2020 LMJ SCHOLARS
Congratulations to the 2020 class of LMJ Scholars.
CHIBUNKEM EZENEKWE
MCCA Board Scholar
Georgetown University Law Center
CHIBUNKEM EZENEKWE
2020 LMJ Scholar Recipient
Chibunkem Ezenekwe graduated cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2019, with degrees in Sociology, History, and Global Studies. During her time in college, Chibunkem worked with numerous programs, including the Academic Advancement Program, Office of Residential Life, and the Nigerian Student’s Association. Chibunkem is dedicated to service and access to resources for marginalized individuals. She has conducted research on medical racism, mass incarceration, and police brutality with the UCLA Department of Sociology and the UCLA Million Dollar Hoods Project. Chibunkem is also a Gates Millennium Scholar, a UCLA Law Fellow, a Snell & Wilmer FAR Fellow, and a 2019 recipient of the UCLA Chancellor’s Service Award.
Chibunkem attends Georgetown University Law Center, where she has been named a George Bilicic Opportunity Scholar.
KIANA KNOLLAND
Microsoft Scholar
Howard University School of Law
KIANA KNOLLAND
2020 LMJ Scholar Recipient
Kiana Knolland is currently a law student at the Howard University School of Law. She is an honors graduate of Howard University where she studied Strategic, Legal, and Management Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations and a minor in Political Science. She aspires to become general counsel for a global corporation and positively transform how businesses operate throughout the world.
Kiana consistently centers the concerns of marginalized communities in her work. Before entering law school, she worked at the ACLU of Kansas running a statewide, non-partisan campaign aiming to reduce mass incarceration. Prior to joining the ACLU of Kansas, Kiana interned for the United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, the Department of Justice, and a presidential campaign.
During her freshman year of college, Kiana was named the 2013-2014 National Youth of the Year for Boys & Girls Club of America (BGCA). In this role, she served as the official teen spokesperson for the organization. She represented and advocated for nearly 4 million youth across the country and on military installations around the world.
In 2016, Kiana spent the summer at UC Berkeley as a policy fellow in the Public Policy and International Affairs program. During her senior year of college, Kiana was a Presidential Fellow at the Center for the Study of Presidency & Congress. In the summer of 2017, she was a Lex Legal Fellow in Madrid, Spain. In 2018, Kiana was a Mosaic Fellow in Taipei, Taiwan.
Ultimately, Kiana plans to use her legal education to continue to advocate for historically underrepresented groups within the legal profession and beyond.
KENIECE GRAY
Chevron Scholar
Georgetown University Law Center
KENIECE GRAY
2020 LMJ Scholar Recipient
Keniece Gray is a champion for progress and a first-generation law student on a mission to diversify the legal profession in pursuit of justice. Born and raised in one of the nation’s most impoverished cities, Cleveland, Ohio, Keniece has long observed the protracted consequences of systemic oppression and aspires to build a tri-sector career legal remediating inequity in academia and the workforce. She is currently a first-year law student and Business Law Scholar at Georgetown University Law Center where she serves as the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) 1L Representative.
A 2017 graduate of Case Western Reserve University (Case) Master of Accountancy Program and 2020 graduate of Cleveland State University’s Master of Public Administration, Keniece understands the value of investment in education and development and dedicates her time outside of work and school to uplifting underrepresented scholars. Some of Keniece’s most impactful pipeline work includes founding a leadership development program for youth and young professionals; spearheading a campaign to raise more than $75,000 for underrepresented student scholarships, publishing resources for Black and Brown college students, and implementing inaugural board diversity assessments for nonprofits in underserved communities. She has spoken at national conferences on a variety of topics including women’s empowerment, millennial professional development, postsecondary education readiness, and pay equity.
Keniece plans to continue embracing her ardor for social activism to advance her career and inspire others. She is interested in providing legal counsel in the areas of employment and labor, education, government regulations, nonprofit, and general corporate law.
DANIEL MEJIA-CRUZ
Bob Bostrom Scholar
Yale University
DANIEL MEJIA-CRUZ
2020 LMJ Scholar Recipient
Daniel Antonio Mejia-Cruz graduated cum laude with an A.B. in History and Government & Legal Studies from Bowdoin College in 2016. He is the recipient of the Bill Gates Millennium Scholarship and numerous other fellowships. A proud Honduran-American, Mr. Mejia-Cruz is interested in the accessibility of the American Dream and the role that the private sector can play in expanding opportunities for low-income Americans. He is a first-year law student at Yale Law School.
ALEXIS KALLEN
MCCA Scholar
Yale University
ALEXIS KALLEN
2020 LMJ Scholar Recipient
Alexis Kallen is a first-year law student at Yale Law School. She graduated with a B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University in 2018. She then graduated with an MPhil in International Development in 2020 from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. Her master’s thesis questioned why people with disabilities are not recognized as a particular social group under U.S. asylum law. At Yale, Alexis is a member of the Lowenstein Human Rights Project, the Title IX working group, and Think Different: The Disability Law Students Association. She ultimately hopes to work as an advocate for marginalized disabled women, particularly those seeking asylum in the U.S.
SHAO ZHAO
Robert Half Legal Scholar
University of California-Berkeley
Law School
SHAO ZHAO
2020 LMJ Scholar Recipient
Shao Zhao’s aspiration for a legal career began when she was 10 and spontaneously picked up a book titled “You and the Law” from a domestic violence shelter she was staying at with her mother. Since then, she has interned at a big law firm (O’Melveny) in high school, graduated cum laude in Social Studies from Harvard College, and held various roles in the legal, social services, and higher education sectors. Her personal experiences as a woman of color who grew up in a single mother household and her professional experiences doing social impact work have helped her understand the importance of pro bono work. She is ready to transition back into the private sector while staying active in the pro bono community. Her primary interests are data privacy law, commercial litigation, and entertainment law. Shao is currently a first year law student at UC Berkeley Law School. She is an associate editor for the Berkeley Business Law Journal and also an associate editor for the Berkeley Journal of Entertainment & Sports Law. She is also a member of the Women of Color Collective and First Generation Professionals.
