Announcing the 2021 Gregoire Fellows
The University of Washington School of Law is proud to announce its 2021 Gregoire Fellows: Max Del Real, Samantha Hussey, Chisup Kim, Justine Kim, Trent M.C. McBride, Alysa Mo, Hosanna Negash, Ellie Pakzad and Sophia Sun
Since 2015, the Gregoire Fellows program has attracted diverse and talented students to UW Law and connected them with leading Puget Sound area businesses, governmental organizations and law firms committed to increasing diversity in the legal profession. In 2019, the program expanded to include the Seattle University School of Law. Read about SU’s latest cohort of Gregoire Fellows.
The program is a unique partnership between the law schools and the legal community in Washington that works to ensure the legal profession reflects the incredible diversity in our society.
As part of the program, students receive paid summer internships, which split their summer work assignments between two placements at a participating law firm, a corporate legal department and governmental entity after the first year of law school. Students also receive scholarship aid and financial assistance for bar exam preparation. Additionally, the fellows participate in a mentorship program with former Washington Governor Christine Gregoire.
The Gregoire Fellows Program is made possible thanks to generous support from our sponsors: Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Foster Garvey PC, K&L Gates LLP, Lane Powell PC, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Pacifica Law Group LLP, Perkins Coie PC, Ogden Murphy Wallace PLLC, Schroeter Goldmark Bender, Stoel Rives LLP, Stokes Lawrence PS, Williams Kastner, Allen Institute, Amazon, King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Microsoft Corporation, Nintendo Co., Premera, Seagen Inc., Starbucks Corporation, Vulcan, Washington State Office of the Attorney General, Weyerhaeuser and Zulily.
The 2021 Gregoire fellows
- Max Del Real
- Samantha Hussey
- Chisup Kim
- Justine Kim
- Trent M.C. McBride
- Alysa Mo
- Hosanna Negash
- Ellie Pakzad
- Sophia Sun
Meet the 2021 Gregoire Fellows
Max Del Real
Bachelor of Science, Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University
Master of Science, Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University
Del Real spent eight years working in the tech industry, with nearly six years at Facebook in product marketing and operations roles. For more than four years, he worked at Facebook’s Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore, where he developed expertise in the rapid proliferation of new technology from an international lens. From this experience, Max developed a desire to dive deeper into the intersection of technology, law, and policy.
“The Gregoire Fellowship offers me a unique opportunity to gain the skills necessary to become an ardent advocate for strong technology law,” he said. “The pursuit of thoughtful technological progress is necessarily multidisciplinary and will require leaders with experience across technology, law, and government. Through the summer internship program, the invaluable mentorship, and UW Law's superior education, I will get the experience necessary to help ensure our technological progress benefits humanity.”
Samantha Hussey
Bachelor of Arts, Sociology, Dartmouth College
Hussey focused her undergraduate studies on the exploration of intersectionality and the construction and experience of power, culminating in her senior thesis, which explored identity formation and perceptions of power within Greek life. After graduating, Hussey spent a year working as a litigation legal assistant and compliance consultant at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co, while also volunteering as a crisis advocate on the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network’s hotline.
“I am grateful to be named a Gregoire Fellow, and plan to use this platform to serve as an effective and empathetic advocate, specifically for underrepresented communities,” Hussey said. “I strongly believe that the legal system often imposes burdens on those most disenfranchised in our society. Throughout my career, I hope to shoulder some of this burden while challenging the longtime deference to power and privilege, and envisioning safer and more diverse, equitable and inclusive laws, policies, and spaces.”
Chisup Kim
Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration, Seattle University
Kim served as a corporate paralegal at Atrium LLP and 1121 Law PLLC, where he primarily serviced fintech and blockchain startups in general corporate matters, venture financings and regulatory projects. Prior to his legal roles, he interned as a business analyst for a Chinese corporate venture capital firm performing regulation research for its portfolio companies to enter American markets. His initial interest in the legal field came from volunteering at a nonprofit, Nevada Legal Services.
“As a first generation law student, I am honored to receive a Gregoire Fellowship, which will provide an unparalleled opportunity to experience the legal field as a law student,” Kim said. “What first brought me to the legal field was the element of service that I found lacking in other career fields. Through the Gregoire Fellowship, I hope to maintain and grow this initial spark into a grounded and exemplary legal practice for my clients and other legal professionals.”
Justine Kim
Bachelor of Arts, Political Economy, University of California, Berkeley
As an undergraduate, Justine Kim worked as a Financial Aid caseworker in the UC Berkeley Student Advocate’s Office. She supported fifty fellow students in navigating campus bureaucracies on various issues relating to financial aid and housing. She also collaborated on and supported the successful passing of the UC Berkeley Basic Needs Referendum, institutionalizing university funding for food and/or housing insecure students. Additionally, Kim interned in the London office of Dr. Blackman-Woods MP during the 2019 UK General Election, gaining first-hand experience in understanding the far-reaching impacts of legal and legislative changes.
