History

The Sotomayor Program’s Namesake

The Sonia & Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program (The Sotomayor Program) is named after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and her mother, Celina Baez Sotomayor.  Since its formation, the Sotomayor Program has grown from a 17 high school intern program to a full pipeline program from high school to law school providing judicial internship experiences, educational programming, mentorship, wellness coaching, and standardized test preparation to over 90 interns each summer.

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2013

With the help of her mentor, the Honorable Denny Chin, U.S. Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Celina Cabán Gandhi founded the Sotomayor Program to address the lack of opportunity and access for underprivileged youth and lack of diversity in the legal profession. Through the tireless efforts of a dedicated team of bar association leaders, community leaders, and volunteers, including Neysa Alsina, Debra Lesser, and Karen Leyva Drivin, the Sotomayor Program launched a high school student judicial internship program the summer of 2014.

 

2015

The Joint Minority Bar Judicial Internship Program, founded by Linda Lin in 2009, merged with the Sotomayor Program to form the Law School Student Division of the Sotomayor Program.  Shortly thereafter, the founding board of directors was established.  Hon. Denny Chin served as the first Chairman, alongside officers Rosevelie Marquez Morales (President), Neysa Alsina (VP, High School Division), Linda Lin (VP, Law School Student Division), Debra Lesser (Treasurer), Celina Cabán (Recording Secretary), and Directors Ethan Fallon, Dennis Hopkins, and Karen Milton. 

 

2020

Despite a global pandemic and national civil unrest, the Sotomayor Program partnered with the Ronald H. Brown College Prep Program at St. John’s University School of Law to run a pilot virtual LSAT Bootcamp and judicial internship program for college students. The success of this pilot program led the Sotomayor Program to launch its College Division in 2021, deepening and completing the pipeline for diverse students into the legal profession.