Sarah Seo ’23 has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund Policy Fellowship. Seo will be joining the Legal Defense Fund (LDF)’s New York office this fall for a two-year period to work on issues related to education and economic justice.
After completing a policy internship with LDF this past year, Seo said she was ecstatic to be returning to one of the most prestigious civil rights organizations in the country as a fellow.
“So many amazing advocates have worked at LDF, and I knew I wanted to be a part of its storied legacy fighting for racial justice and equality,” said Seo. “Once I got a taste of what doing policy work at LDF was like, I realized I had never felt more in tune with a job. And so, I really set my sights on returning to LDF’s policy department.”
Given her experience teaching kindergarten in New Orleans for four years before attending law school, Seo said that she especially looked forward to doing policy work around education at LDF—including having the opportunity to contribute to the organization’s work involving legislation attacking free speech and the truthful teaching of American history in schools, book bans, and other related issues.
Seo stressed that the support she received from faculty, staff, and alumni as well as the Public Interest Resource Center was crucial to her success.
“I had enormous support from my own network at Fordham to get me here,” said Seo. “Without those different connections, I wouldn’t have had the opportunities that positioned me to be where I am [today]and I wouldn’t have received this fellowship.”
An active member of the student body, Seo was a Stein Scholar, a director of the Suspension Representation Project at the Law School, staff member of the Fordham Law Moot Court Board, member of Fordham Law’s Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, and the inaugural managing editor of the Fordham Law Voting Rights and Democracy Forum. She also previously clerked at the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, the juvenile public defender office in New Orleans.