2023 Scholarship Dinner

Student Award Recipients

Cynthia Avitia Award for Immigrant Support:

Mahlieli Bothi, Santa Clara School of Law

Mahlieli Bothi is a 3L at Santa Clara University School of Law, who seeks to specialize in immigration. Mahlieli is a first-generation student who grew up in the Bay Area and was raised by an immigrant family.

She received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley after transferring from Los Medanos College, a community college in the East Bay.

This summer, Mahlieli was selected to be the 2023 Cindy Avitia Fellow for Immigrant Rights where she would work at the Katherine & George Alexander Community Law Center assisting on various types of cases. Mahlieli stated, “I am profoundly grateful that this summer I was selected to be the Cindy Avitia Fellow for Immigrant Rights by the La Raza Lawyers Charitable Foundation. At the Community Law Center, I continued to work to honor Ms. Avitia’s commitment to empower, advocate, and seek justice for the migrant community.” Additionally, Mahlieli stated that she was, “thankful for the opportunity given to learn and to serve and uplift our communities.”

La Raza Lawyers Association Scholarships for Service to the Latino Community:

Alejandra Zamora, Berkeley Law

Alejandra Zamora Hernandez is a 1L JD candidate at Berkeley Law. She is from the Beach Flats, a low-income, Latinx immigrant neighborhood in Santa Cruz, California. Witnessing the challenges her immigrant parents faced created a burning desire in her to study the law to support her family and her community. She hopes to learn more about tech law, pursue a career in litigation, and take on as many pro-bono immigrants’ rights cases as she can.

Before law school she worked as a California Executive Fellow for the Department of Toxic Substance Control, she led cross-functional policy meetings with attorneys, scientists, and accountants to discuss the merits and limitations of each legislative bill proposal. She worked to shape environmental policy to protect California’s marginalized and environmentally-burdened communities.

As a UC Berkeley undergraduate Cal-in-Sacramento Fellow, she conducted an independent research project in which she created an interactive map depicting California pro-bono immigration resources. She was elected as a Board Director of the Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC) Housing nonprofit, to represent the members of the low-income housing organization. She assisted in reshaping the organization’s policies to adequately protect undocumented student members from deportation. After law school, Alejandra hopes to pass the California Bar and settle in beautiful Northern California.

Jairo Bustos, Golden Gate School of Law

Current student at Golden Gate School of Law.

Undergrad: San Jose State University, Sociology.

Employer: McManis Faulkner – Paralegal/ Civil Externship

Practice Area of Interest: Civil/IP

Daniel Hernandez Award for Community Service:

Janaya Sanchez-Trotter, Lincoln Law

Earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Justice Studies from San Jose State University

Participating D1 Student Athlete – Dancer on SJSU’s Competitive Dance Team

Currently a Paralegal at the Law Office of Lorna J. Drope

Internship: San Jose State University, Record Clearance Project – supervising attorney Margaret Stevenson

Practice Area of Interest: Criminal Defense

Andrew Gonzalez Award for Leadership:

Veronica Gonzalez Diaz, Santa Clara School of Law

Veronica Diaz double majored in Sociology and Latin American Studies at the University of California Santa Cruz where she graduated magna cum laude. She is now at Santa Clara University School of Law, and endeavors to use her law degree to strengthen her advocacy for workers’ rights. Veronica is a union representative with Teamsters 856 where she supports both private and public employees, as well as an organizer for the Monterey Bay Labor Council, where she facilitates trainings on the weekends for community and union activists.

Honors Scholars:

Maribel Villarreal, UC Law San Francisco

Maribel Villarreal is a third year law student at UC Law San Francisco (formerly known as UC Hastings). She was elected as the 2022-2023 Co-President of the Latinx Law Students Association at UC Law SF. Currently, she serves as a Staff Editor of the Race and Poverty Law Journal and Externs for the Honorable Andrew Y.S. Cheng in the Complex Litigation Department at the San Francisco Superior Court.

Maribel was raised in the city of San Jose, a predominantly immigrant community, that exposed her to a multitude of systemic inequalities, and at the same time, instilled in her the values of community, hard work, and public service. Her natural inclination towards justice and social equity is rooted in her family and experiences growing up as a proud daughter of Mexican immigrants. Using her legal education, she hopes to continue her career in public service.

Christian Lustre, Santa Clara School of Law

Obtained a BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley

Past Employment: 1L Law Clerk and a 2L Honors Law Clerk at the Santa Clara County DA’s Office

Future employment aspirations: Prosecutor