A Living Legacy on a Global Scale

UW Law's Sustainable International Development (SID) LL.M. Program and the Barer Institute for Leadership in Law and Global Development enter a new era that builds upon the pioneering scholarship of the late professor emeritus Roy L. Prosterman.

The SID LL.M. Program was conceived as a bold experiment: a graduate-level program where legal training meets international development practice and where theory is applied to real-world social change. Over the decades, the program has grown into a globally recognized incubator for lawyer-leaders who are shaping the law and institutions in service of justice, equality and sustainable development.

Origins: Roy Prosterman & Landesa

In the 1960s and '70s, the late professor emeritus Roy L. Prosterman emerged at UW Law as a scholar deeply concerned about rural poverty and insecure land tenure. His research argued that land rights are catalysts for empowerment, stability and social transformation. For Prosterman, secure land rights were a critical engine of economic development, especially in rural communities around the world.

As an academic, Prosterman believed that legal training should enable practical, systemic change, so he established a model: rigorous legal scholarship paired with field-based reform. UW Law's SID LL.M. Program was born from that model, combining legal study and robust partnerships with NGOs and international organizations that open doors for students' experiential learning with real-world impact and opportunities for professional development.

Jeffrey Riedinger, J.D. '80, joined Professor Prosterman's year-long seminar, Legal Problems of Economic Development, as a student. With undergraduate research rooted in Latin America, Riedinger became Prosterman's research assistant, a role that continued post-graduation until 1986. “By my second year of law school, I had school figured out enough that I could be gone for weeks at a time with Roy in Egypt, in Bangladesh and a number of other countries looking at the U.S. foreign aid program and then going to Europe to talk with European foreign aid officials,” Riedinger recalls.

Riedinger, now retired as UW's vice provost emeritus of global affairs and professor emeritus of law, says it was Prosterman's frustration with foundation grant rates and the inflexible negotiations around indirect costs that led him to create the Rural Development Institute (RDI) at UW in 1981. A year later, RDI became independent and moved off-campus to an apartment in the University District that functioned solely as an office, the humble origins of what is now Landesa, a leading nongovernmental organization (NGO) headquartered in Seattle and focused on securing land rights for rural communities globally.

Through Landesa, Prosterman translated legal theory into transformative legal reform: millions of families gained secure land tenure with a permanent rise from poverty. This field-driven scholarship became the living laboratory for students working toward their SID LL.M. degrees.

Connected Through Practitioners

Prosterman eventually retired from UW Law to run Landesa. The SID program draws strength from its close partnership with Landesa's leadership, who remain committed to supporting the SID program through lecturing, mentoring and encouraging work placements alongside the evolving student curriculum. Landesa has employed numerous alumni, many of whom have risen to executive leadership positions, and hosted scores of interns from UW Law over the years.

Beth Roberts, J.D. '14, LL.M. '14, current Director of Landesa's Center for Women's Land Rights, is an annual guest lecturer for the SID program. She came to UW Law while pursuing a master's degree at the Evans School for Public Affairs. She recalls, “[The SID program] has a rigorous approach to asking questions about what it means to leverage law to solve some of the biggest problems humanity faces. It felt like an opportunity, not just for me to contribute personally to the field, but to meet people from all over the world who were already contributing and wanted to sharpen and deepen their legal skills in order to contribute more.”

SID's partnerships with organizations like Landesa brought scalable development practice into the classroom, helping students navigate real challenges in property law, land governance and institutional reform. Today, the SID program has an expansive list of partnerships with the likes of the United Nations, the World Bank, the Kenyan Judiciary in addition to leading associations in the private sector.

This practitioner-scholar synergy became the hallmark of SID: students not only learn development law, but they also engage with implementers, return to their home countries and bring lessons back to UW — strengthening both education and practice.

The Barer Institute: A Philanthropic Engine

In 2010, Stan and Alta Barer made a visionary gift to formally establish the Barer Institute as a dedicated home for the SID LL.M. program in 2013. Renamed in 2025, the Barer Institute for Leadership in Law & Global Development identifies and mentors mid-career lawyer-leaders from lower- and middle-income countries to help support their UW education in the LL.M. program. After graduation, these lawyers are equipped with tools to drive reform when they return home.

Each year, four mid-career leaders are selected for the Barer Fellowship or Scholarship in the SID LL.M. program. The program provides them with tuition, a modest stipend, mentorship, internship opportunities and a year of study in Seattle. Fellows typically return to their home countries after graduation, equipped not just with advanced legal training, but with a global network, leadership mentoring and a refined vision for sustainable development.

A New Era of Leadership

With the Barer gift, and a renewed interest in sustainability, demand for the program grew.

While honoring the Prosterman legacy, Professor Anita Ramasastry expanded the remit of the SID program. She broadened the program's footprint to focus on emerging development challenges including global environmental protection, corporate responsibility, the rule of law and human rights. She applied her expertise from years working with the United Nations, the World Bank and other international institutions to design new curriculum and attract new students. Today, students take courses focused on cutting-edge topics such as preventing modern slavery in global supply chains and addressing the role of business in reconstruction and development in post-conflict settings.

