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The First Generation Civil Rights Fellowship Program, or FirstGEN, is a paid summer program for undergraduate students who are the first in their immediate families to attend college and who intend to pursue careers in social justice. Our mission is to identify and support first generation college students as they emerge into tomorrow’s leaders.

From June 3rd through August 9th, fellows will serve as summer interns with a FirstGEN Fellowship partner: the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under LawAdvancing Justice | AAJC, or the National Immigration Law Center (NILC). During the course of their internships, fellows receive experience advocating for civil rights, participate in training and professional development seminars, and join a growing community of emerging leaders in the FirstGEN Alumni Network. The program will be fully remote with all activities conducted online via Zoom and other digital platforms.

Applicants are interviewed and selected by the host organizations, so each applicant will have an opportunity to indicate which organization they would prefer to intern with on the application. Applicants should be dedicated to pursuing careers in social justice and possess a track record of public service through volunteer work or community service. People of color, women, LGBTQ, or other minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.

The deadline to apply is April 5th, however, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. 

To learn more about the program, read about the experiences of the 2023 Fellows.

For more information, email us at firstgen@lawyerscommittee.org

FirstGEN Alumni

Alejandra Cabellero
Trinity University

Kathleen Hoang
Columbia University

Andy Flores
Barnard College

Jasmyne Brown
Spelman College

Victoria Cadostin
Barnard College

Batool Ibrahim
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Emma Ann Taverner
CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Jeniffer Velazquez
University of Southern California

Natalie Tran
Middlebury College

Claudia Theagene
SUNY Plattsburgh

Sonia Paz Canton
Georgetown University

Rabiya Ismail
Tufts University

Nghi Lam
Colorado College

Kennedi Holloway
Ohio State University

Brittany Christian
Bridgewater State University

Sykina Butts
Delta State University

Alexia Sanchez Garcia
The University of Iowa

Melissa Denizard
Babson College

Mikael Morelion
Brown University

Lara Adekeye
Boston University

Rula Thabata
Loyola University New Orleans

Cindy Reyes
University of Pennsylvania

Tauheed Islam
Harvard University

Alondra Vazquez Lopez
Yale University

Jazmine Lahbabi
University of California, Irvine

Berenice Davila Gonzalez
Berea College

Daisy Almonte
Duke University

Angelica Mercado
Mount Holyoke College

Melinda Nguyen
University of California, Santa Barbara

Jennifer Quan
Tulane University

Leslie Diaz
University of California, Los Angeles

Veronica Fernandez-Diaz
Colorado College

Deborah Johnson
Oberlin College

Nahlee Lin
Pomona College

America Morales
Wesleyan University

Rhajaa Wright
Duke University

Megan Brookens
University of Pennsylvania

Sanah Jivani
University of Texas, San Antonio

Dianne Kaiyoorawongs
Yale University

Raymond Magsaysay
Vassar College

Renata Mauriz
Brown University

Isaura Amezcua
Georgetown University

Rafael Medina
University of California, Los Angeles

Mayra Melendez
Salisbury University

Lorenza Ramirez
Tufts University

Teofanny Saragi
Pomona College

Emily Taing
University of California, Los Angeles

Karen Vallejos
Southwestern Adventist University

Karla Davis
MidAmerica Nazarene University

Nirvana Felix
University of California, Berkeley

Genesis Garfio
Columbia University

Juan Rangel
University of Notre Dame

Tania Chairez
University of Pennsylvania

Najaah Daniels
St. John’s University