Category: 2023 Executive Scholars

Savannah Fritz LAW ’25 is a 2023 Law and Public Policy Scholar and a Conwell Scholar at Temple University Beasley School of Law.  

Savannah graduated from Harvard University in 2017 with a Bachelors in Sociology. While at Harvard, Savannah advocated for resources and support for low-income, first generation, and underrepresented students, efforts that led to the creation of a pre-orientation program that serves around one hundred incoming first-year students each August.  

Between college and law school, she worked at a homeless shelter in South Philly, an early literacy program, and on four political campaigns, including President Biden’s campaign in North Carolina. Spending a year as a counselor and educator at a rape crisis center in Massachusetts led to her career passion of working with domestic violence survivors, which will be the focus of her policy research this summer. Her internship this summer is with House of Ruth Maryland, a domestic violence nonprofit and legal aid agency. 

Ramon Suarez is a 2023 Law and Public Policy Scholar at Temple University Beasley School of Law, where he is a 1L Secretary of the Latin American Law Student Association (LALSA), Temple Law Chapter. Ramon graduated with honors from The College of New Jersey in 2002, where he studied History and received his Masters of Philosophy from New York University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences as a Warren Dean Fellow in the History Department. 

Prior to attending law school, Ramon worked as an adjunct college professor at Rutgers University while conducting research on his doctoral dissertation examining the sociopolitical role of the U.S. military in twentieth century Puerto Rico. He later worked as a legal assistant in his hometown of Perth Amboy, NJ at a family and real estate law firm. Once Covid-19 afflicted his township Ramon initiated a social experiment in grassroots community legal work as a volunteer library paralegal in Perth Amboy Public Library, helping essential workers fill out online pro se forms at a time when New Jersey Legal Services offices were still closed to the public. 

As a Temple Law student, Ramon is pursuing a career in employment and labor advocacy. He will be interning this summer at Wawa Headquarters’ Employment and Litigation office. As a Law and Public Policy Scholar, his current focus is on politically and legally empowering minority working-class communities, identifying the disparate policy impacts that lack of guaranteed federal paid family and medical leave protections in the United States have upon working-class women of color. 

Lara Ormiston, LAW ’24, is a 2023 Law and Public Policy Scholar at Temple University Beasley School of Law. At Temple, Lara serves as the Vice President of the Health Law Society and the Co-Fundraising Chair for the Student Public Interest Network. Lara is also working as a legal research assistant for Temple’s College of Public Health. Her work is focused on augmenting a nationwide emergency law inventory.  

Lara graduated summa cum laude from Moravian College in 2021 with a B.S. in Biology. At Moravian, Lara was a member of the Beta Beta Beta National Biologic Honor Society and the Gamma Sigma Alpha National Greek Honor Society. Throughout college, Lara volunteered at St. Luke’s Hospital where she saw firsthand the serious disparities different groups of people faced in accessing healthcare. This volunteer experience sparked her interest in wanting to go to law school and wanting to work directly with clients to help dispel health inequity. 

This summer, Lara will be working at the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free legal services to individuals living with HIV. Her policy interests include healthcare reform and reproductive justice.  

Joshua DuBois LAW ’25 is a 2023 Law and Public Policy Scholar at Temple University Beasley School of Law. Joshua graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 2017 with a B.S. in Marine and Environmental Science. He also earned a Graduate Certificate in Environmental Policy from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. Currently, Joshua is a 1L Representative for the Family Law Society and is involved in VetLaw and the Christian Law Society.  

 Prior to law school, Joshua served as an active-duty officer in the United States Coast Guard. He was first assigned to the Cutter SENECA out of Boston, working as a ship driver, flight deck officer, and public affairs officer. Joshua was then assigned as the Chief of Domestic Inspections in Boston, responsible for the certification of approximately 350 vessels. He is now assigned as a reserve officer in New York City. 

 This summer, Joshua is working for the Department of Justice’s Aviation, Space & Admiralty Office. His main policy interests are maritime law, immigration law, and military justice. 

Indira Rahman (they/them) LAW ’25 is a Law & Public Policy Scholar at Temple University Beasley School of Law. They graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in 2018 with a B.A. in Astrophysics and Government. 

Prior to law school, Indira was the full-time lead researcher and senior project manager at the Franklin & Marshall Global Barometers, the world’s first centralized quantitative index on LGBTQ+ human rights in 204 countries and regions. The $1.5 million federal project was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and global partners such as the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) and Global Affairs Canada (GAC). Indira had the privilege of recruiting and engaging with more than 50 LGBTQ+ peer review experts—including grassroots activists, scholars, and policy professionals—from over 40 countries. They are also a co-contributor to the LGBTQI Human Rights Report Card for 110 countries, which were featured in the 2021 White House Summit for Democracy. Indira’s work on the first global landscape study on transgender rights was published in the Journal of Human Rights. 

A nonbinary queer asylum-seeker from Bangladesh, Indira came to law school to end the criminalization of LGBTQ+ people worldwide. At Temple Law, they are involved in various student leadership positions as the incoming President of OUTLaw and the Vice President of American Constitution Society and International Law Society. 

