2022 Fellows

2022 Human Rights Center Summer Fellows

This year, the HRC is hosting thirteen fellows working with high-impact organizations to defend rights related to refugees, immigrants, housing, gendered violence, racial discrimination, death penalty, environmental advocacy, and many more important issues pertaining to human rights.

MB Apker - 2L 
Advocates for Human Rights 

MB is a rising 3L from Omaha, Nebraska who then attended undergrad at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. She received her degree in  Marketing and Spanish. After graduation, she came directly to the University of Minnesota Law School. Butler University gave her many opportunities to gain interest and experience in public interest work. She is excited to have the opportunity to work with The Advocates for Human Rights this summer. She will be assisting the attorneys with asylum cases by doing research, intake interviews, hearings, and other needs of a local immigration non-profit.

Anna Bachan - 2L
Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR)

Anna is a rising 3L at the University of Minnesota Law School with a passion for promoting and protecting human rights at the international level. Her main areas of interest within this field include the intersection of business and human rights, United Nations advocacy, and international criminal law, particularly focusing on civil and political rights and human rights within the context of national security. At the law school, Anna is a student attorney at the International Human Rights Litigation and Advocacy Clinic. She looks forward to being a Student Director of the clinic during her 3L year. Anna is also a legal project assistant for Professor Ní Aoláin, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, for whom she conducts legal research on counter-terrorism and human rights issues in countries including Uzbekistan and Spain to prepare the Special Rapporteur for her country visits. Prior to attending law school, Anna spent three years living in West Africa, where she worked as a researcher for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on labor migration, migrant worker protection, and human trafficking issues. This summer, Anna is excited to further build on her understanding of international law and UN advocacy through her work with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) in Geneva, Switzerland. She will work with independent experts in the Protection, Religion, Accountability, and Human Security Section, specifically conducting legal research on human rights violations, ensuring State compliance with their obligations under international law, responding to individual cases of violations and sending communications to States.

Nicole Carter - 1L
Harvard Immigration Law & Clinic 

Nicole Carter, a rising 2L, will be working as a Legal Intern for the Harvard Immigration and
Refugee Clinical Program this summer. She will assist with the Clinic’s work directly
representing individuals seeking humanitarian protection in the United States while advocating for the protection of the human rights of noncitizens through impact litigation and policy advocacy. Nicole received her B.S. in Economics and International Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in December 2020. She has grown her passion for human rights over several years working with a number of civil and human rights organizations, and she is grateful for the opportunity to continue doing this work this summer.

Madelyn Cox-Guerra - 2L
National Center for Youth Law

Madelyn Cox-Guerra is a rising 3L at the University of Minnesota Law School. She is focused on juvenile law in the criminal and immigration justice systems. Madelyn will be working as a law clerk for the National Center for Youth law this summer. She is on the executive board of the Minnesota Justice Foundation, the incoming Lead Online Editor for the Journal of Law & Inequality, and a student director for the Detainee Rights Clinic. Madelyn is excited to spend her summer helping juveniles through impact litigation and learning to knit.

Jackie Cuellar - 2L 
Food & Water Watch 

Jackie Cuellar is rising 3L who is passionate about promoting health equity and creating a just food system through policy change. Originally from Minnesota, she attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in Nutritional Sciences. Interested in approaching barriers to food access and health from a systemic level, she went on to earn her Master’s in Public Health from the University of California-Berkeley. While in graduate school, she took classes in food law and policy which inspired her to pursue law school. As a Human Rights Center Fellow, she will spend her summer at the non-profit policy advocacy organization Food & Water Watch. There, she will be working on legal- and policy-related issues including factory farming, food safety, climate change, fracking, water privatization, and agricultural governance.  She is excited to have the opportunity to continue exploring her interests in food systems and environmental health through a legal lens.

Ben Gleekel - 2L 
Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network

Ben is a Human Rights Center working with the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network’s Detention Program. His past work in the field of immigration law includes two years as the Outreach Coordinator for the Asylum Law Project, working as a student attorney in the Binger Center for New American’s Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic, and involvement with the  Binger Center for New American’s Afghan Evacuee Project. Next year he will work at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota through the Saeks Public Interest Residency Program. Originally from Minneapolis, Ben is a rising 3L and graduated from Middlebury College with a B.A. in Political Science and English & American Literature.

Bobby Lindsay - 2L
Poverty and Race Research Action Council

Bobby grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and graduated from Saint Louis University in 2019 with an English degree. After graduation, he was an AmeriCorps member with Illinois JusticeCorps where he helped people without lawyers navigate the legal system. Bobby entered law school to pursue his interests in housing policy and labor law. While at UMN Law, he has worked with Legal Services of Eastern Missouri and the Legal Aid Society in Chicago on eviction prevention. Bobby will be spending the summer as a Law & Policy Intern with the Poverty & Race Research Action Council (PRRAC) in Washington, D.C., where he will assist in developing legal and policy analysis of federal housing and education programs, drafting PRRAC advocacy letters, reports, and policy briefs, and supporting legislative and regulatory advocacy.  He’s excited to work with PRRAC in promoting research-based advocacy strategies to address structural inequality and disrupt the systems that disadvantage low-income people of color.

