ASU Law Summer Public Interest Fellowship
The ASU Law Summer Public Interest Fellowship (SPIFP) provides funds to ASU Law students to pursue positions in public interest during the summer. The mission of the fellowship is to support substantive law-related public service summer employment under the supervision of a legal professional in a nonprofit or government entity. Because ASU Law believes these positions provide valuable experience for students, the fellowship was developed to make it possible for students to accept unpaid or underpaid summer public interest jobs.
Applications will be evaluated on the applicant’s demonstrated commitment to public interest work.
Fellowship eligibility
- Current 1L or 2L at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law; and
- Have secured a summer position with a government agency, legal services organization, or nonprofit organization. Judicial summer clerkships are not eligible.
Timeline and deadlines
- March 1, 2024: Applications open
- April 10, 2024: Applications close
- Mid-April 2024: Awards are announced
- Mid-May 2024: Disbursement of awards
Application process
- Complete the application. Please note that you will need the following information to complete the application:
- - Name of the public interest organization you have secured a summer position with;
- - Organization’s mission, website and address information;
- - Supervisor’s name and contact information;
- - Position start date and end date and the hours per week you will work;
- - Position description;
- - and compensation (if any).
- Resume
- Statement of interest/scope of work (250-word limit)
Fellowship requirements
- Complete 300 hours of work within a minimum of eight (8) weeks.
- Record hours on a weekly basis in Atlas.
- Complete a post-fellowship evaluation, including a photo of you in the workplace, at the end of the summer.
Past ASU Law Public Interest Fellows:
- Chloe Barrett, Community Economic Defense Law, Denver, Colorado
- Levi Bevis, ACLU of Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona
- Stephanie Gerhart, Shared Hope International, Washington, D.C.
- Kyla Graves, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Phoenix, Arizona
- Sarah Healy, Office of the Legal Advocate, Phoenix, Arizona
- Natalie Heun, NYU State Energy & Environmental Impact Center, New York, New York
- Amelia Jacobs, Maricopa County Office of the Public Defender, Phoenix, Arizona
- Yu-Shan Kuo, Arizona Legal Women and Youth Services (ALWAYS), Phoenix, Arizona
- Anna Marie Lively, Center for Victims of Torture, Washington, D.C.
- Denali Lukacinsky, Maricopa County Office of the Public Defender, Phoenix, Arizona
- Kelsey McGillis, UNESCO, Paris, France
- Charlie Miller, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Staff-Office of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Phoenix, Arizona
- Catherine Novotny, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Phoenix, Arizona
- Colleen Price, ACLU of Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona
- Evanna Rouhani, Federal Public Defender’s Office, Phoenix, Arizona
- Mai Rubin, Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.
- Brielle Schumpe, Maricopa County Office of the Public Defender, Phoenix, Arizona
- Tyler Shappee, U.S. Department of State- Office of the Legal Advisor, Washington, D.C.
- Sera Simpson, Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, Tucson, Arizona
- Adeline Sporleder, Environmental Protection Agency- Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Washington, D.C.
- Peter Talkington, Arizona Center for Disability Law, Phoenix, Arizona
- Alejandro Urbina-Bernal, ACLU of Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona
- Alejandro Urquides, The Legal Aid Society, Bronx, New York
- Haley Bjorn, Provedoria dos Direitos Humanos e Justiça, Dili, Timor-Leste
- Alexandra Carroll, ACLU of Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona
- Bryson Davies, Shared Hope International, Vancouver, Washington
- Alexander Earle, Federal Defenders of New York, New York, New York
- Erin Ferber, Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, Phoenix, Arizona
- Sarah Fisher, Federal Public Defender’s Office, Northern District of Texas, Dallas, Texas
- Christopher Giles, International Bridges to Justice, Geneva, Switzerland
- Alexandria Hakala, Abolish Private Prisons, Phoenix, Arizona
- Iván Justiniano, Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, Tucson, Arizona
- Olivia Li, Phillips Black, Inc., Oakland, California
- Maria McCabe, Legal Momentum, New York, New York
- Samantha Pfaff-Goldstein, Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, Phoenix, Arizona
- Sydney Plaskett, ACLU of Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona
- Kedharnath Sankararaman, International Bridges to Justice (IBJ), Geneva Switzerland
- Emelia Stephan, American Red Cross, Washington, D.C.
- Yuki Taylor, Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA), Johannesburg, South Africa
- Elyssa Creary-Scher, Arizona Capital Representation Project, Phoenix, Arizona.
- Liliana Elliott, Native American Rights Fund, Washington, D.C.
- Ben Enos, Arizona Justice Project, Phoenix.
- Tiffany Farr, Arizona Center for Disability Law, Tucson, Arizona.
- Ashleigh Fixico, Native American Rights Fund, Boulder, Colorado.
- Kacie Fountain, Maricopa County Office of the Public Defender, Phoenix.
- Freeman Halle, Judicial System Monitoring Program, Díli, Timor-Leste.
- Maxine Hart, Red Cross IHL, Washington, D.C.
- Katarina Hernandez, Institute for Justice, Arlington, Virginia.
- Jillian Knox, Center for Biological Diversity, Portland, Oregon.
- Yanneli Llamas, Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, Phoenix.
- Caleb Morey, Marion County Public Defender Agency, Indianapolis, Indiana.
- Lena Neuner, Yurok Tribe, California.
- Alexa Penalosa, Environmental Protection Agency Office of General Counsel, Washington, D.C.
- Samantha Pfaff-Goldstein, Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, Phoenix.
- Abigail Smith, Maricopa County Office of the Legal Advocate, Phoenix.
- Emily Tegley, Shared Hope International, Washington, D.C.
- Priyal Thakkar, Judicial System Monitoring Program, Díli, Timor-Leste.
Donors
- Osborn Maledon
- Snell & Wilmer
- AZ Community Foundation
- Michele and Matthew Feeney
- Jeffrey Scudder
- Byron Sarhangian
- Kerry and Jody Pokorski
- Gammage and Burnham
- Jones Day Foundation
- Habig Estate
- Squire Patton Boggs Foundation
- Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University
Resources and news
- ASU Law students make community impact through fellowship program
- ASU Law selects 18 students as inaugural Public Interest Fellows
- ASU Law receives gift to create Public Interest Fellowships to help create justice reform