Kazan McClain Partners’ Foundation Supports Hastings Students for Immigrant’s Rights
Born and raised in San Francisco, Gabriella Rodezno attended the University of California, Santa Cruz where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Community Studies. After graduating, Ms. Rodezno worked as an immigrations paralegal and, most recently, interned with the newly-created Immigration Unit at the San Francisco office of the Public Defender, working on mitigating the immigration consequences of criminal arrests and convictions.
So it’s no surprise that Gabriella Rodezno, now a first year Hastings Law student, is also the Vice President of the Hastings Students for Immigrant’s Rights (HSIR).
Hastings Students for Immigrant’s Rights Wins Student Organization of the Year 2016
HSIR volunteer and Hastings Law student, Alex Peña, explains: “The mission of Hastings Students for Immigrants’ Rights is to help students transform their interest in immigration law into an immigrations law career.” Rodezno agrees, adding: “Our purpose is to provide our members with opportunities to engage directly with the immigration community and gain experience as advocates themselves.”
When Gabriella and Alex approached the Kazan McClain Partner’s Foundation, they presented a thorough and compelling proposal to fund a $4,000 grant, which would enable them to conduct a number of outreach programs in the Central Valley where immigrants could receive resources, information and advice.
Needless to say, the Foundation jumped at the opportunity, and was only too proud to help. The HSIR mission and vision— to provide undocumented immigrants with safety and social justice— perfectly reflects the type of initiatives Kazan Law supports.
And we are even more proud to announce that in April 2016, the Hastings Students for Immigrant’s Rights organization won the “Student Organization of the Year 2016.”
About the Kazan McClain Partners’ Foundation
The Kazan McClain Partners’ Foundation, Inc. was formed in 1994 and, over the years, has disbursed over $20 million in grants to a wide array of community and civic organizations, including over $6 million for mesothelioma research. Our mission is to benefit the public through grants to organizations and individuals in order to:
- Support research into causes of, treatment for, and prevention of occupational and environmental diseases.
- Increase and improve public awareness about workplace health and safety, and public health.
- Enhance access to, participation in, and education about the legal system and governmental processes.
- Advance programs that provide services which lessen the burdens of government and/or provide relief to the poor, distressed or under-privileged
- Combat community deterioration and lessen neighborhood tensions.
Additionally, we have supported internships and fellowships for public interest positions at the following organizations:
- Hastings College Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
- Golden Gate University Law: Innocence Project
- East Bay Community Law Center
- Impact Fund: Strategic Litigation for Social Justice
- Public Justice: Righting Wrongs
- Bay Area Legal Aid
We have also funded scholarships and stipends for youth at:
- Berkeley Law University of California: Center for Youth Development through Law
- Centro Legal De La Raza: Youth Law Academy
- The Annual Cruz Reynoso Social Justice & Judicial Externship Fellowship Dinner
- Oakland Technical high School Washington DC Program
And we have funded medical research for cures of asbestos diseases in cooperation with:
- Department of Surgery— Thoracic Oncology Program University California San Francisco
- Creighton University— School of Medicine
- Stanford University School of Medicine
- Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation
- The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
- The International Mesothelioma Interest Group Biennial Conferences
At Kazan Law, our work doesn’t end in the courtroom. Our first-hand experience with the tragedy of mesothelioma compels us in our quest to abolish this dreadful disease, and fight on behalf of the communities most vulnerable to it.