The Stanford Center for Racial Justice hosts practicums with university faculty throughout the academic year. This allows students to use their knowledge to support ongoing initiatives, projects, and research. We have partnered this quarter with Dr. Jordan Starck will offer PSYCH 180B: A Practicum on Racial Bias in the Law. Professor Subini Annamma will offer the Walkout! Lab Racial Justice in Education Practiceum. These amazing practicum students are a great addition to our team. They bring a wide range of professional, academic and personal experiences that will help to advance racial justice.
Winter 2023 Research assistants: Starck Praxis
A junior from Juneau, Alaska, Jade is studying Political Science and Spanish. Her interests in domestic policy, elections, and constitutional law are some of her academic interests. She is an Alaska Native woman and enrolled member of Wampanoag tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah). Her interests include tribal law and governance as well as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis in America. Jade is also the programming co-leader for Stanford American Indian Organization and the communications chair for Stanford Women in Politics. This past summer, Jade was also an intern at Senator Elizabeth Warren in Washington D.C., where she worked on the Honoring Promises to Native Nations Act.
A junior majoring in Psychology and minoring in Sociology, Nancy grew up in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. At Stanford, she has been part of MINT magazine in the events team, the Stanford Decarceration Collective in the policy memo team, and was in the Social Justice Presentations group with the ACLU. Her research and career interests are in the psychological and sociological factors of racial bias as well as law and how they interact. Nancy plans to attend law school after graduation. Her career goal is public defense and criminal defense attorney for the indigent.
A sophomore from Alpharetta, Georgia, Kalissa is studing Computer Science on the AI track with a Notation in Science Communication. She is passionate about AI, law and the role that artificial intelligence plays in the justice process. Kalissa works on campus in CS for Social Good. She applies AI to real-world problems for tech curriculums for nonprofits. Kalissa also helps students with introductory CS classes. The Women in CS Fellowship teaches cross-platform mobile development. She is an Inspirit AI Fellow and focuses on AI bias prevention within machine learning models. Kalissa, a journalist outside of Computer Science is also a fact-checker for Stanford Magazine.
A second-year student from Santa Barbara, Calif., Grace is studying political science with a Spanish language minor. She is passionate about promoting policies to end mass incarceration in America and reduce mental health disparities. Grace is also interested in the use of art to transformative justice practices. She is also the Stanford Decarceration Collective’s policy team leader (SDC), which is a group of students that supports criminal justice organizations and people who are impacted by them. Grace also conducts research for SDC’s advocacy partner partners and creates policy memos. She interned for REFORM Alliance’s research & implementation team in the summer of 2017. This included an investigation into different state parole and probation systems, and particularly the persistent racial inequalities in community supervision populations.
A junior majoring in Sociology with a minor in Political Science, Carolina is interested in pursuing civil rights law. In order to better understand the current portrayal of eviction online, she has worked in the Legal Design Lab. She also learned how to use social media to assist legal service efforts. Carolina was also involved in the Unlocking Justice practicum, which assisted self-represented litigants with the submission process. Carolina is passionate about encouraging students to do public service. She was the coordinator for the Haas Center’s Service Liaison Program last year. Carolina is interested in service and socio-legal studies.
A junior from Silver Spring, Maryland, Caleb is majoring in Psychology and minoring in Symbolic Systems through the Neuroscience Concentration. Caleb is passionate about mental and racial health. He works on campus as a Research Intern at the CoPsyN Sleep Lab. Caleb is also a mentor to the Ernest Houston Johnson Scholars Program of African American Frosh. He was a freshman on the Stanford Football team, and spent the three previous seasons as a running back. Caleb was chosen to the Make A Play Foundation, which is a professional development organisation for student-athletes of color. He was also named a BlackRock founders scholar as part of the 2023 class. Caleb, a high school student, created a documentary on the legacy of the lynching period for his National History Day Project. This led to him being recognized at the Equal Justice Initiative’s National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Montgomery, Alabama.
An artist and engineer in her fourth year at Stanford, Elsa is finishing up her Bachelor’s in Psychology while pursuing a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering. She is the President of Stanford Women in Design. This group aims to provide students from marginalized genders with practical skills that will enable them to succeed in the design industry. Elsa is also a Social Concepts Lab member. She facilitates conversations between parents and children about race. She has been a product designer for two summers and an intern at the International Rescue Committee. There, she managed cases for unaccompanied minors who were released from detention and resettled in California.
A sophomore from Fairfield, Connecticut, Tess is majoring in American Studies with a concentration in Inequality and the Law in America. After college, she plans to continue her studies in civil rights and criminal justice reform. Tess is an active member of Varsity Women’s Track and Field and enjoys listening crime podcasts, reading and going for walks with her friends.
m enjoys crime podcasts, reading and going for walks with friends.
Winter 2023 Research Assistants: Annamma Practicum
A first-year Design Masters student at Stanford School of Engineering, Yemariam’s academic interests revolve around the use of design to address systemic issues in technology. American University, Washington, D.C. gave her a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science. Yemariam was an analyst and user experience designer in the public and private sector before she joined Stanford. Yemariam is currently a member of the Designing Machine Learning teaching group at the d.school, where she hopes to empower an innovative, diverse, and just generation. Yemariam is a keen painter, a skilled builder, and enjoys spending time in the sun.
A senior from Missoula, Montana, Ella is studying Anthropology with a minor in Education. She is passionate about improving racial equality in education and creating transformative educational spaces that are centered on love, justice and the holistic well-being of all students. Ella was a YouthBuild Philly Charter School Americorps Community Projects Coordinator for the 2020-21 academic school year. She was responsible for supporting instruction in the GreenBuild workforce development track, with a focus of sustainable building practices. She developed and led a year-long curriculum on environmental justice. Ella is a student-staff member of the Women’s Community Center for the past three year.