Trinity Alum Earns Coveted Fellowship in Law, Will Attend Columbia
Indira Rivera, a Trinity College Posse alumna, has been admitted into the newest class of Weil Legal Innovators (WLI) in the firm’s prestigious fellowship program. Indira received a placement at the National Urban League in New York City, where she is now completing a year-long role as an Equitable Justice Fellow.
The Weil Legal Innovators Program groups cohorts of 10 incoming law school students to work together at WLI partner nonprofits. Each fellow defers their first year of law school at one of eight WLI law school partners to participate in the program. Indira has deferred an acceptance to Columbia Law School and will work at National Urban League through July 2022.
At the National Urban League, Indira is eager to expand her network and knowledge of issues within the public policy field. She is currently working on matters involving racial justice, tracking legislation, criminal justice reform and civic engagement.
“I hope to gain and improve my legal skills on these important social justice issues, while also continuing to develop my leadership.”
Two major highlights for Indira so far have been participating in a congressional meeting on the Voting Rights Advancement Act, and writing a brief for a gun control case that will be heard by the Supreme Court.
“I hope to gain and improve my legal skills on these important social justice issues, while also continuing to develop my leadership qualities by collaborating with my team,” Indira says, reflecting on her first months as a fellow.
Indira can trace her passion for social justice and public interest law back to sophomore year of high school, when she participated in the Sonia and Celina Sotomayor High School Judicial Internship Program. She has since gone on to complete legal internships at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney Office of the Southern District of New York.
In 2019, Indira was mentored by Travelers’ CEO Alan Schnitzer as a Jeff Ubben Posse Fellow. She went on to graduate from Trinity College summa cum laude in February 2021, a semester early, with a major in political science and minors in legal studies and Latin American/Caribbean studies.
Indira looks forward to starting at Columbia Law School in 2022, where she will focus her studies on criminal justice, public policy and international human rights law. As for the future, Indira aspires to work for a human rights organization in Latin America and the Caribbean and aims to one day be elected as the Bronx District Attorney.
