FIVE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK SCHOOL OF LAW STUDENTS AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS PEGGY BROWNING FELLOWSHIPS
They are experienced advocates for workplace justice; among them are food service and warehouse workers, a Fullbright Fellow working on anti-corruption compliance, an AmeriCorps member who helped New Yorkers access healthcare and receive justice in housing court, a formerly undocumented immigrant who worked as an organizer and national coordinator with Movimiento Cosecha.
Chloe Carter-Daves, Nicolette Moore, Beck Riedman, Nick Sanchez, and Brenda Valladares-Belleza, via The Peggy Browning Fund
Five CUNY School of Law students have been awarded prestigious, highly competitive public interest fellowships through The Peggy Browning Fund—Chloe Carter-Daves, Nicolette Moore, Beck Riedman, Nick Sanchez, and Brenda Valladares-Belleza. They are experienced advocates for workplace justice; among them are food service and warehouse workers, a Fullbright Fellow working on anti-corruption compliance, an AmeriCorps member who helped New Yorkers access healthcare and receive justice in housing court, a formerly undocumented immigrant who worked as an organizer and national coordinator with Movimiento Cosecha.
Regarding this year’s Fellows, the Peggy Browning Fund states:
As the country continues to face unprecedented challenges to workers’ rights, the fight for workplace justice has never been more pressing. Labor needs lawyers and we are inspired by the passion and dedication this year’s Fellows bring to the movement. These Fellows are distinguished students who have not only excelled in law school but who have also demonstrated their commitment to workers’ rights through their previous educational, organizing, work, volunteer, and personal experiences.
Chloe Carter-Daves (J.D. candidate, 2024) will be at Spivak Lipton LLP in New York, NY. Chloe grew up in Brooklyn and attended NYC public schools prior to studying political science and Jewish studies at Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College. She developed a passion for grassroots organizing while working as a campus organizer and national leader for J Street U, a nationwide movement of college students advocating against the occupation of Palestine. During and after college Chloe worked at upscale restaurants as a server and maître d’, where she saw how wage and hour violations, racism, sexism, and xenophobia are features of the industry, rather than bugs. Utilizing her organizing prowess, she rallied her colleagues to demand better treatment from management during the pandemic, which spurred her to pursue a career as a labor attorney. Chloe believes in the importance of unions for all workers, especially those in non-traditional and vulnerable industries such as the service industry and is excited to build a legal career protecting workers’ rights.
Nicolette Moore (J.D. candidate, 2024) will be at Gladstein, Reif, and Meginniss in New York, NY. Nicolette grew up in Florida as the daughter of transport workers involved in union organizing. She pursued a degree in international politics and Latin American studies at Georgetown University. She then spent a year in Mexico as a Fulbright Fellow, where she worked on anti-corruption compliance at a commercial litigation firm. Recently, Nicolette worked at a legal tech startup and has served as a legal assistant at a workers’ compensation firm. Last summer, she was a Peggy Browning Fellow at Farmworker Justice, where she supported litigation on behalf of agricultural workers suffering workplace exploitation and abuse. In law school, Nicolette is a member of the Labor Coalition. Her goal is to work as a labor attorney and support sectors of workers that are organizing for the first time. She is thrilled to be interning at Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss this summer.
Beck Riedman (J.D. candidate, 2024) will be at Hayes Dolce in Buffalo, NY. After graduating from Oberlin College, Beck returned to their home of Western New York to complete an AmeriCorps term at Legal Assistance of Western NY. Over the next five years, Beck worked primarily with clients struggling to overcome barriers to accessing health care and tenants facing housing court. This work fueled their passion for using the law to support impactful social change and has led them to pursue their law degree at CUNY Law where they serve on the school’s Labor Coalition. As a former Starbucks partner, they’ve been inspired by the recent waves of collective action across the country, and are thrilled to return upstate once more to provide legal support to workers this summer as a Peggy Browning Fellow at Hayes Dolce.
Nick Sanchez (J.D. candidate, 2024) will be at New York Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, AFL- CIO in New York, NY. Born and raised in Texas, he moved to New York to pursue a career as a cook in fine-dining restaurants. After the COVID-19 pandemic left thousands of restaurant workers jobless, Nick chose to earn his law degree to support workers in their struggle for safe, prosperous, dignified working conditions. His specific areas of interest are utilizing transactional law to build worker power through strong union contracts and fighting for the rights of workers engaged in direct action. This summer, Nick will be a Peggy Browning Fellow at the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, AFL-CIO in New York City.
Brenda Valladares-Belleza (J.D. candidate, 2025) will be at National Day Laborer Organizing Network in Los Angeles, CA. Brenda is a formerly undocumented immigrant from Perú who started organizing alongside immigrant workers when she was sixteen. A worker in restaurants and warehouses, Brenda lived and witnessed the injustices immigrants faced at the hands of employers at the workplace and by ICE in her community. She was introduced to the immigrant and worker’s rights movements during the 2006 “Un Dia Sin Inmigrantes” marches and strikes. Since then, Brenda has supported and coordinated national, state, and local campaigns empowering immigrants to lead their own struggle and pushing for the permanent protection of all undocumented immigrants in this country. After six years as an organizer and national coordinator with Movimiento Cosecha and was moved by her experience supporting striking immigrant workers and victims of workplace raids, she decided to join CUNY Law to focus on the intersection of labor and immigration law.