Anderson Fellowship Recipients

2026 – Emory Robertson

Just a few years out of law school, Emory Robertson has emerged as a leader and role model at Ascend Justice, where they work as a Family Defense Attorney. Emory fights to keep families together by representing parents and caregivers who are facing wrongful intervention from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS)—both in the Chicago area and, through the Quincy Legal Partnership, across much of Illinois. Through a combination of empathy and hard work, Emory has not only touched the lives of those with whom they work but also transformed organizations from within.  

Emory’s devotion to public service dates back to law school. While attending Penn State Law School, Emory focused their research on creative legal solutions to uplift the queer and disability communities and chose internships at impactful organizations like Lambda Legal, the Children’s Law Center of Connecticut, and Ascend Justice. Their hard work paid off: Emory graduated magna cum laude with an award for Pro Bono Publico Service, highlighting their early dedication to public service. 

Now four years into practice, Emory embodies the best of what lawyers can be. Emory displays an uncanny ability to relate to clients, developing trust while providing them with realistic solutions even after setbacks. Emory supports families using attributes beyond legal expertise, demonstrating a level of critical thinking skills, empathy, and dedication that sets them apart from other attorneys. Emory uses these same skills to build bridges with partner organizations throughout the state, delivering trainings that colleagues describe as transformative. Internally, Emory serves as the co-lead of Ascend Justice’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) committee and has spearheaded the organization’s efforts to make the workplace more inclusive for people with disabilities. 

Emory’s early success at Ascend Justice highlights how much impact they have had and their potential for even greater impact in the future. The Anderson Fellowship Award will remove some of the limits imposed by their student debt and reduce Emory’s financial burden as they continue serving families across Illinois. 

2025 – Spencer Haydary

Although he is still a relatively new lawyer, Spencer Haydary has already made a big impact on our profession and our community through his dedication to fighting for tenants facing threats to their housing and stability as a Staff Attorney at the Law Center for Better Housing (LCBH).

Spencer’s commitment to public interest work began early in his career, as he cemented his passion for housing justice when he taught special education in the Chicago Public Schools as part of Teach For America. He cherished the impact he had on his students, many of whom were homeless. This experience led him to pursue a public interest legal career, confident he could make a real difference for marginalized people in need as an advocate.

Spencer is about to begin his third year working at LCBH, where he sees the impact of his work on a daily basis. He has helped hundreds of tenants facing eviction to negotiate fair settlements that enable them to maintain housing stability by obtaining rental assistance, waiving back rent, and sealing the court records. Spencer is a zealous and dogged advocate for all of LCBH’s clients, and he routinely develops new and creative arguments to enforce tenant rights.

Spencer also prioritizes sharing his legal knowledge with the community at large. He regularly participates in community legal education and outreach events, especially within the LGBTQ community. During Spencer’s presidency of the Lambda Law Alliance at the University of Virginia Law School, he worked diligently to lead and advise students who wanted to use their legal skills to support the LGBTQ community.

Spencer feels called to do this work and is clear that he will continue to do some form of it with great skill, energy, resilience, and love for the rest of his professional career. By lessening the burden of his student debt, the Anderson Fellowship will allow Spencer to continue his impactful advocacy in representing low-income tenants throughout Cook County at the Law Center for Better Housing.

2024 – Natiera Robinson

Natiera Robinson’s commitment to public interest work began while she was in high school. Her personal experiences fueled her passion to want to make a difference in the lives of individuals who lack access to proper resources. To this day, Natiera continues to advocate to ensure society’s most vulnerable members are receiving the education, justice, and equality to which they are entitled to. 

Through remarkable dedication and perseverance, she graduated from Illinois State University and received her J.D. from Widener University Commonwealth Law School.  Natiera’s public interest journey includes internships with the McLean County Public Defender’s Office, the Federal Public Defender’s Office, and the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus. She has received many academic honors and served in leadership roles in both college and law school. During high school, she participated in a program called OneGoal, an organization dedicated to ensuring equitable postsecondary education opportunities for every student. Throughout the years, Natiera has mentored students and promoted access to higher education, drawing on her own experience as a program participant and inspiring countless others to pursue their dreams. She has recently been appointed to serve on the Illinois Regional Advisory Board of Directors. 

At Ascend Justice, Natiera works as a staff attorney in the Incarcerated Survivors Program where she provides family law services for individuals who are incarcerated and are survivors of gender-based violence. She also works to connect them with crucial resources like DCFS caseworkers and mental health counselors. Her dedication extends to supporting families impacted by maternal incarceration, earning her the nickname “The Grandma Whisperer” for her ability to build trust with grandmothers navigating complex legal and welfare systems.

