Michaela is a civil litigator with significant experience in education law. She is the recipient of the prestigious Skadden Fellowship, a two-year program to practice public interest law on a full-time basis, during which time she focused on matters related to education law and legislation.
In this program, Michaela was most recently a fellow at the EdLaw Project in Boston where she represented students in matters related to the school-to-prison pipeline. In this role, she gained experience in IEP and 504 meetings, disciplinary hearings, mediation, manifestation determination reviews, special education complaints and appeals, and legislation around student discipline during Covid-19.
In the first year of the program, Michaela served as a fellow at the Rhode Island Center for Justice where she provided direct student representation, community education and legislative advocacy to defend student rights to an education free of racially charged and discriminatory suspensions.
Education
- Roger Williams University School of Law (J.D.) magna cum laude, Member of Honors Program, CALI Awards Recipient
- Ithaca College (B.A. in Psychology) magna cum laude
Bar Admissions
- Rhode Island
- Massachusetts
- Assisted in filing Cook (A.C.) v. Raimondo, asserting a Constitutional right to an education on behalf of students/parents/and student organizations, as well as petitioning the state Department of Education for a formal role in the state takeover plan for the Providence public schools.
Michaela served as a law clerk at the Rhode Island Center for Justice in 2019. She also served as a summer law clerk for the Disability Rights Advocates in New York, NY and The Arc of the United States in Washington, D.C.
- Guest speaker, Roger Williams University School of Law Public Interest Externship (Fall 2020)
- Creator, high school summer program to educate students of color in social justice activism and civic education, including running a five-session pilot program (2019-2020)
- Keynote speaker, The Wheeler School Diversity Symposium (Fall 2019)
- Presenter, EduLeaders of Color School-to-Prison Pipeline (Fall 2019)
- Table discussion leader, Youth Restoration Project Conference on Student Discipline (Fall 2019)
- Certificate of Initial Mastery in Restorative Justice Practices, Youth Restoration Project (2019)
- Basic Mediation Training Program, Roger Williams University School of Law (2019)
- Skadden Fellowship Recipient (2019-2021)
- Pro Bono Collaborative Award (2019)
- Board Member, New Urban Arts in Providence, RI
More about
Michaela was an assistant director of dance at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts.