In keeping with our tradition of interviewing new team members, we asked our Policy Intern, Courtney Brown a few questions so that you all can get to know her!
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m a Southern California native and current J.D. candidate at California Western School of Law. My decision to pursue a legal career was driven by my interests in environmental law, social justice, and public policy. I believe that transportation quite literally provides an intersection for these themes to come together.
My approach to legal advocacy has been shaped by my background in journalism and public relations. I am passionate about fostering community engagement to create sustainable and accessible solutions.
How did you become interested in Circulate San Diego?
As previously mentioned, I hope to use my law degree in an area that merges my areas of interest. When I was introduced to Circulate after attending a mixer event this past Fall, it became even more clear how practice areas like land use, transportation, city planning, and community advocacy are so intertwined and expansive. I’m excited to learn even more alongside such an inspiring, motivated team!
What’s your most memorable face palm moment? Or what is your biggest achievement to date? Choose one.
Although I’ve had more face palm moments than I’d probably like to admit, I would like to highlight that one of my proudest achievements has been surviving my 1L year of law school (so far). I was warned about how challenging it would be, but really nothing could have prepared me more than jumping into the deep end of it. I’ve witnessed a vast growth in my critical thinking and time management abilities in such a short period of time. I overcame obstacles of “impostor syndrome” and earned an academic standing within the top quarter of my class after the first trimester.
If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as your mentor?
This is a difficult question, because there are so many people I’ve learned from and deeply admire, but if I could choose any mentor today it would most likely be Kimberle Crenshaw. She developed the theory of intersectionality, which has become quite the theme in my educational journey. Crenshaw is an accomplished author, public speaker, scholar, and professor. She coined the phrase “intersectionality,” to address the failure of our system to acknowledge injustices occurring at the intersection of race and gender. Crenshaw’s theory has opened my eyes, along with so many others, to how concepts like environmental advocacy and social justice are intrinsically linked.
