Minnesota Law Students Brianna Attamante ’25, Yessenia Gutierrez ’26, Noah Madoff ’26 and Caleb Waugh ’26 Awarded 2024 Peggy Browning Fellowships

Minnesota Law Students Brianna Attamante ’25, Yessenia Gutierrez ’26, Noah Madoff ’26, and Caleb Waugh ’26 have been awarded 2024 Peggy Browning Fellowships in workplace justice advocacy. Over 3,950 law students nationwide applied for the fellowships with 117 students receiving the awards. 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. 

Brianna Attamante is the granddaughter of a former IBEW member and has always had an interest in workers’ rights. After graduating from Rutgers University with a bachelor’s degree in history, she did a service term with the National Civilian Community Corps, AmeriCorps NCCC. Along with her team, Brianna traveled across the United States, working on a farm, restoring historic buildings, and rehabilitating refugees. At Minnesota Law, she has volunteered with the Minnesota Justice Foundation and Asylum Law Project, advocating for immigrant and asylum seekers’ rights. She will be working as a Browning Fellow this summer with the Kraw Law Group in Mountain View, CA.

Before law school, Yessenia Gutierrez worked as a compliance investigator for the Philadelphia Department of Labor, where she earned a 2023 Integrity Icon award. She is from a Central American working-class family and earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in biology and Latin American and Latino Studies. Yessenia previously worked with reproductive justice and immigration nonprofits and as a union organizer. At Minnesota Law, she is active in the American Constitution Society, and the Asylum Law Project and was a 1L representative for both the Student Employment and Labor Law Association and Minnesota Plaintiffs’ Law Association. This summer she will be working as a Browning Fellow with the United Auto Workers in Detroit, MI.

Noah Madoff received a degree in literature from Harvard University and previously worked for nearly a decade in journalism and documentary film. He first became interested in the labor movement and labor rights in the long aftermath of the Great Recession. In addition, he developed interests in law and political economy and has provided legal support to Trader Joe’s United Union. He has also served on the executive board of Minnesota Law’s student labor law organization. He will be working as a Browning Fellow with the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers this summer.

Raised in Pittsburgh, PA, from a long line of union members, Caleb Waugh’s passion for protecting workers’ rights developed from his family who instilled in him a deep appreciation of the power of collective action. He worked with the Communications Workers of America locals while an undergraduate at Indiana University. At Minnesota Law, he has been the communications director for the Student Employment and Labor Law Association and a member of the East Side Freedom Library Labor Advisory Committee, which provides programming for local immigrant workers in the Twin Cities. He will spend the summer as a Browning Fellow with the United Steelworkers in Pittsburgh, PA.

Congratulations, Brianna, Yessenia, Noah, and Caleb!