About the Program
The 1L Advocates Program (1LAP), unique to Columbia Law School, is a flagship initiative of the Human Rights Institute (HRI) and the student-led Columbia Law Students Human Rights Association. Founded in 2017, 1LAP supports incoming first-year J.D. students with a strong interest in human rights through a structured, community-driven experience designed to jumpstart long-term engagement with or careers in human rights law.
Selected Fellows in the program will receive:
Professional Guidance and Community: Informal coffee-hour conversations with Columbia Law faculty, practitioners, alumni, and upper-year students focused on sharing advice, building connections, and helping students navigate the search for summer internships and opportunities.
Specialized human rights seminars: Bi-monthly sessions with leading advocates and academics, covering key issues in human rights, including law, institutions, advocacy strategies, and critiques.
Hands-on human rights work: Opportunities to do real human rights work, including with NGOs and the United Nations.
Site visit: Trip to NYC-based human rights organization to learn directly from professionals in the field.
The program is designed for 1Ls, to set them up for success in human rights through their JD and postgraduation. Many 1LAP graduates have earned fellowships and launched careers in public interest law, international institutions, and advocacy organizations.
The program fosters inclusivity and community, and prior experience is not required. We strongly encourage applications from students of all backgrounds and levels of experience.
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How to Apply
Participation is by competitive application. The application opens in summer to all incoming Columbia 1Ls. Intterested students may apply to both this program and others (e.g., the Max Berger ’71 Public Interest/Public Service Fellows Program); selection processes are independent.
For the 2026-27 cohort: Applications were open until June 30, 2026, 12:00 AM EDT and students were notified by the end of July.
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Alex Taylor
Alex Taylor (he/him) is a 1L at Columbia Law School from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Alex graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor’s in Political Science and Ethnicity & Race Studies. His legal interests are business human rights compliance, arbitrary detention, and criminal legal reform. In his free time, Alex enjoys playing tennis, listening to jazz, and cooking soul food.
Amy Nam
Amy Nam is interested in addressing issues related to criminal representation, incarceration, and policing. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Arts in Law, History, and Culture. During college, she worked on judicial opinions in various civil and criminal matters and spearheaded a cognitive evaluation and treatment program at the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office.
Andres Cruz Leland
Andres Cruz Leland was raised in Wichita, KS and earned a B.A. in Anthropology with a minor in Human Rights from the University of Chicago. Before joining Columbia Law School, he was a Fulbright grantee in Morocco, where he researched the role of judicial reform in expanding access to justice for Amazigh Indigenous communities, and served as a trial paralegal at the Federal Defenders of New York, where he supported the defense of indigent clients in domestic and international criminal cases. At Columbia, he hopes to continue exploring the many paths within human rights work and grow alongside his peers as an advocate.
Ava Liebmann
Ava Liebmann is from New York and completed her undergraduate degree at Duke University in 2026, with a major in Public Policy. Her human rights experience includes research into transitional justice, conflict related sexual violence, and civilian attitudes towards peacebuilding techniques. She is excited to learn more about international human rights, health equity, and prisoners' rights.
Cori'Anna Kayln White
Cori’Anna White is a May 2026 graduate of Spelman College, where she graduated as Valedictorian, served as President of the Spelman Student Government Association, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. She is deeply committed to public service and is passionate about advancing equity and creating meaningful, lasting impact through her career.
Dina Eldawy
Dina Eldawy graduated summa cum laude from Syracuse University in 2019, where she was first introduced to upstate New York's refugee communities and volunteered weekly with refugee youth. As a recipient of the Truman and Marshall Scholarships, she completed two master's degrees in migration and imperial history from the University of Sussex and Oxford, respectively, before working in the refugee resettlement field in Washington, D.C. Beyond her work with migrants and refugees, Dina hopes to explore anti-war advocacy at the intersection of international law and U.S. foreign policy.
Kolby Phillip
Kolby Phillip graduated as a Dean’s Distinguished Graduate from The University of Texas at Austin in 2025 with a BA in History. Prior to studying law at Columbia, he served as the Research Director for the NGO Genocide Watch. His specific interests in the human rights field are international criminal law, the laws of armed conflict, and post-conflict reconciliation.
Laila Rodenbeck
After graduating from Brown University in 2022 with a B.A. in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, Laila worked at a social impact-focused consulting firm advising global clients. As a consultant, she supported government agencies, nonprofits, and development organizations such as the UN, USAID, and the Caribbean Development Bank on a range of strategic engagements. Hailing from Cairo, Egypt, Laila has also spent time working as a volunteer grassroots organizer in New York City and in Cairo working with refugees. She is interested in using the law as a tool to effect systemic change for refugees and victims of torture.
Lalise Beyene
Lalise is passionate about promoting human rights and advocating for refugees through stronger international frameworks and policies. Before law school, she worked for the United Nations World Food Programme, where she contributed to initiatives aimed at improving operational effectiveness and supporting sustainable development and humanitarian outcomes.