A pioneer in responsible business conduct, Ramasastry currently serves as a commissioner on the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, chaired by former UK Prime Minister Theresa May. She is also one of five legal experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to advise the process of negotiating a business and human rights treaty. Her role as a global leader in business and human rights has built a pipeline of opportunity for SID students and alumni to work with the UN Global Commission and other United Nations agencies, the World Bank and other private and public sector employees.

Working in tandem with Ramasastry's academic leadership, the SID program's associate director Jennifer Lenga-Long anchors the program's operations. As executive director of the Barer Institute, her work in fellowship recruitment, student mentorship and alumni relations ensures that the SID program remains rigorous and student-centered. She has overseen the development and growth of key fellowship programs at UW Law (Fulbright, Barer Fellows, J.D. Barer Scholars), helping to secure long-term community, professional development opportunities, internship placements and mentorship for students. She also teaches and supervises fellows' research, often connecting them with subject matter experts and encouraging research that will be impactful to their work in their home countries.

A 2024 Landmark Gift and Vision for Expansion

In October 2024, UW Law announced a groundbreaking $45 million bequest from the estate of Stan and Alta Barer, making it one of the largest gifts in university history. This gift significantly enhances the Institute's capacity: shoring up the international fellowship program, funding additional scholarships, supporting international travel, endowing a Barer Chair (Ramasastry is its inaugural Chair) and building out program infrastructure.

Crucially, the gift now expands support not only for LL.M. students, but also for a regular cohort of J.D. Barer Scholars who wish to combine legal education with a global development focus. The expanded Barer Institute will support postdoctoral research and summer fellowships for UW Law students and recent graduates.

With the endowed Chair, expanded fellowships and stronger institutional infrastructure, the Barer Institute within UW Law is now positioned as a globally significant hub. It will:

1. Convene global forums on sustainable development, governance and rule of law.
2. Expand partnerships with governments, multilateral institutions, NGOs and alumni networks.
3. Develop research capacity, including postdoctoral fellowships, symposia and multidisciplinary initiatives.
4. Empower more mid-career attorneys, judges and practitioners to lead systemic reform in their home countries.
5. Engage J.D. students deeply in global development, building a pipeline of future lawyer-leaders committed to cross-border justice.

With the Barer Institute now further equipped to address global sustainable development, the SID program will also grow in scale and scope. The endowed Barer Chair increases operational capacity to attract a diverse cohort of global leaders. The Institute is now envisioned not only as a training ground, but as a hub for convening, research and partnership — connecting UW with international institutions, governments, NGOs and alumni committed to long-term systemic change.

Ramasastry has also launched the Responsible Business Law initiative as part of the Barer Institute. Drawing from her own connections as well as a robust network of alumni working in companies, NGOs and intergovernmental organizations across the globe, the leadership council will help cultivate a new generation of lawyers focused on sustainable business practices in global markets.

At its core, the SID LL.M. remains true to Prosterman's original vision: law plus field-informed action. But now it is also a crucible for cultivating leaders who understand sustainable development and are prepared to lead in it, from around the globe and here in the United States.

Alumni Impact

SID LL.M. alumni include judges, NGO leaders, corporate counsel, government officials and human rights practitioners who returned to their home countries or stayed to work in the U.S.

For many, the SID LL.M. and Barer Fellowship programs were transformative experiences that combined rigorous academic training with practical engagement and lifelong professional connections.

Adaobi Egboka, SID LL.M. '18 and Barer Fellow alumna, is now Director of Africa Initiatives at the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice. She credits the program's deeply committed faculty and globally diverse cohort with broadening her understanding of legal systems and human rights challenges across regions. Reflecting on her class, she noted that students often referred to themselves as a “mini-United Nations” because of the extraordinary international representation and exchange of perspectives.

Beyond the classroom, Egboka emphasizes the impact of the Barer Fellowship's experiential learning opportunities. Through internships with leading human rights organizations in Seattle and mentorship from experienced practitioners, she gained practical skills and professional insight that continue to shape her work advancing the rule of law, gender justice, democratic governance and access to justice across Africa. She also highlights the lasting value of the SID alumni network, noting that colleagues from the program continue to facilitate collaborations, institutional partnerships and professional connections across the countries where she works. Today, she remains closely connected to UW Law, including hosting Barer Fellowship interns and strengthening ties between Seattle, New York and international human rights communities.

Similarly, current Barer Fellow Claudia Cáceres of Paraguay, who will receive her SID LL.M. degree this June, reflects on the Barer Fellowship as the opportunity that made a lifelong dream possible: studying abroad and pursuing an LL.M. degree at one of the leading universities in the United States. As an SID LL.M. candidate focused on responsible business and sustainable development, Cáceres describes the program as intellectually and personally transformative. She credits the faculty's passion and expertise, along with the diversity of classmates from around the world, with expanding her perspective and deepening her commitment to sustainable development. Most importantly, she emphasizes the sense of community fostered by the fellowship experience: “The fellowship did not just make this experience possible; it gave me a community.” Through shared classes, collaboration and friendships, she notes that the relationships formed at UW Law will continue long after graduation as alumni work together toward common global goals.

