Current Scholars

Helen Griffiths '24 is passionate about defending civil liberties. Helen worked at the ACLU of Colorado as a public policy strategist where she drafted bail reform legislation, led the COVID-19 depopulation campaign, supported winning ACLU lawsuits to decriminalize homelessness, and launched the Redemption Campaign to expand clemency. In 2020, Helen coordinated the successful campaign to repeal the death penalty in Colorado. As an intern, Helen worked on health policy, reproductive rights, political ideology, and international affairs in Mozambique, Germany, and Colorado. In college, Helen founded the Democratic Dialogue Project to foster communication across political divides and received multiple awards for her research on immigration policy in France and the US. Helen grew up moving between six countries on four continents before graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Colorado College in 2018 with a BA in political science. At NYU Law, Helen is a Furman Public Policy Scholar, Birnbaum Women's Leadership Fellow, President of the American Constitution Society, and Chair of the Law Women Advocacy Committee. She spent her 1L summer as a legal intern at The Policing Project and as a Research Assistant for Professors Rachel Barkow and Barry Friedman.

Madison Lahey ’24 has a background in state-level fiscal policy, particularly in economic development, water infrastructure, and workforce policy. Prior to law school, Madison worked for the North Carolina General Assembly as a nonpartisan fiscal analyst, shepherding the budget process for the Appropriations Committees covering the Departments of Commerce, Labor, Agriculture, and others. She graduated with a B.A. in History from the University of Virginia, and a Masters of Public Policy (also from UVA) in 2018. During graduate school, Madison served as a research assistant for the Weldon Cooper Center analyzing the fiscal impact of certain tax incentives, and the Legislative Effectiveness Project.

Angelo Pis-Dudot ‘24 is interested in democracy reform and economic justice, particularly housing. At NYU, Angelo is an Editor-at-Large for the Review of Law and Social Change, and served on the boards of the Latinx Law Students Association and Law & Political Economy Association. He spent his 2L summer at Make the Road NY's Housing and Benefits practice, litigating on behalf of immigrant and working-class tenants in Housing and Supreme Court. During his 1L summer, Angelo interned at the Community Justice Project, a Miami-based movement lawyering organization, where he analyzed policy proposals to support grassroots efforts to address Florida’s housing crisis. Prior to law school, Angelo was a paralegal at Protect Democracy, where he worked on litigation, policy, and communications efforts to protect elections and shore up federal checks and balances. Previously, Angelo worked as a paralegal at Kobre & Kim LLP on various complex cross-border litigation and investigation matters. Angelo graduated cum laude from Yale University in 2017 with a B.A. in History. He was born and raised in Miami, FL.

 

Miles McClearn '24 is motivated to use tax policy to improve the economic mobility of Black Americans. He believes that by using effective fiscal policies federal and state governments can better serve under-resourced communities. Prior to law school, Miles worked as a Certified Public Accountant at Big Four Accounting firm EY. He received bachelors and masters degrees in accounting at The George Washington University. During his 1L summer, Miles was a judicial intern for Hon. Andrew L. Carter Jr. at United States District Court, Southern District of New York. In addition to being an FPP scholar, Miles is the Treasurer of the Black Allied Law Students Association, a staff editor on the Journal of Legislation and Public Policy, a research assistant to Professor Emma Kaufman, and part of the Diversity Clerkship Program. Miles is also a former division I student-athlete who believes that sports can be an excellent way to build bridges and inspire under-served youth.

Class of 2025 

Helen Zhang ‘25 is a JD/ MPP candidate at NYU Law and the Harvard Kennedy School, and is interested in social policy, children’s rights, and socioeconomic and racial equity. Before law school, she worked in education policy research, development, and advocacy in Illinois, specializing in teacher workforce and higher education funding. During her 1L summer, she interned with the Affirmative Litigation Division of the New York City Law Department and worked as a research assistant on housing and land use legislation for Professor Vicki Been. In addition to being an FPP Scholar, Helen is a Staff Editor for Law Review and Mentorship Co-Chair for the Public Interest Law Students Association. Helen graduated from the University of Chicago in 2018 with a B.A. in Public Policy, and originally grew up on the Eastside of Seattle.