As a 2023 Law & Public Policy Scholar, Indira will be interning at the World Bank this summer in Washington, DC on a short-term appointment. They will be working in the Middle East and North Africa Practice Group (LEGAM) under the Bank’s Legal Vice Presidency. Additionally, they will be writing a policy paper featuring South Asian LGBTQ+ asylum seekers on the link between project funding, legal access, and inclusion. Indira’s policy interests include global migration, LGBTQ+ human rights, and inclusive international development. 

Drew Perkoski LAW ‘25 is a 2023 Law & Public Policy Scholar at Temple University Beasley School of Law. 

 Prior to law school, Drew graduated with honors from Washington University in St. Louis with an A.B. in Global Studies, concentrating in development, and a minor in Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies. In 2020, Drew was the deputy policy director for Alan Khazei, coordinating a comprehensive platform on over 400 national, state, and municipal issues. For two years Drew served as student director of Maimonides Moot Court for the Hadar Institute, planning and organizing international events addressing a range of policy topics through the lens of Jewish law. Drew was also a legal assistant at Pinder Plotkin, a Baltimore-based personal injury firm. 

 This summer, Drew will be working at the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project, focused on housing law and economic justice. Drew’s policy interests include transformative justice and universal access to basic needs. 

Dillon Collins, LAW ‘25, is a 2023 Law & Public Policy and Conwell Scholar at Temple University Beasley School of Law. Dillon graduated with a B.A. in Sociology from Marlboro College in 2015 and a Master of Science in Education from Johns Hopkins University in 2020.  

Prior to law school, Dillon worked at a crisis-stabilization hospital for adolescents, helped a middle school transition to an inclusion model of Special Education, and served as a corps member of Teach For America. As a member of TFA, Dillon taught high school social studies in Kealakekua, Hawaii.  

This summer, Dillon is working for the Philadelphia School District with a focus on civil rights. In the fall, Dillon will intern with the Education Law Center in Philadelphia. His policy interests are educational equity and the intersection of behavioral health and discipline in education.  

Cristina de Arana is a 2023 Law and Public Policy Scholar. She serves as the Co-President of the Criminal Justice committee for Temple’s chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. Cristina graduated from the University of Delaware in 2017, where she earned her B.A. in Political Science and Women and Gender Studies.  

Prior to attending law school, Cristina interned for the Delaware Juvenile Civil Citation Program, an alternative-to-arrest program serving youth in the State of Delaware. After her time at the Juvenile Civil Citation Program, Cristina worked as an investigative intern at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. There, she collaborated with community members to collect mitigation materials, utilized her bilingual language skills to consult with clients and translate police footage, among other investigative techniques. Interning at the Public Defender Services was a formative experience which encouraged her to pursue other social justice organizations, namely abolitionist organizations. Thereafter, Cristina served as the first undergraduate intern at the Abolitionist Law Center in Philadelphia, where she conducted research on solitary confinement practices in the United States and presented these findings at a state-wide bill convening in support of HB-497/SB-832.  

Most recently, Cristina worked as a legal intern for the American Civil Liberties Union – New Jersey affiliate. As a Law and Public Policy Scholar, Cristina is interning for the Nationalities Service Center’s  Pennsylvania Immigrant Family Unity Project. Her policy interests include criminal procedure, immigration law, international human rights, and social justice lawyering.  

Emma Weise LAW ’24 is a Law Faculty Scholar and a 2023 Law & Public Policy Scholar at Temple University Beasley School of Law. At Temple, she is an active member of the Student Public Interest Committee and the Temple Family Law Society. Emma graduated cum laude from the University of Minnesota in 2014 with a B.A. in Anthropology and a minor in American Studies.  

Prior to law school, Emma had a wide range of experiences including work as a committee page for the Minnesota House of Representatives, running an arts and crafts bar, and excavations as part of an international team in Vix, France. Her eclectic background exposed her to people from all walks of life and guided her to make the decision to go to law school. 

 As a proud member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, Emma is interested in policy issues surrounding tribal sovereignty. As the granddaughter of a survivor of Native American child removal, Emma is also interested in policy issues surrounding child welfare. 

 During the summer of 2023 Emma will be interning with the Child Advocacy Unit of the Philadelphia Defender’s Association, which provides representation for children in dependency cases.   

Haley Platt LAW ’25 is a 2023 Law & Public Policy Scholar at Temple University Beasley School of Law. At Temple, Haley has been involved in several student organizations including Women’s Law Caucus, Sports and Entertainment Law Society, and serving as Outreach Chair for the Tax and Bankruptcy Law Society. 

Originally from Virginia, Haley graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science, Russian, and French. She also earned a certificate in Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies. While at Pitt, Haley studied abroad at both Université de Nantes in France and Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia. Upon graduation, Haley worked as Special Assistant to the Mayor in the Pittsburgh Mayor’s Office. She also worked at the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce as the Government Affairs Coordinator.  

This summer, Haley will be interning at the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation. Her policy interests include diverse and inclusive economic development, transitioning to clean energy, and gun reform.