Youth Legal Empowerment Conference: The Law Belongs to Everyone
Saturday, June 21, 2025 · 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Fordham University School of Law
Access to justice begins with access to knowledge and that access starts here. Too often, the law is a language young people are never taught, even though it shapes every aspect of their lives—from schools and housing to immigration and policing. That’s why Defying Legal Gravity is building a movement for legal literacy and legal empowerment, a movement where youth are not just learning the law, but using it to advocate, educate, organize, and lead.
This one-day, youth-led conference brings together high school students, college students, legal advocates, and community members to showcase what happens when the next generation is given access to the same foundational legal education that every lawyer receives. Through powerful workshops, panel discussions, storytelling, and strategy, we’ll explore how legal empowerment can shift power back into the hands of everyday people, especially youth, and why that shift is urgent in today’s world.
Join us as we defy legal gravity, challenge the systems that gatekeep power, and build a future where the law truly belongs to everyone.
Please see below for conference agenda and materials:
agendA
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Location: Constantino Hall (2nd Floor)
By: Craig Shepherd & Diana Imbert, Co-Executive Directors of Defying Legal Gravity, and,
Zenande Booi, Executive Director of Fordham Law’s Center on Race, Law, and Justice.
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Location: Constantino Hall (2nd Floor)
Plenary Discussion featuring DLG Alumni: Caroline Xiong, Isadora Briseño, Katarina Jewell, Kayla Ruano-Lumpris, and moderated by Jhody Polk, founder of the Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative.
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Location: 3rd Floor
Legal Empowerment Workshops hosted by DLG’s 2024-25 Legal Empowerment Fellows.
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2nd Floor!
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Moderators:
Jade Capellan
Jeshua Jimenez
Panelists:
Aaliyah Guillory-Nickens
Andrew Ceneus
Ashley McPherson
Pilar Finuccio
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Keynote Address by Aja Monet.
WORKSHOP MATERIALS
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Everyday we enter in agreements, big and small. But when does the law actually step in to recognize agreements as contracts? And what tools can you use to leverage more power in contract negotiations?
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Junior Castillo
Marcely Rojas
Misa Lin
Zion Bryan
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How legally protected are we in our own bodies? The Supreme Court is deciding several cases which impact our right to bodily autonomy. Learn how they impact us all.
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Aibrys Caminero
Angie Quispe
Daniella Nkunga
Vick Volovnyk
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Do you think we should know more information about our government systems and agencies? Learn how to get the information you deserve, and how to use FOIL as a tool for empowerment.
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Abby Yang
Addie Sauberli
Gabby Abraham
Redwana Ahmed
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Is education a fundamental right in the United States?
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Brianna Narvaez
Beryanny Marmolejos-Feliz
Divya Pandey
Hakimah Malam
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Ice raids on school campuses. Protests across the country. Immigration is a hot-button topic: but what rights do we really have under the current administration?
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Adamaris Alvarez
Ali Habibah
Dhunal Rahaman
Sepun Samia
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aaliyah guillory-nickens
ashley mcpherson
PANELIST BIOS
Pilar Finuccio
campaign organizer, youth represent
Aaliyah, Harlem native, has become a prominent advocate for Criminal/Juvenile Justice Reform. She began her advocacy work after graduating from the Youth Speakers Institute, a ten week training program that taught her how to advocate for change in the Criminal Juvenile Justice System. She created her own organization, More Than a Statistic, after organizing a youth rally in her community to give young people the space to speak out on issues affecting them. Now as Campaign Organizer at Youth Represent, she continues to use her voice to be the change she wishes to see, not only in her community but also in the legal system as she aspires to be a Criminal Defense Attorney.
director of programs, do something
Ashley McPherson is the Director of Programs at DoSomething, where she oversees a team of mission-led professionals who ensure youth members' civic curiosities are met with education and engagement opportunities. She is a seasoned non-profit leader who has dedicated her journey to studying and providing solutions that support underrepresented, underserved, and underskilled populations in successfully entering and persisting in the workforce, and society, as engaged citizens of the world. Over the last decade, she has successfully built capacity at Girls Who Code, Girl Scouts of USA, and other organizations committed to propelling diverse populations toward educational and economic success. Ashley is an alumna of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and serves as a board member for multiple education-focused non-profits.
executive director, center for urban pedagogy
Pilar (she/her) is the Executive Director of CUP. She was born and raised to a big Cuban family in Miami, where her community design practice began at O, Miami designing projects imagined by the people of Miami Dade County.
Her introduction to New York City’s policy landscape began at The Department of Small Business Services and Public Policy Lab. From there, she found a creative and community-driven home in CUP's collaborative design practice. Before becoming Executive Director, Pilar was a Community Education Program Manager.
Her leadership is guided by a commitment to creating information that empowers communities, holds people with power accountable, and shows us the just and equitable futures that have yet to be created.
She has a personal bookmaking practice, gives presentations about mangos to anyone who will listen, and loves to talk about CUP's work.
