Join us to learn about pursuing a career in legal advocacy from April Adeeyo, staff attorney with the North Carolina Association of Educators; Madison Allen, senior program officer for health improvement at the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust; and Rachel Holtzman, dual MPP (Duke) and Juris Doctor (UNC) candidate in the class of 2023. Their careers in legal advocacy have included working on issues including health care access, education, and public benefits. They are social justice advocates who are using their law degrees to improve the lives of children and families. We will hear how they got started, the twists and turns their careers have taken, and what they enjoy most about the work they do.
This speaker series is for Duke students who want to learn more about careers in child and family policy. Meetings are designed to help students explore the wide range of job opportunities and careers available in the field of child and family policy while creating a network of students who share their professional interests.
April Adeeyo began her career as middle school science teacher with Teach For America in Charlotte. While teaching, she witnessed first-hand how failed policy, poverty, and inequality can have a pervasive impact on how kids get to learn, grow and thrive. This led her to the law, where she could leverage her time in the classroom to advocate for kids in a more systemic way. After law school, she worked as an attorney with the Council for Children's Rights. Adeeyo earned her B.A. from the UNC-Chapel Hill, her M.A. and J.D. from North Carolina Central School of Law and her LLM from Emory School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in North Carolina.
Madison Allen works in close partnership with communities across N.C to support promising programs, improve systems, and build power for a healthier, more equitable future. Prior to her role in philanthropy, Allen was a senior policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy, where she focused on issues affecting access to health care and public benefits for immigrants and mixed-status families. She holds a J.D. from Tulane Law School and a bachelor's degree in public health from George Washington University.
Rachel Holtzman earned her BSPH in health policy and management at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Prior to beginning grad school, Hotzman worked at the National Health Law Program in Washington, DC, where she assisted in policy advocacy related to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. She also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal, where she worked with community leaders to facilitate maternal and child health projects. During grad school, Holtzman has interned with NC Integrated Care for Kids, Legal Aid of North Carolina, el Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, and the New York Legal Assistance Group.