Her commitment to both Ascend Justice and nurturing future leaders embodies the spirit of the Anderson Fellowship, recognizing her outstanding dedication to public interest. By lessening the burden of her student debt, the Anderson Fellowship will help Natiera continue her impactful advocacy for criminalized survivors and their families at Ascend Justice.

2023 – Andy Froelich

Andy Froelich has been described as “exceedingly respectful, conscientious, and kind,” all instrumental qualities when working with children and young people that serve him well in his work with the James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy. Andy’s commitment to public interest work began much earlier, highlighted by his volunteer work in Belize supporting students and teachers in under-resourced schools. Throughout and following his education at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Andy has dedicated his legal career to education and child law in underserved communities in the Chicago area.

Andy has been involved with many different organizations in the Evanston and Rogers Park communities that assist young people in all areas of the law. Andy worked at the Northside Transformative Law Clinic helping emerging adults navigate the criminal justice system, at Stand Up for Each Other advocating for students facing expulsion, and at the Civitas ChildLaw Clinic at Loyola University Chicago representing children in child protection and domestic relations cases. He also served as a law clerk at the Moran Center in their Educational Advocacy Program before becoming an attorney there, representing students directly and advocating for increased equity in Evanston schools.

As an Equal Justice Works Fellow, Andy now leads the expansion of the Moran Center’s Educational Advocacy Program to Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood. The program provides free special education and school discipline legal services to low-income families in Rogers Park. Andy also leads “Know Your Rights” workshops for caregivers, so they can confidently advocate for their children in special education and school discipline cases. Andy prioritizes a “child-centered” approach when representing students and in his broader advocacy.

Andy’s dedication to equitable and supportive education, uplifting young people in the legal system, and promoting restorative justice methods has been evident throughout his career. The Anderson fellowship will burnish his tireless commitment to this work, allowing him to continue at the Moran Center with a much more manageable student debt load.

2022 – Nicole Smith

Nicole Smith has a longstanding commitment to serving those who typically lack access to the justice system. Nicole graduated from Washington University School of Law in 2019, but her commitment to public interest law began while she was still in law school. She interned at the Missouri Public Defender’s Office, the Illinois Office of the State Appellate Defender, and the ACLU of Illinois. She also volunteered as a hotline operator for the ACLU’s Judicial Bypass Project and as a domestic violence court monitor in St. Louis County.  

Nicole is passionate, dedicated, and a strong advocate. Justice Mary Mikva, in recalling Nicole’s time as a clerk in her chambers, stated that there were times when Nicole was able to convince her and even other justices to reconsider their positions on certain cases by showing how certain evidence could be interpreted in a different light.

As a staff attorney at Cabrini Green Legal Aid (CGLA), Nicole works on a project funded by the state’s Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) Program for the Safe and Thriving Communities Initiative, hosted by the Cook County Justice Advisory Council. This program focuses on providing services to youth to prevent gun and domestic violence. A large part of her work is providing direct legal services and education for young adults in the southern suburbs of Cook County. One example of the many exemplary things Nicole has been able to do while at CLGA is successfully petition judges to seal and expunge the criminal and juvenile records of multiple clients in contested proceedings. Her current supervisor praised Nicole’s empathy for her clients and the communities that CGLA seeks to serve. 

Nicole truly embodies the character and commitment to public interest that the Anderson Fellowship seeks to reward. As this year’s recipient of the Anderson Fellowship, Nicole will be able to continue her excellent work at CGLA, serving communities in Chicago that are often overlooked by the legal system.

2021 – Alyssa Phillips

Alyssa K. Phillips, a 2017 graduate of the University of Notre Dame Law School, is already making a remarkable impact in her legal career as an Education Staff Attorney at Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. She advocates and provides legal assistance for the educational rights of homeless students in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs through outreach, community education, and direct representation.  

Alyssa’s passion for equitable education stems from her friendship with a peer experiencing homelessness who was on the same honors track as her during junior high. The friend’s mother struggled with substance abuse, and she and her four younger siblings were bounced to many different houses. As school progressed, Alyssa continued to do well in her classes while her friend began failing. With unreliable transportation, her friend missed school frequently, and her often unhealthy living conditions left her ill. She was the sole provider for her siblings and unable to obtain a driver’s license because she did not have a stable address. By the end of high school, Alyssa graduated and was off to college while her friend had failed too many classes to graduate.  

Alyssa’s passion was fueled further by the negative impact the COVID-19 Pandemic had on many students experiencing homelessness. During the pandemic, Alyssa had to think creatively on how to reach the most vulnerable students. As a result, she facilitated eight Facebook Live sessions around the rights of homeless families to education, and public benefits. Alyssa also assisted homeless shelters with gaining access to Wi-Fi, school fee waivers, and other educational rights information. While this year was incredibly challenging, Alyssa says she has never been more confident of her decision to work public interest law.