Danielle completed her undergraduate work at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is entering her third year at Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota. She became interested in child law in 1998 when she participated in a summer research program at the University of Texas at Houston, where she did medical research with incarcerated youth at a juvenile detention center. She continued her experience at the Cook County Juvenile Center in Chicago, Illinois, prior to attending law school. Last summer, she completed an internship at the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law in Washington, DC, and during the school year worked as a clerk at the Children's Law Center of Minnesota. This summer Danielle will intern at Legal Aid Society of New York Juvenile Rights Division in Brooklyn.

Angela was born and raised in Flushing, Michigan. She graduated from the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University. She is currently a second year student at the Syracuse University College of Law. Angela worked as a student attorney in the Children's Rights and Family Law Clinic. She has represented a number of indigent clients in a variety of issues ranging from adoption and child support to school suspensions and parental visitation rights. Angela has a wedding planned for August 2003 and plans to practice Family Law with a concentration on children's advocacy and education issues following graduation. This summer Angela will be working for the Washtenaw County Public Defender's Office. She will also be working on educational issues at the Student Advocacy Center in Ann Arbor.

Heather is currently a law student at Syracuse University College of Law. She is from Westerly, Rhode Island. Heather graduated from Fairfield University in Connecticut with a BA in political science with a concentration in the Honors Program. Upon her graduation Heather has worked for the Eastern Pequot tribe as a Tribal Programs Director for youth and children services. She has also worked for the Mashantucket Pequot tribe as a Research Assistant for Tribal Council. This summer Heather will be working in the legal department of the Department of Children, Youth and Family Services in Providence, Rhode Island.

Debi will be entering her third year of law school at the University of Richmond in the fall of 2002. She received her undergraduate degree in English at the University of San Francisco in 1999. While in San Francisco, Debi founded CityShock, a youth outreach dance team that is sponsored by the NIKE P.L.A.Y. program. This summer Debi will be working for the Commonwealth Attorney's Office in Norfolk, Virginia.

Benjamin is currently a student at Temple Beasley School of Law. He is a graduate from Temple University with a B.A. in English with an emphasis on American literature. He is originally from Arizona. Benjamin's interest in child welfare grew out of working with children in group homes, after-school programs, schools, and recreational day camps in Phoenix, Chicago, and Philadelphia. His interest in attending law school was a result of seeing the systemic problems in placement and treatment of children in residential treatment facilities. This summer Benjamin will be working at the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Jessica Eaton just completed her second year at the University of Michigan Law School. In 2000 she received her bachelor's in Psychology from the University of Michigan. She is from the small town of Menominee, located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Jessica loved Ann Arbor enough to stay for law school, and would be happy to act as a "tour guide" for any out-of-state fellows during the training. This summer, Jessica will be working at Kids Voice, a nonprofit organization that represents abused and neglected children in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Alicia received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Michigan State University and will begin her third year of law school at Michigan State University-Detroit College of Law (MSU-DCL) this fall. She recently completed a Certified program in Child and Family Advocacy through a dual program with MSU-DCL and the MSU School of Social Work. Her child advocacy experience includes working in New York City at the Administration for Children Services prosecuting neglectful parents through Manhattan Family Treatment Court. This summer, Alicia will be looking forward to working for the Attorney General's Office, Child and Family Services Division in Detroit, Michigan.

Jessica is a second year law student at the University of Michigan. After earning a BA in political science at the University of Illinois, she spent a year in an elementary school as an Americorp VISTA. Last summer, she worked as an intern for the Chicago Public Schools. This summer she will be at Kids Voice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Jonathan is a second-year law student at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, MA. Raised in Northeast Arkansas, he received a bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of Memphis. His path to law school is paved with helping youth by providing collaborative, multidisciplinary services to youth and effectuating social and policy change. Jonathan is a volunteer Foster Care Reviewer for the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Transgender (GLBT) Youth, and is currently researching the role of guardian ad litems in child protection proceedings in the United States and England. He will intern this summer with the Children's Law Center in Massachusetts and hopes to practice pediatric law specializing in care and protection proceedings.

