Sahvannah C. Rodriguez

Ms. Rodriguez is entering her second year at Stanford Law School this fall. Ms. Rodriguez’ interest in social justice stemmed from her time as a substitute teacher before starting law school. She worked frequently at her former high school located in a predominantly Latino school district, where she encountered the brightest students, albeit being at low-income schools.

While in college, Ms. Rodriguez was very active in Casa Magdalena Mora, a residential program focused on helping first-generation, low- income Chicanx Latinx college students transition to the UC Berkeley campus. Ms. Rodriguez was also involved with the ASUC student government and during her second year, worked with the endorsed Latinx senator for the campus community, as well as focused on leadership projects focused on advocacy for brown student equity, recruitment, and retention. During her third year, Ms. Rodriguez eventually won a seat in the ASUC student body elections as the Latinx community-endorsed senator, representing over 31,000 students concerning such issues affecting women, LGBTQ+, and undocumented students. While in college, Ms. Rodriguez also established Berkeley’s first Latinx Student Resource Center, and was able to work on resolutions that granted more funding priorities to minority students.

This summer Ms. Rodriguez will be a legal fellow at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), where she hopes to gain tools to affect change through strategic and targeted impact litigation.