Celebrating the Skadden Fellowship Program’s 35th Anniversary!
For 35 years, we’ve provided two-year fellowships to recent law graduates pursuing a career in public interest law. To celebrate this milestone anniversary, we are delighted to share profiles of one Skadden Fellow from each year, who together illustrate the Foundation's extraordinary impact.
1994
Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor
Julie Su
Building off her Fellowship project, Julie has established a career as a worker rights leader, and she now serves as the acting U.S. secretary of labor. President Biden nominated her to become the secretary of labor in March 2023.
My project was about advocating for workers who had been forgotten and made to feel invisible. I spent 17 years at my organization and the last 12 in government, and still my work is about making sure that workers who have been left out of protections and prosperity are seen, heard and valued. The Skadden Fellowship and its family of creative, fearless advocates made it all possible.
2001
Director, University of Michigan's Child Advocacy Law Clinic
Vivek Sankaran
Having represented children and families throughout his career, Vivek now serves as director of the University of Michigan's Child Advocacy Law Clinic.
2014
General Counsel at Pueblo of Isleta
Emily Soli
As a Skadden Fellow, Emily worked as a legal aid attorney at DNA People's Legal Services, practicing primarily in Navajo Tribal Courts. She was later appointed to be the Wyoming governor's senior policy adviser on state-Tribal relations. She now serves as the general counsel for the Pueblo of Isleta, representing the Tribe in a variety of matters.
Through my Fellowship, I was able to specialize in federal Indian law, which has ultimately led to my role today as general counsel to a sovereign Tribal nation. My Fellowship gave me experience, opportunity and a network, each of which has been invaluable to my career path. Skadden's Fellowship community is supportive and passionate. The advocacy and policy work of other Fellows is a constant inspiration.
2019
Staff Attorney, Legal Advocacy at National Center for Youth Law
Kamala Buchanan-Williams
Immediately after her Fellowship, during which she provided educational rights representation outside of Atlanta, Kamala was promoted to oversee her organization's education advocacy statewide.
2022
Skadden Fellow
Shariful Khan
Shariful is interested in social and economic mobility. At Yale Law School, he helped create a pipeline-to-law-school program designed to support New Haven adults of marginalized backgrounds. He provides direct representation and systemic advocacy on behalf of low-income students of color facing racially hostile school environments.