Meet the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Ambassadors

Michael Cornell is a 3L pursuing certificates in transactional law and international law and practice.
In addition to serving as an IDE student ambassador, Michael is the Featured Articles Editor for the International Law Review. Outside of school, Michael works as a law clerk for the City of Chicago's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, and as a research assistant for a professor of international law.

Before starting law school, Michael worked in India for five years as an interpreter and delegate for the International Committee of the Red Cross. Michael has also previously worked as an educator and translator. Michael received his bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in 2009, and an executive master's degree from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva, Switzerland) in 2018. In his free time, Michael enjoys swimming, photography, and cooking.

Le’Loni English is a fourth-year student in the Loyola University Chicago School of Law Weekend JD program. This year, she is a senior editor for the Journal of Regulatory Compliance and a judicial extern for the Honorable Illinois Supreme Court Justice P. Scott Neville. Le’Loni serves as a student representative on the inclusion, diversity, and equity faculty committee, the law library faculty committee, the One Loyola Library taskforce, and the School of Law Dean search committee. She is also a former member of the NBSLA Thurgood Marshall moot court team, and immediate past President of the Loyola Federal Bar Association.

Currently, Le’Loni works full-time as a Compliance Officer in the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. Prior to joining the City of Chicago, Le’Loni advocated for hundreds of Social Security Disability claimants in administrative hearings adjudicated by Federal Administrative Law Judges as a non-attorney representative.

Le’Loni earned her undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice from Loyola University Chicago, and a Master of Science in Public Service Management from DePaul University. After graduating from law school, Le’Loni will continue her career in public service as a Staff Law Clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Hannah Kathleen Gray is a third-year law student at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and a Legal Intern at the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender in the Felony Trial Division.

Hannah graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture. She then spent two years teaching standardized test preparation to high school students on the south and west sides of Chicago. Her experiences with these students inspired her to pursue a career as a legal advocate for young adults. At Loyola, Hannah is a Civitas ChildLaw Fellow and works to gain the knowledge and skills required to become a leader in the profession working on behalf of children and families.

Hannah is passionate about juvenile justice, and she aspires to represent young adults in Chicago who become involved in the justice system. Hannah likes to collect vinyl, watch foreign films, and play with her cat and pug. Fun fact: Hannah is a drummer in a psychedelic garage-rock trio called The Mixture.

Kenny J. Harris is a results driven, operational healthcare expert, led national value-based care programs and initiatives aimed to support underserved Medicaid communities. With expertise in process improvement methodologies, Kenny guides health plans in developing programs that address the social determinants of health and increases the overall quality of care in marginalized communities.

Now a second-year weekend JD student, he has put those skills to work academically and, moreover, as a student leader at Loyola.

Mikaila J. John (she/her) is a third-year law student in the full-time JD program and a current law clerk at the Chicago Board of Education’s Law Department.

Prior to law school, Mikaila attended Rutgers University and graduated in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, a minor in Planning and Public Policy, and a certificate in Women’s Leadership.

Currently, she is the President of the Student Bar Association, a legal writing tutor for 1L students in the full-time program, and a student clinician at Loyola’s Business Law Clinic. Additionally, she is a research assistant to Professor Miranda Johnson at Loyola’s Education Law and Policy Institute and to Dean Josie Gough at the Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity. She is also the immediate past President of Loyola’s Black Law Students’ Association (BLSA) and a former judicial extern for the Honorable Illinois Appellate Court Justice Nathaniel Howse.

After graduating from law school, Mikaila will work as a first-year associate at Clark Hill in their litigation unit.

Leanne Jossund is a 3L focusing on Health Law at Loyola. Currently, she is the President of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association and the Director of Diversity and Inclusion for Health Law Society. Leanne is also the current Chinese American Bar Association representative at Loyola.

Previously, she was a PIF Student Facilitator and SBA Director of Communications. Leanne has externed at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana and currently works for ComEd assisting with regulatory matters.

Prior to Loyola, Leanne received a B.A. in Biochemistry from Indiana University.

Audrey Mallinak is currently a 3L in the full-time JD program. Before law school she worked as an Office Coordinator at a family law firm in Seattle.

As a habitual busybody, she has taken full advantage of Chicago as well as Loyola’s opportunities. She is a Co-President of the Cultural Impact Initiative, a student organization aimed at providing resources for students and advocating for them. Last year, she participated in Loyola’s Annals of Health Law and Life Sciences where her article on Reproductive Justice for Native Americans was published. Throughout her second and third year in school, she has worked as a law clerk at Schiller DuCanto & Fleck, a family law firm in Chicago, and has been a research assistant to Professor James Gathii.

In the last two years, she has enjoyed her time as a PIF facilitator and teaching assistant and often mentors multiple first year students as a fellow first-generation law student. With a passion for diversity and inclusion and a dedication to bettering the LUC Law community, she also recently worked with Dean Gough and Nextions LLC this summer on an upcoming project with the school.

Gavin Martin (they/them) is a second year law student at Loyola Chicago University. In 2020, Gavin obtained their bachelor’s degree in Government from Cornell University. At Loyola, they are the Vice President of the Black Law Students’ Association and a part of the inaugural Pugh-Kaufman Scholars Group. Gavin servers as a member of the Law School Dean’s Advisory Council and the Student Conduct Committee.

Romina Nemaei is currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Public Interest Law Reporter, as well as a fellow on the Corboy Mock Trial Fellowship Team. They graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Political Science, focusing on revolutions and State building. Prior to law school, they worked with the Walt Disney Company. At Loyola, Romina has been involved with the Immigration Detention Project with the Immigrant Rights Coalition, a tutor for Property Law with Professor Jordan Paradise, and last year they were published twice in the Public Interest Law Reporter with articles concerning the state of immigration rights in the United States post the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, Romina works at an immigration law clerk at the Law Offices of Renae M. Yoo, P.C., and Azimi Law, LLC., as well as a research assistant to Professor James Gathii. They have a passion for immigration law, and hope to continue in that field upon graduation.

Katharine P. Roberts is a 4L student in the Weekend JD program. She served as a Senior Editor for the Public Interest Law Reporter and as an academic tutor for the part-time section of Civil Procedure in 2019 and 2020. She is currently Editor in Chief of the Loyola University Chicago Law Journal.

Katharine lives in Springfield, Illinois, with her husband and four children, aged eleven through sixteen. She works as a speechwriter and policy advisor for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and volunteers with an online mutual-aid group in the Springfield area. She is happiest while hiking or just spending time outdoors.

Katharine is interested in public interest law and advocacy; after graduation, she will spend a year clerking for Judge Joe Billy McDade of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. She credits Loyola's Weekend JD program with giving her the opportunity to return to and finish law school as an older, nontraditional student raising a family.

Elizabeth van der Weide, Ph.D. is a fourth-year law student in the Weekend JD program. Elizabeth is currently Dean Gough’s Research Assistant. She also serves as a student representative on the Faculty Appointments Committee and the Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Faculty Committee. She is a Student Facilitator in Loyola’s Professional Identity Formation program, an orientation volunteer, and has been a mentor in the Castillo Scholars program.

Elizabeth lives in Madison, Wisconsin. She is a manager at a CPA firm, providing assurance, tax, and consulting services to cooperative businesses, which are organized around democratic governance and employee or member-ownership. Her background is in chemistry and accounting, but her passion lies at the intersection of economic justice and the DEI space, focusing on disparate treatment in the bankruptcy system and how the legal community can better address issues of DEI both internally and externally.