SAN FRANCISCO – Currently in its sixth year, the Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California (VABANC) Law Foundation (VLF) is proud to announce the 2016 Public Interest Fellowship award of $50,000 to Ms. Jaimini Parekh with Communities for a Better Environment.
“The VABANC Law Foundation recognizes that environmental justice issues must be included in the ongoing conversation about social justice for underserved communities. We are proud to be able to provide this timely award to Jaimini Parekh and Communities for a Better Environment with the hope that it will continue to increase access to legal services for all.” — Christine M. Pham, VLF President.
Jaimini Parekh graduated from UCLA School of Law with a specialization in public interest law and policy. Prior to law school she completed her Masters in Environmental Management at Yale University with a focus on international human rights and environmental degradation. During law school Jaimini externed on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit with the Honorable Judge Harry Pregerson. She also clerked with the U.S. Department of Justice and worked on enforcement of federal environmental laws. In her final year of law school, Jaimini clerked with Communities for a Better Environment and began working on the environmental justice issue of oil drilling in the communities of South Los Angeles and Wilmington.
Through the VLF Fellowship, Jaimini will expand on her work in environmental justice and human rights advocacy by pursuing a multi-faceted strategy of impact litigation, policy analysis and community organizing to protect the right of South Los Angeles and Wilmington communities to be free from toxic air emissions from oil drilling occurring in their backyards.
“Everybody has the basic human right to a healthy environment where they live, work, and play. I am honored to be working with Communities for a Better Environment to secure that right for Los Angelenos unjustly impacted by toxic contamination in their backyards due to oil drilling.” — Jaimini Parekh.
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Communities for a Better Environment: Founded in 1978, Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) is one of the preeminent environmental justice organizations in the nation. The mission of CBE is to build people’s power in California’s communities of color and low income communities to achieve environmental health and justice by preventing and reducing pollution and building green, healthy and sustainable communities and environments. CBE provides residents in blighted and heavily polluted urban communities in California with organizing skills, leadership training, and legal, scientific and technical assistance, so that they can successfully confront threats to their health and well-being. For more information, please visit www.cbecal.org.
VABANC Law Foundation: The VABANC Law Foundation was created in 2010 to provide a competitive award of $50,000 for recent law graduates and new attorneys to provide direct legal services on timely and critical practice areas. To date, VLF public interest attorneys have worked on important matters such as workers’ rights, immigration, and housing, with reputable legal nonprofit organizations in both Northern and Southern California. VLF continues to develop a diverse network of public interest lawyers in multiple practice areas in order to provide quality legal services to the underserved and marginalized communities. For more information, please visit www.vlawfoundation.org.