 

Rebecca Kahn '25 is focused on technology law and policy, particularly as it intersects with societal equity, consumer protection, and civil rights. Prior to law school, she served as a Policy Advisor for U.S. Senator Alex Padilla covering housing, education, labor, human services, and the arts. In this role, she helped draft and introduce legislation and supported the Senator’s work on the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. Prior to that, she served as a Legislative Assistant for two members of the House of Representatives, covering issues including healthcare and technology. She also worked as a product management consultant for a tech policy startup and as a cybersecurity consultant for a California congressional campaign. She has worked with EqualAI, a nonprofit working to advance responsible AI governance, since 2019. During her 1L spring, she was a Human Rights Scholar at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice researching federal digital identity issues. During her 1L summer, she interned in the White House's National Economic Council. Rebecca graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Princeton University in 2018 with an A.B. in Sociology and certificates in Portuguese, Creative Writing, and Entrepreneurship (focused on design-thinking for social innovation). She lived in Bahia, Brazil for a year, and originally hails from Ohio.

 

Miranda van Dijk ‘25 is interested in election law and voting rights, particularly at the state and local level. Prior to attending NYU, she handled communications and media relations for various Democratic lawmakers and candidates. As the Communications Director for the Democratic Party of New Mexico (DPNM), Miranda led the coordinated effort to promote the platforms and campaign activities of Democratic candidates at all levels of government from 2019 to 2021. In 2020, she successfully organized and implemented the party’s switch to a digital voter-outreach strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic and played a key role in DPNM’s extensive voter protection efforts. Prior to living in New Mexico, Miranda worked as a Deputy Press Secretary at Rosen for Nevada and as a Press Assistant for Senator Chuck Schumer. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania College of Arts and Sciences Class of 2017. 

 

Will Haskell '25 is interested in expanding our democracy and reforming our criminal justice system. Prior to law school, he served for two terms in the Connecticut State Senate as the youngest state senator in the country. During his campaign, Will was endorsed by President Barack Obama and after Election Day he was selected for Forbes' 30 Under 30. As the Senate Chairman of the Higher Education Committee, Will fought to enact Connecticut's free community college program, and as the Senate Chairman of the Transportation Committee, he helped to write Connecticut's Clear Air Act. Will also worked on the staff of Congressman Jim Himes and previously interned at the Democratic National Committee as well as the Office of the Connecticut Public Defender. During his 1L summer, Will interned with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, primarily assisting with voting rights litigation. In addition to being an FPP Scholar, Will serves as Advocate-in-Chief for the Suspension Representation Project, a staff editor for the Journal of Legislation and Public Policy, and a Parole Advocate. Outside of law school, he manages a political action committee dedicated to electing young leaders to state and local office. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Georgetown University in 2018.

 

Class of 2026

Charlotte LeBarron ’26 is passionate about financial regulation and securities law policy, particularly ESG disclosure, corporate compliance and transparency, and accounting industry reform. Prior to law school, Charlotte worked as a Certified Public Accountant at BDO’s Boston Audit Practice. Charlotte then migrated to the Institute for Corporate Governance and Finance at NYU School of Law where she researched corporate and securities and participated in public policymaking with Former SEC Commissioner and NYU Law Professor Robert J. Jackson, Jr. In 2022, Charlotte’s research assistance was named in Honisgberg, Hu, and Jackson’s  Stanford Law Review paper on misconduct in the insurance industry,Regulatory Arbitrage and the Persistence of Financial Misconduct. Her policymaking work includes drafting a recommendation for the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee calling for reform in accounting standard setting. She has also helped draft several public comments and SEC rule-making petitions on topics such as the SEC’s authority to mandate climate-related disclosure for public companies and the need for enhanced human capital accounting disclosure. When a number of these projects were later discussed in Congress, Charlotte traveled to Washington and prepared academic experts for testimony before the House and Senate.Charlotte graduated from the Boston College Carroll School of Management in 2019 with dual degrees in Accounting and Communication and grew up in the rural “Hilltown” region of Western Massachusetts.

 

Humphrey Shen '26 is passionate about health care access, affordability, and equity. Prior to law school, he served as a Policy Lead at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) where he drafted CMS Innovation Center policies focused on value-based payment model design, health equity, and Medicare benefit enhancements. Prior to working at CMS, Humphrey was a policy research assistant at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy in DC, where he researched and co-authored several publications on health equity, federal and state health care payment reform, and artificial intelligence adoption in health systems. Humphrey is originally from the Los Angeles area and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2021 with a B.A. in Health and Societies.