Together, these alumni experiences demonstrate the lasting impact of the SID LL.M. and Barer Fellowship programs: rigorous legal education combined with global community, practical experience and a shared commitment to advancing justice and sustainable development.

Toward a Transformative Future

From its origins in Roy L. Prosterman's pioneering scholarship to its present-day global reach, UW Law's Sustainable International Development LL.M. program stands as a living testament to the idea that law can be a powerful instrument for systemic change. What began as an innovative experiment in linking legal education to real-world development challenges has evolved into a globally connected ecosystem of scholars, practitioners and institutions working to advance justice, equality and sustainability. As the Barer Institute scales up, it strengthens UW Law's promise: to educate, empower and connect the next generation of global lawyer-leaders.

As the program enters a new era of growth and global engagement, it remains anchored in a simple but powerful principle first articulated by Prosterman: that law, when grounded in lived reality and applied with purpose, can transform lives. In carrying this legacy forward, SID is not only preserving a vision—it is actively expanding it, ensuring that the impact of its work continues to resonate across generations and across borders.

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Notable Alumni of the SID Program and the Barer Institute

The global impact of the SID and Barer programs is seen in the work of our incredible alumni, a sampling of which is listed below. They include government leaders and judges around the world. They work in international organizations like the United Nations, the World Bank and Japan's International Cooperation Agency (JICA). They serve in classrooms as professors and in boardrooms as in-house counsel. They lead non-governmental organizations as advocates for the environment and the world's most vulnerable. Closer to home, SID alumni serve the Yakima Nation, Colombia Legal Services, Northwest Immigrants' Rights Project, the Attorney General's Office of Washington and many other organizations.

• Hon. Roselinda Soipan Tuya, LL.M. '10, Cabinet Secretary for Defense, Kenya, formerly Kenyan Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Environment & Forestry and a Member of Parliament in Kenya
• Yoichi Shio, LL.M. '04, Deputy Director General of Japan International Cooperation Agency's (JICA) Southeast Asia and Pacific Department
• Florence Akello, LL.M. '14 and Barer Fellow, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Uganda
• Myong Hwan Kim, LL.M. '16, Counsellor on Climate Change and Environment, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations; formerly Director of the Ministry for the Environment, Republic of Korea
• Hon. Victoria (Nkwanga) Nakintu Katamba, LL.M. '25 and Barer Fellow, Senior Resident Judge, High Court of Uganda
• Gabriela Ocampo Ucha, LL.M. '18, Senior Manager for Governance and Anti-Corruption with the United Nations Global Compact, formerly the Sustainable Development and Political Affairs Advisor to the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations
• Adaobi Egboka, LL.M. '18 and Barer Fellow, Director of Africa Initiatives at the Vance Center for International Justice
• Chitra Nair, LL.M. '15 and TRACE Scholar, Head of Center of Excellence, Compliance/Assistant General Counsel at Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (India); formerly Head of Compliance at AkzoNobel and Director of Compliance at Oracle
• Hon. Monica Munyendo, LL.M. '18 and Barer Fellow, a Senior Principal Magistrate in Kenya
• Yuliia Kovalchuk, LL.M. '22 and Barer Fellow, Legal Officer with the EU Advisory Mission Ukraine in Kyiv, formerly a Legal Intern and then a Legal Fellow with the Clooney Foundation for Justice
• Benjamin Aritao, LL.M. '14 and Barer Fellow, President of The Paper Project
• Stella Wangechi Ngotho, LL.M. '14 and Barer Fellow, Business and Human Rights Africa Consultant to UN Human Rights Office based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, formerly Senior Human Rights Officer at the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights
• Prof. A.B.M. Afrafuzzaman, LL.M. '20 and Barer Fellow, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Wyatt Gjullin, LL.M. '16, Americas Staff Attorney, Earthjustice International
• Amarmurun Amartuvshin, LL.M. '24 and Barer Fellow, Legal Advisor to the Secretariat of the State Great Khural (Parliament) of Mongolia

Alumni Leaders at Landesa

• Tim Hanstad, LL.M. '94, Landesa Co-Founder, President and CEO from 2005 to 2015
• Robert Mitchell, J.D. '87, LL.M. '93, Senior Director of the Asia Region for 30 years until his recent retirement
• Jeff Riedinger, J.D. '80, Landesa Board of Directors, Vice Provost Emeritus of Global Affairs and Professor Emeritus of Law at the University of Washington
• Renee Giovarelli, LL.M. '95, Founder of Landesa's Center for Women's Land Rights, Founder of the Center for Gender & Resource Equity, Senior Gender Integration Specialist at the Global Center for Gender Equity, and Affiliate Instructor at UW Law
• Laura Eshbach, LL.M. '11, Director, Corporate Engagement
• David Bledsoe, LL.M. '96, Senior Director of Corporate Engagement and Program Partnerships and Senior Attorney from '96 to 2017
• Beth Roberts, J.D. '14, LL.M. '14, current Director of Landesa's Center for Women's Land Rights