FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 17, 2024
MEDIA CONTACT
Carrie Ann Shirota, [email protected] (808) 380-7052
HONOLULU, HI – The ACLU of Hawaiʻi is excited to announce the addition of Policy Field Fellow, Emily Sarasa, and Policy Legislative Fellow, Nathan Lee, to the ACLU team. These new hires are the result of an effort to expand the ACLU of Hawaiʻi’s capacity on legislative and organizing efforts.
Emily Sarasa comes to the affiliate with a passion for legislative advocacy and community organizing. She is a proud graduate of William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where she received certificates in Environmental Law and International Law. Prior to coming to Hawaiʻi to attend law school, Emily was a Legal Justice Fellow with Repair the World Brooklyn. Through her fellowship with the Legal hand Crown Heights clinic, she assisted community members struggling with access to housing, immigration, and public benefit services.
During law school, Emily completed an externship with Beyond Guilt Hawaiʻi, a clinic dedicated to assisting individuals with clemency, compassionate release, parole, and clearing criminal records. As a summer 2023 Legal Intern with the ACLU of Hawaiʻi, she supported our cases involving Title IX discrimination, criminalization of unsheltered individuals, and police misconduct. She also volunteered pro bono with the ACLU of Hawaiʻi Policy Team to provide legislative research for our Smart Justice and Reimagining Public Safety campaigns in the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions.
Born and raised in South Florida, Emily received her B.S. in Business Administration and a minor in Psychology from the University of Central Florida. In her free time, Emily enjoys hiking, yoga, reading, photography, and spending time with her rescue dog.
Carrie Ann Shirota, Policy Director, of the ACLU of Hawai’i: “We are excited that Emily has joined the ACLU of Hawaiʻi Policy team and look forward to her drawing upon her education, training and community organizing experience to advance public policies that protect the civil rights and liberties of all people. Emily’s deep listening skills and commitment to creating a more vibrant democracy and just world will help her build bridges with people and communities in Hawai’i most directly impacted by dehumanizing systems. Her advocacy work will elevate data driven solutions along with personal stories to highlight the need for systemic changes.”
Hailing from Los Angeles, California, Nathan Lee received his B.S. in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University and J.D. from NYU School of Law. He also received a M.A. from the Politics department at NYU, where is currently a PhD candidate.
During his time at NYU Law, Nathan had the opportunity to engage in civil rights and racial justice work through the Civil Rights Clinic. As part of his work, Nathan was involved in challenging discriminatory infrastructure and housing projects in Illinois, Florida, South Carolina, and New York.
He was also an intern with the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, working on issues of police accountability and community engagement. Additionally, Nathan did research as part of the NYU-Yale American Indian Sovereignty Project and the Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy, and Land Use Law.
Nathan is also passionate about education and has enjoyed teaching undergraduates at NYU as both an adjunct professor and teaching assistant. In his free time, Nathan enjoys spending time with his family, picking up new sports, and reading fiction.
Carrie Ann Shirota, Policy Director of the ACLU of Hawai‘i: “We are thrilled to have Nathan Lee join our Policy team and apply his interdisciplinary academic and clinical advocacy training to advance our policy campaigns. Nathan will assist in legislative advocacy to enhance opportunities to give full force to the Hawai‘i Constitution that features remarkably sweeping and expansive language of civil rights and liberties. Through research and collaboration, Nathan will help to build upon a community of scholarship and advocacy in Hawai‘i.”
Salmah Y. Rizvi, Executive Director of the ACLU of Hawaiʻi: “The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i hopes to use all the tools in our toolbox to help protect the civil rights of our most vulnerable this coming Legislative Season. To that end, I am thrilled to welcome Emily Sarasa (Policy Field Fellow) and Nathan Lee (Policy Legislative Fellow) to support our Policy team’s integrated advocacy efforts. Only a few weeks on the job and both Emily and Nathan have shown to be team players and valuable contributors to our mission. We look forward to all they will accomplish in the year to come.”