Announcing the Corporate Scholars Program class of 2013

WMACCA is proud to announce the 13 members of the Corporate Scholars Class of 2013 and the location of their internships this coming summer:

• Juan Arreaza, from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, at Sodexo, Inc.
• Kris Caudle, from the University of Baltimore School of Law, at Fannie Mae
• Latosha Ellis,from the University of Richmond School of Law, at National Student Clearinghouse
• Paul Gendron, from the University of Richmond School of Law, at APEX Systems Inc.
• Andrea Gonzalez, from the Georgetown University Law Center, at the National Geographic Society
• Sara Haneef, from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, at Choice Hotels International Inc.
  
• Belema Idoniboye, from the William & Mary School of Law, at Special Olympics
• Rachel Kelly, from the William & Mary School of Law, at General Dynamics AIS
• Mercedes Knight, from the Howard University School of Law, at Sandy Spring Bancorp Inc.
• Reshma Patel, from The George Washington University Law School, at Verizon
• Drew Reitz, from the George Mason University School of Law, at BAE Systems Inc.
• Mellissa Sager, from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, at the Beer Institute
• Dominique Wales,from the Howard University School of Law, at Carey International Inc.

(Pictured, l to r: Andrea Gonzalez, Latosha Ellis, Kris Caudle, Dominique Wales, Rachel Kelly, Juan Arreaza, Mellissa Sager, Mercedes Knight, Drew Reitz.)

This year, we received more than 140 applications for the Program and interviewed 30+ finalists.  Congratulations to the Scholars!  We look forward to introducing them to our members at the Swing Into Spring Social on May 16 (click for more information and registration).

If you have questions about the program, please contact Ilene G. Reid, WMACCA Executive Director, at Ilene.Reid@WMACCA.com. 

BACKGROUND: 

WMACCA, with initial grant support from the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, created the Corporate Scholars Program in 2004 to provide high-achieving and promising students at law schools in the WMACCA service area with scholarship awards and experiential learning opportunities in the legal departments of prestigious local companies and organizations. To learn more about the creation of the Scholars Program, please click here for an article from Legal Times.

The Corporate Scholars Program gives the students unique insights into the in-house practice of law.  They have the opportunity to learn about and experience the areas of corporate practice and legal advocacy that in-house counsel handle, as well as the relationship between providing business and legal advice to clients in a variety of substantive areas.

The Corporate Scholars Program is also a “diversity pipeline” program. WMACCA hopes to get applications from populations that may otherwise lack access to these opportunities. Diversity for this Program is used in its broadest sense, not simply to convey ideas about gender, race, ethnicity, etc., but also concepts of socio-economic background and the student's individual educational and career path. Furthermore, diversity means obtaining a pool of applicants who are reflective of the work force in general and the communities that lawyers serve. The Corporate Scholars Program is seeking students who have good grades, strong writing skills, previous work experience, and some professional maturity.

The Program is maintained by generous support from WMACCA, its sponsors, and individual and corporate donors.

The CORPORATE SCHOLARS CLASS OF 2012

WMACCA is proud to show off the Corporate Scholars, Class of 2012. With 14 students, this was our largest group ever.

The students are pictured at left are (including their schools and the location of their internships):

Standing L-R: 

• Darryl Tarver from the University of Baltimore School of Law at Carey International
  
  

• Tommy Tobin from the Georgetown University Law Center at the National Marine Manufacturers Association

• Thomas Kirby from American University's Washington College of Law at the American Gas Association

• Andrew Galle from the George Mason University School of Law at the National Student Clearinghouse

• Paul Robertson from the University of Richmond School of Law at APEX Systems Inc.

Seated L-R:

• Angel Hernandez from Catholic University's Columbus School of Law at The Beer Institute

• Rachael Plymale from the William & Mary School of Law at General Dynamics-AIS

• Sakeena Farhath from the George Mason University School of Law at the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

• Veronica Dean from Catholic University's Columbus School of Law at Binary Group.

• Sally Boakye from Catholic University's Columbus School of Law at APCO Worldwide

• De'Erika Aiken from the Georgetown University Law Center at AARP

• Lydia Petrakis from the George Mason University School of Law at Verizon Enterprise Solutions

(Not pictured: Natasha Lewis From the University of Virginia School of Law at UVA at NewMarket Corp.; and Keerat Pannu from the George Mason University School of Law at the National Geographic Society.)

the Corporate Scholars Class of 2011

Ten students participated in our scholarship and summer experiential learning program.

These talented and promising law students, their schools, and the locations of their internships are (from bottom left to top right):

• Marshall Jackson Jr. from University of Maryland Law at Carey International
  
• Tiffany Ge from GWU Law at National Marine Manufacturers Association
  
• Thomas Lee from Georgetown Law at Freddie Mac
  
• Binta Mamadou from Washington College of Law, American University at TV One
  
• Donovan Powell from UVA Law at Noblis
• Richard Palmieri from University of Richmond Law at APEX Systems Inc.
• Emi Suzuki from Georgetown Law at Special Olympics
• Stacie Gonsalves from Howard Law at CSC

Not pictured:

• Stanley Tate III from Howard University Law at Sodexo Inc.
  
• Gabriel Walker from William & Mary Law at Amerigroup

THE SCHOLARS Class of 2010:

There were eleven students in the Scholars Class of 2010:
Standing, left to right:
Ada Esedebe, 2L at American University Law, who was hosted at National Marine Manufacturers Association.
Vikram Kapoor, 2L at Georgetown Law, who was hosted at Rosetta Stone.
Frank McFadden Jr., 2L at University of Richmond Law, who was hosted at SunTrust.
Adam Acosta, 3L at Howard, who was hosted by The Washington Post Company.
Keri Joeckel, 3L at William & Mary Law, who was hosted at NewMarket Corporation.
Qasim Rashid, 2L at University of Richmond Law, who was hosted at CapitalOne Financial Corporation. 
Seated, left to right:
Sheila Isong, 2L at Howard Law, who was hosted by CSC.
Stacy Santin, 2L at George Washington University Law, who was hosted at National Geographic Society.
Golkouh Ghassemlou, 3L at Catholic Law, who was hosted at Sodexo Inc.
Not pictured:
David Pierini, 3L at William & Mary Law, who was hosted at Freddie Mac.
Pedro Angel Martinez, 3L at American Law, who was hosted at Verizon.