Ruth Lowenkron, Esq., Class of 1987
Director, Disability Justice Program
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
Ruth Lowenkron, Director of the Disability Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, has been a champion for disability rights since 1981. A graduate of CUNY School of Law’s inaugural class, Lowenkron has worked tirelessly to assist countless individuals with disabilities through impact litigation, legislative advocacy, and community outreach. She has taught disability law at Seton Hall Law School and CUNY School of Law, and serves as a special education hearing officer for the New York State Department of Education. Lowenkron’s dedication to social justice has been recognized with numerous honors throughout her career.
Vickie Neilson, Class of 1994
Supervising Attorney
National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild
Victoria (Vickie) Neilson has dedicated her career to immigration law and social justice. As a Supervising Attorney at the National Immigration Project (NIPNLG), Neilson provides training and advocacy on asylum, border and removal, and removal defense issues. She co-chairs AILA’s National Asylum Committee and conducts trial skills training with the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA). Neilson’s experience includes serving as Managing Attorney of the Defending Vulnerable Populations program at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., and Legal Director roles at the Immigrant Justice Corps, Immigration Equality, and the HIV Law Project. She has also taught as an adjunct professor at CUNY Law and NYU School of Law.
Azaleea Carlea, Class of 2002
Legal Director
The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund
Azaleea Carlea has committed her career to the advancement of social justice for underserved communities, particularly focusing on supporting survivors of gender-based violence. As the Legal Director at Legal Momentum, the Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, Carlea oversees initiatives on gender-based violence, reproductive rights, and workplace and educational equality. With extensive litigation experience in various courts, she has also supported policy efforts to improve systemic responses to violence against women. Carlea’s dedication to social justice is evident in her work and her continued commitment to the Queens community, where she still lives.
Yasmin Dweda, Class of 2011
Executive Director
Vermont Legal Aid
Yasmin Dwedar, a Muslim-American Attorney of Egyptian and Filipino descent, serves as Vermont Legal Aid’s first woman of color Executive Director and is the founder of Radical Synergy, a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) consulting company. With over a decade of experience as a public interest and social justice attorney, Dwedar has led legal teams, served as a litigator, and clerked in state and federal court in New York. She has also developed and implemented DEI-focused initiatives and strategies on various nonprofit boards. Dwedar’s work has been recognized in Crain’s New York Business Top 100 Women Lawyers (2018) and Hunter College’s 40 Under 40 (2023), and she has been featured in Moustafa Bayoumi’s book How Does It Feel to Be a Problem: Being Young and Arab in America (2008) and in Vice Media.
Shoshana M. Brown, Esq., Class of 2017
Manager of Equal Opportunity Compliance
New York State Governor’s Office of Employee Relations
Anti-Discrimination Investigations Division
Shoshana M. Brown currently serves as a Manager in Equal Opportunity Compliance for New York State’s Office of Employee Relations, Anti-Discrimination Investigations Division (ADID). Prior to her role at ADID, Brown worked as an Appellate Court Attorney for New York State’s Appellate Division, Third Department. She is an Inaugural Fellow of the Sorensen Center for International Peace and Justice and a graduate of the Pipeline to Justice Program at CUNY Law. Before pursuing her legal career, Brown dedicated several years to community work as Director of Programs at Caribbean Women’s Health Association in Brooklyn. She holds a Master of Public Health Degree from New York University and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Miami.
