Erika was a 2021 Equal Justice Works legal fellow sponsored by Baker McKenzie and Salesforce, and is now a staff attorney at the law center. Erika received their B.A. in International Relations from Pomona College and their J.D. from Harvard Law School, where they were an editor of the Harvard Law Review and active in the QTPOC affinity group community. Starting in September of 2023, they will transition to being a staff attorney at the Law Center.

Erika first became interested in practicing law in the solidarity economy while studying abroad in Fortaleza, Brazil. There, they visited Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) settlements and learned about collective land ownership, squatters’ rights, and collective decision making. 

As an intern at the Law Center during the summer of 2020, Erika was inspired by communities all over the country coming together to meet their own needs and support each other through mutual aid. Through their fellowship project, they aim to help these COVID-response mutual aid groups grow into permanently organized communities that can collectively access resources and power and push for systemic change.

Today, Erika is passionate about economic justice, rematriation of land to Indigenous communities, collective control of resources, mutual aid, and making the law accessible to everyone. Erika lives in Chicago, and they are licensed to practice law in both California and Illinois. In their free time, Erika enjoys crafts, sewing, cooking, singing, hiking, and gardening in their community garden plot.