“As a Korean American woman, I believe that the law, in conjunction with concerted public policy efforts to uplift historically marginalized voices, can be a powerful tool in ensuring greater equity in our social, economic and political lives,” Kim said. “As a Gregoire Fellow, I am excited to learn from the Seattle legal community’s advocacy work in various areas of the law, particularly where legal and public policy systems bring greater positive changes to individuals and our larger community.”
Trent M.C. McBride
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles
Associate degree, Political Science, San Diego City College
Prior to devoting his efforts towards academia, McBride served in the United States Navy for six years. During that time, he managed and supervised more than 50 military and Department of Defense personnel as a Watch Commander at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, Calif. The discipline and regimented nature of his experience has been invaluable to achieving his goals and continued success. After honorably discharging in 2018, McBride turned toward academia and obtained an associate degree with honors from San Diego City Community College, and most recently graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles with a major in Political Science and a minor in Education.
“I am hoping that the Gregoire Fellowship will open doors that have been historically closed in the legal community for me and other people of color,” McBride said. “The Gregoire Fellowship takes the ideals of diversity, equity and inclusion and makes it a reality. Through this Fellowship, and in achieving its central goal of elevating oppressed voices, my life at the margins of society provides leverage to a community that has traditionally been excluded and/or explicitly ignored. I believe that this Fellowship will provide a platform that I may utilize to close the gap between communities that have and have not. I intend to utilize my position to represent the voiceless and to extend a hand to others that may follow in this path. The voices of diversity matter and they can only make us a better society. I am confident this chance to stand on the shoulders of giants will result in a more inclusive future.”
Alysa Mo
Bachelor of Science, Business Administration Management, California State University, Fresno
Mo held several positions on the Fresno State University Student Union Board of Directors. In these positions, she assisted in the establishment of a student union building and worked with administration to encourage programs to create a sense of belonging for students of different intersectionalities. Mo also volunteered with the administrators of the Fresno State Student Cupboard to run a cost efficiency analysis to ensure the continued support of students with financial insecurity. She worked as a legal intern at the Northwest Consumer Law Center here in Seattle, and through that was able to get first-hand experience working with the Seattle community to provide them affordable legal service.
“I intend to use the opportunities afforded to me as a Gregoire Fellow to promote diversity, inclusion and equity in not only the legal profession, but in the Washington community,” Mo said. “It is vital for legal professionals of all sectors to embrace the responsibility of acknowledging marginalization and to use our skills to promote justice and kindness. It is an honor to be a Gregoire Fellow, and I look forward to working alongside my peers to advocate for empathy in this fast-changing society.”
Hosanna Negash
Bachelor of Science, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington
After his undergraduate studies, Negash worked at Anchor QEA as an environmental engineer. He worked on projects centered on cleaning up contamination and increasing access to ground water. His experiences have shown him the concrete impacts of political and legal decisions around race and the environment. As a Gregoire Fellow, he hopes to gain the skills to better serve communities of color who are disproportionality affected by these decisions.
“My experience as a Gregoire Fellow will allow me to make connections in King County and learn from the best attorneys in the Greater Seattle area,” Negash said. “Through the experiences and relationships I will gain, I can better learn how to serve the people in my community. This opportunity will allow me to learn and grow in order to better serve my clients in the future and impart the knowledge that I will have accumulated.”
Ellie Pakzad
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, University of Washington
Bachelor of Arts, Law, Societies, and Justice, University of Washington
Before law school, Pakzad worked as a journalist in the Seattle area and as a communications assistant for the UW Population Health Initiative. Motivated by an interest in legal advocacy, she served as an intern for the Domestic Violence Legal Advocacy Project of the King County Bar Association. Pakzad helped ensure survivors of domestic violence received access to justice through pro bono legal support, witnessing the transformative role of law in uplifting historically underserved communities.
“It is an incredible honor to be a Gregoire Fellow. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to utilize the skills, connections, and professional development experiences fostered through the Gregoire Fellows Program as I establish my career in Seattle,” Pakzad said. “It is a priority for me to reciprocate the support I have received as a first-generation, multicultural law student. I look forward to supporting further diversification efforts in the legal field throughout my career.”
Sophia Sun
Bachelor of Science, Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University
During her undergraduate studies, Sun interned for the Hyatt Hotels and PepsiCo, working on projects in finance and human resources. Through these experiences, she has gleaned insight into how the law is always intersecting with business and people. She hopes to use her experiences and her law school education to uphold societal values and advocate for a more just legal world.
“With the experiences and insights I gain from the Gregoire fellowship program, I hope to serve future clients and communities that disproportionately face societal disadvantages such as health, economic, and environmental burdens,” Sun said. “As society continues to evolve at such a rapid rate, it is increasingly important for the law to protect all communities.”
