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Center for Global Justice Announces Appointed Summer 2015 Interns

Twenty students are set to intern this summer across the globe to aid legal organizations and other ministries in France, India, Israel, Canada, South Korea, Uganda, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Romania, Austria, South Africa, and throughout the United States. These students will work on urgent human rights issues, including combating sex trafficking, protecting orphans, advancing the rule of law in developing countries, and promoting religious freedom for the marginalized.

“The Center’s Internship Grant Program is our flagship program. Through this program, students’ lives are changed every summer as God confirms their callings to be human rights attorneys through tangibly demonstrating to each student the desperate need for top-notch Christian attorneys to advocate for the oppressed,” said Ernie Walton, Administrative Director for the Center. “I am particularly excited for this summer because of the quality of the internship placements. Our students are going to receive excellent legal experience and make a huge impact while doing so.” Several interns will serve in their native countries.

Here are the selected law students for summer 2015: 

  • Michael Aiello will work at Hampton Commonwealth Attorney’s Office in Virginia on the Juvenile Team, focusing on prosecuting cases involving child victims.
  • Andrea Atkinson will work with the National District Attorney’s Association in Virginia in their Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse.
  • Maitte Barrientos will work at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in Texas on immigration and human trafficking issues.
  • Julianna Battenfield with work with Advocates International in South Africa, focusing on promoting religious freedom for marginalized Christians.
  • Joshua Charles will work with Jerusalem Institute of Justice, cultivating and defending the rule of law in the Palestinian territories.
  • Natasha Delille will work with Regent Law alumnus Evan Henck (’07) at Freedom Firm, an organization in India that rescues sex trafficking victims, prosecutes traffickers, and provides aftercare for those rescued. She will do a second internship with Alliance Defending Freedom’s Vienna office, fighting for religious freedom and the protection of unborn children.
  • Marie Dienhart will work with the Alabama Attorney General’s Office in their capital litigation division.
  • Ryan Dobbs will work with Jerusalem Institute of Justice, focusing on defending the rights of Christians, combating sex trafficking, and other human rights issues. 
  • Pamela Dodge will work with International Justice Mission (IJM) in India on combating human trafficking in Mumbai.
  • Palmer & Christy Hurst will work at the European Center for Law and Justice in Strasbourg, France; they will focus on various issues, including promoting religious freedom for Christians.
  • Joseph Kohm III will work with Regent Law alum Pat Talbot (’93), who is a faculty member of Universitas Pelita Harapan, a Christian law school in Indonesia that focuses on fighting sex and labor trafficking, protecting believers from persecution, and other Rule of Law issues.
  • Chelsea Mack will work with Land and Equity Movement, Uganda, a movement which aims to unite the efforts of everyone with a contribution to offer to make land work for the poor.
  • Courtney Marasigan will work with the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, International Crimes Division, in Uganda
  • Olufemi Odukoya will work with Regent University’s Center for Entrepreneurship to develop an investment fund in Rwanda that will allow micro-finance loans for the poor.
  • So Heon Park will work with Advocates for Public Interest Law (APIL) in Seoul, South Korea, on behalf of refugees and trafficking victims.
  • Jessica Rigsbee will work at the European Center for Law and Justice on international religious freedom and other human rights issues in Strasbourg, France.
  • Kate Sawyer will work with the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute in Washington, D.C., promoting sound policy relating to adoption.
  • Kraig Smikel will be interning in Bulgaria with Advocates International, an international network of Christian attorneys who work on protecting life, promoting religious freedom for the persecuted church, and advancing the rule of law.
  • Daniel Tirle, a native of Romania, will return to his home country to work at the People to People Foundation to assist orphans access basic social services.
We want to offer a special thanks to those who have given to the Internship Grant Program. Through your sacrificial giving, these students receive great legal experience and provide valuable support to these organizations, all without having to take on additional debt.  Several interns are still in need of funding.  If you would like to give to help cover the costs of these life-changing internships, please click here.

View the Intern Prayer Sheet: