Kahaari Kenyatta ’26 and Aila Ansheles LLM ’26 selected to deliver student Convocation addresses

Kahaari Shakoor Kenyatta ’26 and Aila Ansheles LLM ’26 have been selected to deliver student Convocation addresses for the JD and graduate convocation ceremonies, respectively. NYU Law Convocation will take place on May 19 at the Infosys Theater in Madison Square Garden.  

Born in Los Angeles, California, Kenyatta grew up in Bergenfield, New Jersey. He graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania in 2016 with a BA in health and societies, concentrating in public health. Before attending law school, Kenyatta worked as a strategy consultant and lobbyist in Washington, DC, where he advocated for pharmaceutical pricing and access legislation on Capitol Hill, supported tobacco control advocacy, and helped lead initiatives involving health care financing, payment and delivery reform, and competition policy.

At NYU Law, Kenyatta served as a research assistant for Professor Noah Rosenblum; interned for Judge Michael Shipp of the District of New Jersey in Trenton and for the Civil Division of the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York; served two terms as president of the Student Bar Association; was an articles editor on the New York University Law Review and an at-large board member of the Antitrust and Competition Law Society; and participated in the Law Revue’s Spring 2026 production, A Nightmare on 1LM Street. Following graduation, Kenyatta will return to the New York City office of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.

Ansheles earned her LLB summa cum laude on an academic scholarship at the University of Nicosia in the Republic of Cyprus, where she led the International Criminal Law Moot Court Team and debated in the Mediterranean Model United Nations, serving as Main Submitter at the Plenary Session. Prior to her LLM, Ansheles worked as a compliance analyst at Harney Westwood & Riegels, a leading global offshore law firm, where she assessed anti–money laundering, sanctions, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing risks; conducted enhanced due diligence on cryptocurrency transactions, restructuring, and loan financings; and drafted high-risk matter reports for board approval.

At NYU Law, Ansheles served as a research assistant to Graduate Lawyering faculty member Dorien Ediger-Seto, received training at a New York law firm, and volunteered for congressional campaigns. She is also completing her first poetry collection, titled Psyche, which features her original artwork.