Neha Navrange
Neha Navrange is a 2025 graduate of Northwestern University, where she studied Psychology and Global Health Studies. Before law school, she served as a legal fellow for the Center for Reproductive Rights’ Latin America and Caribbean Program in Bogotá, Colombia, contributing to litigation before UN treaty bodies and the Inter-American System of Human Rights. While she is excited to learn about a wide range of human rights topics, she is especially drawn to issues of gender justice, racial justice, and Global North-South dynamics.
Nicholas Butirro
Nicholas Butirro graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a dual degree in psychology and agricultural leadership, education, and communications. After spending a year working as a medical advocate, providing direct services to survivors of sex and gender-based violence, Nicholas hopes to continue his work in the anti-violence movement at Columbia Law by advocating for survivor rights and autonomy in the healthcare and legal systems.
Olivia Berman
Olivia graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Russian & Eastern European Studies and International Relations. As the daughter of refugees, she developed an interest in labor rights through seeing how access to meaningful employment shaped her family’s experience of opportunity and belonging. At Columbia Law, she hopes to explore the labor dimensions of migration, environmental justice, and economic development.
Olivia Lei
Olivia Lei grew up in Mainland China and the United States. She earned her B.A. in International Relations and Global Economy and M.S. in Innovation Economics, Law and Regulation from the University of Southern California. Her experience includes immigrants’ rights and civic engagement projects, among others. At Columbia Law, she hopes to learn more about the world and further contribute to human rights advocacy.
Piper Janoe
Before pursuing law school, Piper worked in the humanitarian and development sector, including as a humanitarian aid worker in South Sudan with the UN International Organization for Migration. Piper also spent part of her career working in the political and policy space, including as a staff member on Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign. She earned a dual B.A. in international relations and political science from The Johns Hopkins University and a Masters in Conflict Resolution at Georgetown University, with a Certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies.
Rohil Sabherwal
After graduating from Columbia University in 2024 with a B.A. in Economics, Political Science, and East Asian Studies, Rohil Sabherwal worked with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction in South Korea, where he supported the training of government officials on disaster planning and the financing of climate resilience initiatives. He has also worked with organizations including the Earth Law Center, the Brookings Institution, and the Columbia-Harvard China and the World Program, experiences that deepened his interest in the intersection of environmental justice, human rights, and public policy.
Ruhma Khawaja
Ruhma Khawaja grew up in Oswego, NY and attended Brown University, receiving a BA in International & Public Affairs and an undergraduate certificate in Engaged Scholarship. After graduating in 2024, she worked at the Legal Aid Society as a Litigation Assistant in their Criminal Defense Practice. Ruhma's interests include asylum/refugee law, incarcerated people's rights, post-9/11 civil liberties, and human rights in South Asia and the Middle East, and she intends to pursue a career in civil and human rights law with a focus on unlawful and inhumane detention.
Varsha Gande
As the daughter of Indian immigrants and a first-generation law student, Varsha hopes to become a legal advocate for individuals facing gender and caste-based violence in South Asia. While pursuing her B.A. in Government at Cornell University, she explored this passion by working at a gender justice-focused legal clinic and writing a dissertation on international gender law enforcement in South Asia. At Columbia Law, she is excited to continue pursuing these legal interests and is extremely grateful to begin doing so through 1LAP.
Zhuoyang Li
Zhuoyang Li ’29 grew up in Beijing and Northern California. She graduated from Hamilton College with a BA in World Politics and completed her first year in the MPP program at Harvard Kennedy School before beginning law school. Her relevant experience includes internships with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) in Geneva. Her interests include human rights, negotiation, international law, policy, sustainable development, and global governance.
Sawyer Huckabee
Sawyer is pursuing a JD at Columbia Law School, having graduated from Columbia College with a BA in English. A protest journalist at Columbia's radio station WKCR, Sawyer continues to collaborate with the Freedom of the Press Foundation and Student Press Law Center to advocate for student press rights and free expression at large. As a 1L, he is thrilled to work with the Human Rights Institute to expand his free expression and public interest work to an international stage and learn from a cohort of peers and mentors.
Current Student Leadership:
Summer Heidish-Experiential Officer
Summer is a Swarthmore College alumna interested in conflict transformation, transitional justice, and interdisciplinary peacebuilding methods. She brings international experience working alongside conflict resolution practitioners and peacebuilders specializing in mental health and psychosocial services; preventing and countering violent extremism; and pro-democratic intervention design.
Duaa e Zahra Shah-Education Officer
Duaa e Zahra Shah is pursuing a JD at Columbia University, where she also earned an MS in Journalism, and has a BS in Economics from the National University of Sciences and Technology. She has worked with organizations including Amnesty International, the Talloires Network, Pakistan’s Ministry of Human Rights, and Gallup, focusing on human rights in the context of conflict zones, gender justice, and child wellbeing. She hopes to continue contributing to these areas through legal advocacy and journalism.
Almira Hisar-Mentorship Officer
Almira Hisar is from Türkiye and is currently a 2L at Columbia Law School, where she serves as a staffer for the Columbia Human Rights Law Review / A Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual. She has worked on issues related to immigration, political prisoners, and human rights advocacy through various organizations and research projects. She holds a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in International Migration Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles.