Event

Advice to Thrive By - Book Talk

The cover of a book titled "Advice to Thrive By," a stack of resumes with a pen on top, and the State Impact Center Logo
  • Thursday, February 16, 2023
  • 4:30pm
  • Online Event

Portia Allen-Kyle, a civil rights attorney and public policy expert, wants to help law students and new attorneys interested in public interest lawyering with their professional development strategy. The State Energy & Environmental Impact Center hosted Ms. Allen-Kyle in a discussion of her book, Advice to Thrive By: How to Use Your Résumé and Cover Letter to Build Your Brand and Launch a Dynamic Public Interest Career. The Center is committed to building a deep bench of attorneys committed to public interest work, and this event helped students think about how to build their careers and do public interest work past the fellowship stage.

This was an hour-long virtual event with an opportunity to ask questions. Attendees were entered into a raffle to win a copy of the book!

In Collaboration With

Logos of: The Birnbaum Women's Leadership Network (BWLN); Green 2.0; the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging; Environmental Law Committee for the NYC Bar; University of Michigan Law School; St. John's Law Environmental Law Society; NYU Environmental Law Society; Michigan State University College of Law Career Services Office; and St. John's Law LALSA

Speaker

Portia Allen-Kyle

Portia Allen-Kyle

Portia Allen-Kyle is a civil rights attorney, public policy expert and author of the book, Advice to Thrive By: How to Use Your Résumé and Cover Letter to Build Your Brand and Launch a Dynamic Public Interest Career. Portia has broad experience working on racial equity and social justice issues across government and nonprofit public interest organizations.

We were excited to have three law students guide our discussion and facilitate our Q&A at this event.

Student Panel

Samantha Blend

Samantha Blend

Samantha Blend is a 2L at Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law and is working on getting her environmental law certificate. She is also a Junior Associate on the Pace Environmental Law Review, as well as the Vice President of the Environmental Law Society, all while challenging the underrepresentation of Latinas in the legal field.

Fatima Elhafiz Ibrahiem

Fatima Elhafiz Ibrahiem

Fatima Ibrahiem is a 2L at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and was the 2021 recipient of the BARBRI One Lawyer Can Change the World Scholarship. She is interested in environmental law, and is a Board Member on Penn’s Environmental Law Project, is the Sadie Conference Co Chair in the Black Law Students Association, and is an Associate Editor on Penn’s Journal of Business Law.

Tatiana Zapata

Tatiana Zapata

Legal Fellow

Tatiana Zapata is a graduate of St. John’s University School of Law. She was the Co-Founder and Vice President of the school’s Environmental Law Society, as well as a student member of the NYCBA Committee on Environmental Law. Tatiana is a first-generation law school graduate and Colombian immigrant dedicated to advocating on behalf of historically marginalized communities. She previously worked as a legal intern at the Center before joining staff full time.

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