ARANTZA CAUDILLO-ALVAREZ

Community Organizing Fellow – Miami Waterkeeper
University of Michigan Law School

Arantza Caudillo-Alvarez serves as a Community Organizing Fellow at Miami Waterkeeper, where she supports community engagement and advocacy efforts focused on clean water protection. She collaborates with local partners, volunteers, and community groups to build grassroots coalitions that amplify campaigns and coordinate events and initiatives that educate and mobilize diverse audiences.

Originally from Mexico, Arantza Caudillo-Alvarez holds a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies—with a focus on Environment, Ecology and Sustainability—from Stanford University, supported by the Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship. Working with the Agroecology Research Group, her graduate research focused on understanding agricultural abandonment among Indigenous and rural communities in the highlands of Central Mexico and evaluating policies implementing agroforestry systems. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in International Affairs and Human Rights & Social Justice from Florida State University. During her undergraduate career, she worked for several civil society organizations providing pro-bono legal assistance and resettlement services for immigrants in the United States and supporting artisan cooperatives in Mexico.

CATHERINE "RAINE" ESPARZA

Program Associate, Oceans Team – World Wildlife Fund
The University of Texas at Austin School of Law

Raine serves as the Program Associate for the Ocean Team at the World Wildlife Fund, where she supports the development and implementation of Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs) across priority regions, including the U.S. Arctic, Southwest Indian Ocean, Southwest Pacific Ocean, and Eastern Pacific Ocean. She conducts research to advance marine conservation efforts and leverages her research, writing, and communication skills to help shape policy recommendations that expand existing laws and support the establishment of Marine Cultural Heritage Zones.

Raine graduated summa cum laude from the University of Kentucky in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources and Environmental Science and a minor in Sustainable Agriculture. During her undergraduate career, Raine presented at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, worked in water quality and agricultural entomology labs, and represented her school’s Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences, MANRRS, club on the university’s Student Sustainability Council. Since graduating, she has volunteered with AmeriCorps, serving as a wildland firefighter and prescribed burn practitioner with the Nature Conservancy in Alabama and as an invasive species steward with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, and furthered her knowledge of global sustainability via an agricultural youth exchange in Thailand with the IFYE Association of the USA. After her time in the Weil Legal Innovators program, she will attend the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.

HANNAH FIGUEROA VELÁZQUEZ

Exoneration Innovator – Innocence Project
Yale Law School

Hannah is an Exoneration Innovator for the Innocence Project, where she supports the organization’s mission to free the wrongfully convicted by assisting the Post-Conviction Litigation (PCL) Team with resource guides, legal research and writing, court appearances and data management.  

Hannah graduated summa cum laude from Yale University with a B.A. in History and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. During her undergraduate years, Hannah engaged in direct service and research at the intersection of immigrant rights and criminal justice in the field of “crimmigration.” She interned at the New Haven Public Defender’s Office and volunteered with the Yale Undergraduate Prison Project, helping formerly incarcerated individuals get their criminal records cleared. While at Yale, Hannah spent a semester abroad in Oaxaca, Mexico, conducting field research on migrant detention centers, and completed a year-long senior thesis on the criminalization of Arab American immigrant activism in the U.S. Following the Weil Legal Innovators Program, Hannah will pursue her J.D. at Yale Law School.

JUSTIN HU

Community Advocacy Associate – Graham Windham
Harvard Law School

Justin serves as the Community Advocacy Associate at Graham Windham, where he supports community engagement and advocacy efforts in the East Tremont and Hunts Point communities of the Bronx. He works closely with community members and local leaders to amplify resident voices, coordinate community summits, and connect individuals with pro bono legal services to support neighborhood development and address local concerns.

Justin Hu obtained his bachelor's in history and Romance Languages in 2024 from Harvard College, where he engaged in community service through the Phillips Brooks House Association and Mindich Program in Engaged Scholarship. He then received a Fulbright-supported master's in history from Sciences Po Paris, France, where he learned to conduct outreach and coalition-building in a transnational context. As Sciences Po's ambassador to CIVICA, Europe's alliance of social science universities, he supported inter-institutional research projects and policy dialogues across a spectrum of issues, ranging from AI governance to democratic resilience in Estonia. Convinced that institutional change is realized through grassroots movements, Justin looks forward to investing his time in supporting local community initiatives--whether here in New York City or in the neighborhoods of Boston when he matriculates to Harvard Law School in 2027.