Georgia currently attends the University of Richmond School of Law and plans to graduate in May 2003. She is 24 years old and originally from Richmond, Virginia. Georgia obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Virginia in May 1999. Her prior work includes positions with the Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy at the University of Virginia, the Virginia State Police Criminal Intelligence Center, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Virginia recently married Lt. Gregory Hamilton, an officer in the United States Marine Corps, and currently lives in Richmond, Virginia. This summer Georgia will be working at the Virginia Commission on Youth.

Johanna has just completed her first year at the University of Michigan Law School. She is still a newcomer to the Midwest. Johanna grew up in northern California before attending Yale University, where she graduated in 1994 with a history degree. She then taught elementary school in western India and Washington Heights (Manhattan) and high school history in the Bronx. Her challenging (one might say, character-building) experience teaching youth kids in inner city New York through the Teach for America program galvanized her interest in educational reform and children's rights. Johanna taught students affected by abuse and neglect and so looks forward to tackling this difficult issue through her summer work at University of Michigan's Child Advocacy Law Clinic.

Kimberly is currently a student at the University of Michigan Law School. She most recently lived in Austin, Texas for five years. She graduated from the University of Texas in 1999, where she concentrated in American Studies with a minor in Women's Studies. Since the birth of her daughter, Wynn, almost three years ago, Kim's primary interests have been in children and law. Other interests are gender issues and feminist legal theory, Gays, Lesbian and Bisexual Transgender (GLBT) issues, and family law. Kimberly will be working at the University of Michigan's Child Advocacy Law Clinic this summer.

Ashanti is expected to graduate from George Washington University Law School in May 2004. She has a Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies with a minor in African American Studies from Northwestern University. This summer she will be working for the Abuse and Neglect section of the Office of Corporation Counsel for Washington, DC.

Vanessa is a third year law student at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. This past year she founded a new student group at Ohio State, Advocates for Children. During law school, Vanessa has served as a legal intern in the Justice for Children Practicum; tutored young children in an after-school reading program; and worked for Juvenile Judge Yvette McGee Brown. Currently Vanessa is assisting the director of the Justice for Children Project, Katherine Hunt Federele, in research on Ohio's preferred arrest policy in domestic violence cases and its impact on children. Vanessa will be spending the summer in Ohio Legal Rights Service, an independent state agency that provides legal representation to both adults and children with disabilities. In that capacity, Vanessa will be advocating on behalf of children with disabilities in need of services at school by assisting parents in individualized education plan (IEP) meetings, mediation, and due process hearings.

Emily, a Missourian, studied Political Science and Urban Studies during college in Memphis, TN at Rhodes College. Directly after college, she moved to New York City to attend Columbia Law School. Last summer, Emily taught Criminal Justice and Mock Trial rising 9th graders though a program called Legal Outreach. She is active in the National Lawyers Guild, and next year, she will be executive editor for A Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual (part of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review). This summer, Emily will be working at Lawyers for Children in New York City.

Lance received his B.A. from the University of Utah in music performance. Subsequently, he became actively involved in promoting musical opportunities for children. His interest in legal issues concerning child welfare arose when he and his wife adopted their first child. Thereafter, he served as a CASA volunteer and as legislative advocate for Families Supporting Adoption. Lance currently lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with his wife and two sons and attends the University of Michigan Law School. He will be working for the Michigan Child Welfare Law Resource Center this summer.

Jennifer is currently a first year law student at U.C. Davis and a recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship. Her interest in pursuing a career in child welfare law stems both from her experiences as a child growing up in the dependency system and from her experiences as an adult advocate for foster children and youth. Years of placements in group homes and institutions left her with firsthand knowledge of the need to use legal strategies in order to ensure that all children are offered safety, stability, a community and the opportunity to grow up healthy and happy. Jennifer has worked for years as an Outreach Coordinator for the California Youth Connection doing policy work and organizing foster youth and assisting them in developing advocacy strategies to better the conditions in their local communities. She has also worked for the California Foster Care Ombudsmans's Office educating foster youth about their legal rights in care and assisting with complaints. Jennifer intends to use the education and skills she receives in law school to continue her career in child advocacy in order to be an effective part of reforming the foster care system so that the system is truly responsive to the voices and of those affected, the children. This summer Jennifer will be working at the Youth Law Center in San Francisco, California.