Elena Macomber - 1L
Global Rights Compliance

Elena Macomber is a rising 2L from Saint Paul, MN. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in Global Studies, and minors in French, Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, and Political Science. Elena has been passionate about working with and supporting immigrants and refugees for many years, and she is interested in the legal intersections between migration and human rights issues. She will get the chance to explore these intersections this summer as a Human Rights Center Fellow at Global Rights Compliance. GRC is an international human rights law firm and not-for-profit organization based in The Hague. At GRC, Elena will conduct international legal research on topics such as Ukrainian refugee resettlement in Poland, due process issues in Tajikistan, and the impacts of climate change on communities in the Cook Islands. She will also edit legal documents, memos, and proposals that GRC will submit to international organizations such as the UN, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court.

Ian Mallery - 1L
ACLU- Missouri

Ian Mallery is a rising 2L at the University of Minnesota Law School. He attended Washington University in St. Louis where he majored in political science with a minor in economics. As a Human Rights Fellow this summer, Ian will be clerking for the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri where he previously interned during his senior year. In his role he will assist in developing cases for litigation, preparing memoranda, and interviewing potential clients. At UMN Law, Ian’s studies focus on civil rights, labor law, and criminal defense. He is a board member of the National Lawyers Guild and taught a weekly Street Law class at a local middle school.

Bailey Martin - 2L
Office of Ohio Public Defender Penalty Department

Bailey Martin is a rising 3L at the University of Minnesota Law School. Born and raised in rural Ohio, Bailey completed her undergraduate education at The Ohio State University. After graduating, she worked for the state of Ohio and nonprofits in Columbus, Ohio, in affordable housing, community development, mental health, and community outreach. In law school, Bailey focuses on issues related to criminal defense and is passionate about advocating for the rights of people who are incarcerated. Last summer, Bailey worked for the Capital Habeas Unit in the Federal Public Defender Office – Southern District of Ohio, and this summer, she will be returning to Ohio to continue working on death penalty appeals for the Ohio Public Defender's Death Penalty Department. This unit represents Ohioans on death row after their conviction and throughout the state appellate process. Bailey is excited and honored to have the opportunity to serve these clients and collaborate with attorneys protecting the rights and lives of Ohioans on death row.

Katin Liphart Massad - 1L 
Advocates for Human Rights

Katin is a rising 2L who will be spending the 2022-23 year at the Humphrey School for Public Affairs as she pursues a dual J.D./Master’s of Public Policy degree. She attended Carleton College in Northfield, MN, and spent the year after her graduation in St. Petersburg, Russia, studying and doing research on ethnic conflict in the post-Soviet space. Upon her return to the U.S., she worked as an immigration paralegal and was an AmeriCorps member before deciding to attend law school. Katin will be spending this summer working for The Advocates for Human Rights’ Refugee and Immigrant Program. She is excited to continue working in the field of immigration and human rights and is eager to support The Advocates in their important work.

Lindsay Maher - 1L
Brennan Center for Justice

Lindsay Maher is a rising 2L at the University of Minnesota Law School. She graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a B.A. in Communication Studies and minors in Music and Psychology. Prior to law school, Lindsay worked for several years as a software engineer. As a Human Rights Center Fellow, Lindsay will work as a legal intern at the Brennan Center for Justice in New York, New York. She will primarily work with the Brennan Center’s Democracy program, which focuses on voting rights, campaign finance reform, redistricting integrity, fair courts, and First Amendment jurisprudence. Lindsay’s role for the summer will be assisting attorneys with litigation, scholarship, public education, legislative counseling, and advocacy, with an emphasis on legal research and writing. In addition to ensuring fair representation for all within our democracy, Lindsay is particularly interested in economic justice and the intersection of policy and law.

Hortense Minishi - MHR
Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR)

Hortense is a Fulbright international scholar currently pursuing her Master of Human Rights with a concentration in International Relations and Diplomacy at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in the US. She is passionate about advancing equality, diversity, and social justice as well as promoting, protecting, and safeguarding the rights of vulnerable/marginalized groups and under-represented communities. Originally from Kenya, Hortense was admitted to the Bar of Advocates-Kenya in 2015 and holds a Post-graduate Diploma in Law and a Bachelor of Laws Degree (LLB) from the Kenya School of Law and Moi University respectively. Hortense has worked as a Human Rights Lawyer for over 7 years with varied organizations throughout Sub-Saharan Africa in the fields of children, youth and women in armed conflict, peace, and security, forced displacement, migration, and refugee resettlement. She was most recently an International Justice Intern with the Advocates for Human Rights in Minnesota, US where she focused on supporting grassroot organizations and CSOs in their UN advocacy through UN human rights monitoring and reporting. As a Human Rights Center Fellow, Hortense will work as an intern at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Development and Economic and Social Issues Branch (DESIB) within their Social Justice Advocacy and Outreach Program on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Sustainable Development Goals, and the Right to Development team. Her mantra has always been to leave a little sparkle wherever she goes and through this internship she aspires to lead and support projects at the United Nations that delve on diversity and inclusion aimed at alleviating poverty, historical injustices, economic and social inequalities so as “leave (only sparkle) but no one behind”!