2024–2025 Fellows

Onyx is a first-generation college graduate from Chicago, Illinois. He received his B.A. in Ethics, Politics & Economics; and French from Yale University in 2020. His French thesis, “Frantz Fanon: L’Existentialiste noir”, was written in French and earned distinction in the major along with the prize for the department’s best senior essay. During undergrad, Onyx interned in the Illinois State Senate and in the United States Senate where he focused on education, tax, and housing policy. Before starting at Columbia Law School, Onyx spent four years working in asset management compliance.

As a Davis Polk Leadership Fellow, Onyx and his Co-Fellow Liel Sterling plan to rebuild the Columbia Law Tenants’ Rights Project (TRP), a student organization that aims to promote housing justice in Morningside Heights and Harlem. As a low-income student directly impacted by housing instability, Onyx intimately understands the relationship between secure housing, professional and academic success, and good health. He wants to do what he can to keep New Yorkers in their homes. TRP hopes to collaborate with local organizers and legal practitioners to provide brief legal services to our neighbors and make Columbia a center of academic activity on housing justice.

Lyndon is a proud Michigander and first-generation law school student. He earned his B.A. in Political Science with honors from Stanford University in 2021. While at Stanford, Lyndon served as an elected Student Body Senator and Chair of the Undergraduate Senate’s Appropriations Committee. He participated in Stanford’s Political Science Honors Thesis Program writing an honors thesis titled “Offline Norms and Online Behaviors: A Study of How Audience Perception Shapes Online Black Political Engagement.”

Prior to coming to Columbia Law School, Lyndon focused the beginning of his career on voting rights and election administration advocacy in Midwest battleground states. He worked to expand local ballot access in Wisconsin during the 2022 midterm election cycle and 2023 State Supreme Court race. Afterwards, he returned to Michigan to work as the Deputy Campaign Manager for the state’s leading non-partisan, pro-democracy organization—Voters Not Politicians. While in this role, Lyndon worked across the state to boost voter turnout in historically low turnout areas with high underrepresented populations.

As a Davis Polk Leadership Fellow, Lyndon and his Co-Fellow Journey Browne plan to kickstart the Harlem Youth Voter Engagement (HYVE) program. This program is intended to hone the civic mindset of Harlem’s youth by bringing civic education to Harlem high school students nearing voter eligibility status. HYVE seeks to empower Columbia law school students to facilitate voting and election administration workshops to prepare the next generation of voters to participate in local, state, and federal elections.

Brooke is an Australian lawyer, a John Monash Scholar, and a Columbia LL.M. Human Rights Fellow. Before starting her LL.M. at Columbia, Brooke worked as a social justice advocate in the Australian community legal sector and federal politics. 

Brooke is passionate about using movement lawyering strategies to build the power of communities impacted by injustice. She has previously worked as a solicitor in community organisations on issues ranging from police accountability and anti-discrimination to children’s and First Nations rights. She previously served as Clerk to the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, Senior Solicitor at the Justice and Equity Centre and Chief of Staff to Australia’s Special Envoy for Reconciliation, Senator Patrick Dodson. Brooke was part of a small group of women lawyers who organised Australia’s first Rebellious Lawyering Conference. She holds a bachelor’s degree and the University Medal in law from the Australian National University.

As a Davis Polk Leadership Fellow, Brooke and her Co-Fellow Jordina Rust will work on a Climate Justice Leadership Program for Columbia students seeking to be effective climate justice practitioners in the US and internationally. The program will provide a unique opportunity for students to engage with the theory and practice of climate justice in a supported and practical way, including connecting students with climate justice initiatives in the local community. Students will investigate how lawyers can play an important role in building the power of climate-impacted communities through movement lawyering and community-led practices. The program aims to build awareness of how climate manifests as a justice issue and develop more holistic legal skillsets geared towards supporting local leadership.

Jordina is an Australian lawyer and a John Monash and Rotary Global Scholar. Prior to joining Columbia Law School, she worked as a lawyer for communities affected by climate and environmental justice issues. She is pursuing an LL.M. with a focus on climate and energy law and climate justice.

Jordina has dedicated her career to working as a lawyer for communities across several public interest fields including the rights of children and young people, anti-discrimination, housing and socio-economic rights, First Nations rights, refugee law, police accountability, environmental law and civil liberties. She is passionate about assisting individuals and communities to use the law to increase their agency in decision-making that affects their lives.

Jordina has worked in international practice at UN tribunals in Tanzania and the Hague and clerked for the Honourable Chief Justice Mortimer of the Federal Court of Australia. She spent six years as a youth advocate and chairperson of an NGO advancing the human rights and interests of children and young people. She holds a bachelor’s degree in law, humanities and languages from the University of Melbourne, and she also studied at Sciences Po, Paris.

As a Davis Polk Leadership Fellow, Jordina and her Co-Fellow Brooke Greenwood will work on a Climate Justice Leadership Program for Columbia students seeking to be effective climate justice practitioners in the US and internationally. The program will provide a unique opportunity for students to engage with the theory and practice of climate justice in a supported and practical way, including connecting students with climate justice initiatives in the local community. Students will investigate how lawyers can play an important role in building the power of climate-impacted communities through movement lawyering and community-led practices. The program aims to build awareness of how climate manifests as a justice issue and develop more holistic legal skillsets geared towards supporting local leadership.

Safia is committed to supporting victims of human rights abuses in post-conflict settings through alternative justice mechanisms. She earned degrees in human rights and political science from Sciences Po and Columbia, and an MSc in conflict studies from the London School of Economics. After high school, she moved to Jordan to work with the UN Palestine refugee agency, sparking her interest in redress mechanisms. Safia has since held roles with organizations including the World Bank, the U.S. State Department, the Public International Law and Policy Group, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the Center for Justice and Accountability. During her 1L summer, she interned with Amnesty International in Beirut, researching human rights law in the Middle East. 

As a Davis Polk Leadership Fellow, Safia will draw on her extensive experience in reparations and international law in order to develop a reparations advocacy toolkit designed to equip law students with practical tools for engaging in reparations advocacy. This toolkit development will culminate in a policy competition where participants design reparations programs and apply the toolkit’s principles. The project stems from Safia’s deep commitment to ensuring that legal advocacy can lead to tangible justice for marginalized communities.

Liel is a Greene Public Service Scholar and a Max Berger Public Interest/Public Service Fellow. She holds a degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. During her undergraduate studies, Liel co-founded the Ithaca Tenants Union and the Tenants Legal Hotline at Cornell Law School. After graduation, Liel worked as a Paralegal at the American Civil Liberties Union Women’s Rights Project (WRP), where she focused on the labor and housing justice dockets. Liel also authored a report on the importance of the right to counsel in eviction proceedings that has been cited in right to counsel advocacy across the country.

As a Davis Polk Leadership Fellow, Liel and her Co-Fellow Onyx Brunner plan to rebuild the Columbia Law Tenants’ Rights Project (TRP), a student organization that aims to promote housing justice in Morningside Heights and Harlem. In centering the importance of contributing to the surrounding community, Liel hopes to increase Law School students’ exposure to tenant advocacy work in the legal field through pro bono opportunities, speaker series, and academic programming.