1L Receives Prestigious Public Interest Labor Fellowship

1L Evelyn Haro will dedicate her summer to advancing workers' legal rights.


Evelyn Haro, a 1L at American University Washington College of Law in the evening section, has been selected for the prestigious Peggy Browning Fellowship Program, which funds law students who dedicate their summers to advancing workers’ rights. With more than 325 applicants from 154 participating law schools, the process is highly competitive.

Haro will spend 10 weeks in the legal department of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a labor union that represents almost 1.9 million workers in more than 100 occupations in the United States and Canada.
 

Growing Up Union-Conscious

The student says that her decision to apply for the fellowship was driven by her personal experiences.

“Growing up in an immigrant household, I quickly became attuned to power disparities between employers and low-wage workers,” she says. “I have directly witnessed the dramatic impact that job security, proper working conditions, and a living wage have on a person’s quality of life.”

Haro’s mother, a teacher, was a member of the local teachers’ union. The 1L credits her family’s financial stability and access to education to the workplace securities the union provided.   

“I firmly believe these protections, obtained through collective action, are necessary for alleviating poverty and promoting social progress,” says Haro, who has been interested in worker’s rights from an early age.
 

The Path to Law

During her senior year at Wellesley College, she led a successful organizing campaign on behalf of the maintenance and service workers’ union on campus. That year she also interned at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Women and Public Policy Program.

“I saw the need for both policy changes and active advocacy through impact litigation,” says Haro. “I’ve been fully invested in working in the labor movement ever since.”

After graduation, Haro moved to Washington, D.C. and began working as a paralegal at a union-side labor and employment law firm. The job solidified her commitment to pursuing a legal education. 
 

Diverse Legal Opportunities

“American University Washington College of Law has a strong public interest curriculum,” she says. “The professors are a great resource, as many of them have worked in the District, and the school is located perfectly for a student looking to work in the labor world both at unions and at administrative agencies.”

While exploring different summer opportunities, the student sought advice from her professors who recommended several fellowships, including the Peggy Browning Fellowship, based on her interests in plaintiff-side labor and employment law.

Haro is enthusiastic about her summer placement and aims to diversify her skill set at SEIU.  “I look forward to working in the legal department of one of the largest international unions in the country,” she says.

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