fellow Henderson HuiHui shares his project providing comprehensive outreach and advocacy to assist the over 60,000 eligible Native Hawaiians in applying for and keeping homestead housing. 
• Advocating for Southern California Communities of Color Impacted by Environmental Justice: 2021 Fellow Idalmis Vaquero shares her work defending the environmental and housing rights of Black and Latinx families impacted by industrial lead contamination in East and Southeast Los Angeles 
• Defending the Right to Safe Drinking Water in Wisconsin: 2021 Fellow Jorge Roman-Romero discusses his advocacy for communities in Wisconsin facing disproportionate exposure to toxic pollutants from contaminated water, such as PFAS. 
• Challenging Anti-Muslim Immigration Policies and Reuniting Refugee Families: 2022 Text-to-Give Fellow Alexandra Zaretsky writes about her experience in the first year of her project, which aims to expose and challenge anti-Muslim immigration policies.  
• A Puerto Rican Equal Justice Works Fellow at SCOTUS: 2022 Fellow Carlos F. Ramos-Hernandez shares his experience joining the team at his host organization, Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, as the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico v. Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, Inc. 

We are proud of all our Fellows for bringing lasting change to our communities. Learn more about their commitment to service here.