John is finishing his first year of law school at City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law. He has a bachelor's degree in Political Science from Salem State College and a Masters degree in Social Work from the University of Connecticut. After obtaining an MSW, John worked in group and congregate care with children and teens in the Hartford, Connecticut area. He also coordinated a therapeutic after school program for disadvantaged teens in the care of the state of Connecticut. In August of 1999, John accepted a position in Washington, DC at the Center for the Study of Social Policy, in which he was employed helping to reform "troubled" child welfare systems in the city of Philadelphia, Washington, DC and the state of Arkansas. John's interests lie in the area of child welfare law and juvenile delinquency. This summer John will be working for the Juvenile Rights Division of Legal Aid Society in Jamaica, New York.

Leah is a member of the Class of 2004 at Columbia Law School. She graduated from Dartmouth College in 2001 with a B.A. in Sociology and a minor in Education. In the fall of 1999 Leah spent a term teaching in South Africa at St. Brendan's Secondary School in the Northern Province. This summer she is working at the Legal Aid Society in New York City, in the Education Advocacy Project through the Juvenile Rights Division.

Karen is currently enrolled in the joint Masters of Public Policy and J.D. program at the University of California, Berkeley. Before returning to graduate school Karen worked for three years at the Urban Institute in Washington, DC., where her work focused on child welfare, immigration, and welfare reform policies. Her route to graduate school went by way of Bangkok, Thailand where she received a Luce Scholarship to work on children's and refugee issues. While in Thailand, she conducted original research on the trafficking of children forced labor for the United Nations and worked with an international aid organization providing support services to Burmese refugees living in Thailand. This summer Karen will be working for the National Center for Youth Law in Oakland, California.

Tammy Wilsker will be a 3L at the University of Miami School of Law in Coral Gables, Florida. She is a native of Beaumont Texas and being active in her community has always been an integral part of her life. She is a fellow in the U. Miami Center of Ethics and Public Services, President of the Cardozo Jewish Legal Society, and Vice-President of Alpha Epsilon Lambda. For the past year, Tammy has worked at the U. of Miami Children and Youth Law Clinic. Her work consists of being a part of cases to overhaul the Florida foster care system, establish a due process right for foster care children being committed to a locked mental health facility, and secure services under the Chafee Act for kids aging out of foster care. This summer Tammy will be working at the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn, New York.

Sara is a second-year law student at the University of Michigan. A Michigan native, Sara attended Western Michigan University for her undergraduate degree. Sara has always had an intense interest in children's issues, and spent her summers during college working at a camp for children with special needs. She discovered her interest in child advocacy after taking U of M child's advocacy law clinic during the fall of 2001. Sara will be working at the Kids Voice in Pittsburgh, PA this summer.

Susan is currently a third-year law student at Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, TN. She graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, DC in May of 1997. She is originally from Detroit, Michigan. Last summer Susan clerked in the Juvenile Practice Clinic at Vanderbilt. During the academic year, she served as a student attorney and guardian ad litem, specially admitted to practice, in the Legal Clinic for both fall and spring semesters. This summer she continues her legal advocacy and training as an intern with the Child Protection and Juvenile Justice Divisions of the Cook County Public Defender's Office in Chicago, Illinois.

Rick is currently a first year law student at the University of Detroit-Mercy. He was born in Taiwan, the Republic of China and came to the United States at the age of thirteen as an international student. Rick is the only member of his family to be educated in a foreign country. In the year, 2001, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Michigan. His interest in child welfare law grew out of personal experience in this country. This summer Rick will be working at Children's Law Center Wayne Co. Neighborhood Services in Detroit, Michigan.