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2009 Grant Recipients
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The QLaw Foundation is pleased to announce the selection of Adrien Leavitt and Ashland Johnson as the recipients of 2009 QLaw Foundation Summer Public Interest Grants
Adrien Leavitt, Seattle University School of Law – QLaw Foundation Legal Clinic
Mr. Leavitt, a 1L at Seattle University Law School, will spend the summer as the legal intern for the QLaw Foundation Legal Clinic. The QLaw Foundation Legal Clinic, in cooperation with the King County Bar Association Neighborhood Legal Clinics Program, will provide legal services that address the unique needs of the GLBT population. Mr. Leavitt will perform research projects for the clinic, conduct client intake, develop supporting materials and work closely with the Legal Clinic Committee and supervising attorney Spencer Bergstedt to develop a program for ongoing, sustainable and effective legal assistance to the GLBT community.
Mr. Leavitt graduated from Smith College in 2004, with a B.A. in mathematics. At Seattle University School of Law, Mr. Leavitt is an executive board member of OutLaws, the law school’s GLBT student organization. Mr. Leavitt is particularly interested in issues affecting transgender/gender-different individuals, GLBT people of color, and low-income GLBT people. Mr. Leavitt is also a DJ at various queer events and local night clubs.
Matching funds for Mr. Leavitt’s grant are generously provided by Seattle University School of Law.
Ashland Johnson, University of Georgia School of Law – Lambda Legal
Ms. Johnson, a 1L from the University of Georgia School of Law, will spend the summer at Lambda Legal’s southern regional office under the supervision of Cole Thaler, Lambda’s national transgender rights attorney. Ms. Johnson will assist with Lambda’s on-going impact litigation in all areas of sexual orientation, gender identity, and HIV discrimination, including work on the case of a woman from Olympia, WA who was denied access to her partner of 18 years as she lay dying in a Florida hospital. Ms. Johnson will also focus on researching transgender rights for use by the staff of Lambda’s Legal Help Desk hotline nationwide.
As an aspiring equal rights advocate, Ms. Johnson is committed to achieving equal rights on a national level. Ms. Johnson graduated from Furman University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. In addition to playing on the women’s basketball team, she was an officer in the LGBTQ student alliance, and an English tutor. Ms. Johnson is an OutLaws officer, an active volunteer for Georgia Equality, and an Equal Justice Foundation Summer Fellow.
The QLaw Foundation Summer Public Interest Grant Program funds innovative public interest projects that benefit the gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (GLBT) community and/or people living with HIV/AIDS. The program helps ensure that unmet legal needs are recognized and prioritized on an on-going basis and that the next generation of legal advocates for GLBT rights develops the critical skills necessary to develop careers in the public interest.
If you are a student interested in applying for the grant in 2010, or are an attorney or organization interested in serving as a project sponsor, please contact us at . Save the Date! The QLaw Foundation’s Summer Grant fundraiser is held each fall (our fabulous FallTacular party). Donations are accepted year-round at q-law.org.