ALLISON HUANG

Movement Partnerships Coordinator – Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
The University of Texas at Austin School of Law

Allison serves as the Movement Partnerships Coordinator at Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law where she supports grassroots-led coalitions and advocacy campaigns and connects organizers and tenant groups with resources throughout litigation efforts led by the Lawyers’ Committee and the Fair Housing & Community Development Project team.

Allison graduated magna cum laude from The University of Texas at Dallas with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Criminology. She is passionate about improving access to mental health care, previously teaching students across the country how to advocate for mental health care rights through the National Alliance for Mental Illness while also founding Keep in Mind, a student organization providing alternative mental health care support to her campus. Allison is also committed to criminal justice reform and has worked with the Restorative Justice Division at the Dallas District Attorney’s Office, the Conference on Crimes Against Women, and the Innocence Project of Texas. Following the Weil Legal Innovators Program, Allison will attend The University of Texas at Austin School of Law.

BRANDON KIM

Technology and Justice Fellow – Clooney Foundation for Justice
NYU School of Law

Brandon serves as the Technology and Justice Fellow at Clooney Foundation for Justice where he supports collaboration between the Foundation’s legal team and Microsoft teams to advance access-to-justice initiatives. He researches relevant digital tools while working with the Oxford Institute for Technology and Justice to translate legal needs into practical solutions that reflect real-world legal practice.

Brandon graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Philosophy and Honors in Ethics and Society. Prior to serving as the Technology and Justice Fellow at the Clooney Foundation for Justice, Brandon led communications at an early-stage AI startup and clerked with the L.A. County District Attorney's Office in its Writs and Appeals Division. While at Stanford, Brandon developed his commitment to legal advocacy at the intersection of technology and media through sustained work with the Stanford Constitutional Law Center, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and The Stanford Daily. Brandon will pursue his J.D. at the New York University School of Law in the fall of 2027.

DREW LANDSAW

Program Associate, Nature Finance and Investment Team – World Wildlife Fund
The University of Texas at Austin School of Law

Drew serves as the Program Associate for the Nature Finance and Investment Team at the World Wildlife Fund, where he supports efforts to mobilize large-scale funding for conservation, climate, and community initiatives. He collaborates closely with team leadership to develop innovative financing strategies and build partnerships with corporations and other key stakeholders to advance conservation priorities.

Drew graduated from the University of Florida in 2026 with an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Environmental Justice and Policy. At UF, he advocated for students through Student Government and worked with UF Hillel to help coordinate the largest student-run antisemitism initiative in the nation. Through professional experiences with the U.S. House of Representatives, Florida's Circuit Court, and the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, Drew developed a deep passion for effective representation, advocacy, and creating meaningful change through on-the-ground work. As a Weil Legal Innovator, he is eager to gain invaluable professional experience on the Nature Finance and Investment Team of the World Wildlife Fund before beginning his legal education at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.

ADAM TUFTS

Community Impact Strategy Associate – United Way of New York City
NYU School of Law

Adam serves as the Community Impact Strategy Associate at United Way of New York City, where he supports initiatives that advance health equity, food access, and social services through research and strategic planning.  He leverages legal, policy, and academic research to develop evidence-based recommendations, assess community needs, and identify best practices that strengthen programs and partnerships across New York City.

Adam recently graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in Philosophy and a certificate in Global Health Studies. Throughout his undergraduate career, Adam engaged with the mission of public health equity through both research and direct service, from studying federal harm-reduction policy and overdose prevention at Yale Law School's Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy to counseling Medicare beneficiaries as a helpline operator at the Medicare Rights Center. Adam is particularly interested in how legal and policy frameworks can expand healthcare access and address the ongoing opioid overdose crisis. After completing the Weil Legal Innovators Program, he will attend New York University School of Law.

RICHARD "CONNOR" WYNNE

AI Legal Research Fellow – Upsolve
The University of Texas at Austin School of Law

Connor serves as an AI Legal Research Fellow at Upsolve, where he conducts AI-related legal research to support the development of Upsolve Assist, an AI-powered legal and financial assistant that helps low income Americans navigate debt and credit challenges. He will explore legal frameworks and challenges around debt law and consumer protection while collaborating with engineering and product teams to integrate these insights into AI tools.

Connor graduated from Michigan State University with a B.A. in International Relations, during which he founded and served as president of the Beta Epsilon chapter of Zeta Beta Tau. Before the Weil Legal Innovators Program, he worked as a Legal Operations Associate at EvenUp, an AI-focused legal technology company, where he leveraged generative AI tools to build personal injury demands, and previously interned at a boutique public interest firm in Dublin, Ireland. Following his year as a Weil Legal Innovator, Connor will attend The University of Texas at Austin School of Law.