Two AUWCL Students Receive Prestigious Peggy Browning Fellowship
Sept. 21, 2020
Two American University Washington College Law students, 3Ls Autumn Clarke and Bridget Winkler, are recipients of the national Peggy Browning Fellowship, working this summer at firms and organizations fighting for economic and social justice.
Clarke and Winkler are two of 91 PBF fellows having been selected to participate remotely in public interest labor law fellowships this summer. Clarke was a fellow at Mehri & Skalet, PLLC, while Winkler spent the summer as a fellow at Laborer’s International Union of North America – both in Washington, DC. Selected from over 500 applicants, both Clarke and Winkler not only have excelled in law school, but have demonstrated their commitment to worker’s rights through education, work, volunteer, and personal experiences.
The Peggy Browning Fund was established in memory of Margaret A. Browning, a prominent union-side attorney and member of the National Labor Relations Board. These fellowships provide law students with unique, diverse and challenging opportunities to fight for social and economic justice, with the hope the experiences will inspire students to enter careers in public interest labor law.
At Mehri & Skalet, a leading public interest law firm that specializes in class action and litigation, Clarke worked on a myriad of complex litigation cases involving employment discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace, she said. She also had the opportunity to support the firm’s efforts in advocating for employees who lost their job due to COVID-19 related circumstances. Clarke also provided research for the firm’s scholarly works.
Despite working remotely due to COVID-19, Clarke said she developed professionally by attending brown bag lunches organized by the firm, as well as virtual panel sessions organized by PBF.
“I’m excited to apply what I have learned this summer towards my next endeavor as a student attorney at WCL’s Civil Advocacy Clinic,” Clarke said, adding that she will represent low-wage workers in cases against exploitative employers. Clarke is also the Vice President of the WCL chapter of the Black Law Students Association (2019-2020), serves as the Executive Communications and Development Editor of the Administrative Law Review, and sits on the national board of the National Black Law Students Association.
A first-generation college student, Winkler understands the privilege of education and is passionate about her professional and academic goals. Growing up in a labor union family helped form her beliefs that everyone deserves the dignity of a living wage and an equitable workplace – values she brought to her fellowship.
Interested in the intersection of reproductive justice and workers’ rights, Winkler worked before law school at the Alliance for Justice and volunteered for DC Abortion fund. She is the current president of the WCL If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice chapter, where she founded The People’s Judiciary – a project to activate law students around the federal judiciary. Along with being the Note & Comment Editor for the Journal of Gender, Social Policy, and the Law, Winkler is the Dean’s Fellow for the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Affinity Affairs.