Meet the Board

Mailing Address

UNC School of Law Pro Bono Program
CB# 3380
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3380
Phone: 919.962.5685
Fax: 919.962.5684

Officers

Director

Seema Kakad (Office Hours: Monday 9a-11a)
seema.kakad@gmail.com

Seema is incredibly excited to serve as the Director of the Pro Bono Board. This past year, she served as the Special Trips Coordinator, organizing the winter break trip to New Orleans and the first ever spring break trip to Eastern North Carolina. Seema is proud to lead such a talented and committed Board, and hopes that all students, regardless of whether they plan on working in the public or private sector, will make time for pro bono work during their time at UNC Law and throughout their legal careers.

Seema is a Charlotte, NC native and 2006 graduate of Duke University, majoring in Public Policy Studies with a certificate in Documentary Studies. After living in Merida, Mexico for a year and doing documentary photography with an arts-based non-profit, she returned to North Carolina for law school. In her spare time, Seema can be found traveling the globe, taking photographs, running, dancing at Zumba class, and cheering for Duke Basketball.

Attorney/Projects Coordinator

Lauren Felter (Office Hours: Monday 2p-4p)
uncprobonoprojects@gmail.com

Lauren is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a double major in Economics and Political Science and minors in Spanish and Nutrition. After college, Lauren taught middle school for three years as a member of the Teach For America Corps in Eastern North Carolina. Although she loved her time in the classroom, she was eager to come to Carolina Law to pursue her interests in education law and indigent defense. Lauren worked with the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland during winter break of her 1L year and interned this past summer with the Office of the Capital Defender in Durham, NC.

Lauren is energized to serve as the Attorney/Projects Coordinator and expand the impact of Carolina Law in the community by matching students and attorneys in meaningful pro bono projects in their areas of interest. Outside of law school, Lauren enjoys playing hockey and tennis, attending concerts, traveling, cooking, and running.

3L Class Coordinator

Vivian Doran Intermont (Office Hours: Thursday 1p - 3p)
vdintermont@gmail.com

Vivian is a New York City native who attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in Afro-American Studies and Political Science. After graduation she worked for two years at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund as a paralegal, assisting attorneys in their education, criminal justice, economic justice and political participation work. She has interned at the Brooklyn Legal Aid Society - Juvenile Rights Division and this past summer she interned with the Bronx Defenders. She has done public interest work and research in the realm of racial discrimination within the criminal justice system and eventually hopes to work in the area of juvenile justice.

Vivian is extremely excited to represent her class as the 3L Class Coordinator and is eager to continue assisting her classmates in finding rewarding pro bono work. The Class of 2010 has completed an outstanding number of pro bono hours thus far and Vivian hopes they will continue this trend in their third year at Carolina. In her free time she enjoys traveling, skiing, and being outdoors.

2L Class Coordinator

Shelly Anand (Office Hours: Monday 12p-2p)
bujikadubba@gmail.com

Shelly is originally from Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from Wellesley College. She double majored in History and Spanish with a focus in post-colonial theory. She hopes to pursue her passion for human rights with her legal degree in the realm of immigration law or criminal defense. At Wellesley, she served as College Government President where she put on programs where students discussed their experiences with discrimination, gender identity, socio-economic inequality, and sexuality. She hopes to initiate similar programs with a pro bono focus here at UNC Law.

Shelly is delighted to be serving as the 2L Class Coordinator. She believes that everyone in the world is passionate about something, whether it is mental health, civil rights or human rights, and wants to work with her fellow classmates to help them find projects that they really care about. In her free time, Shelly enjoys writing, traveling, reading, discussing politics or gender issues and loves throwing a good party.

1L Class Coordinator

Carla Hermida (Office Hours: Wednesday 10a-12p)
cmhermida@gmail.com

Carla Hermida grew up in Fort Lauderdale and graduated from Duke University in 2006. She majored in Public Policy and minored in Psychology. Upon graduation, Carla worked as a missionary in Costa Rica where she spent eight months working with disadvantaged and abandoned children. Afterwards, she joined the Teach For America corps in Charlotte and had the privilege of teaching middle school math for the past two years. She is eager to pursue her passions in education law and immigration law at UNC.

Carla is excited and honored to serve as the 1L Class Coordinator. She can't wait to see all the amazing Pro Bono work the 1L class will complete this year. In her free time, Carla can be found singing in the Choral Society of Durham, traveling, volunteering in the nursery at the Summit Church, eating snacks, and cheering for Duke basketball.

Alumni Coordinator

Alexis Chappell (Office Hours: Tuesday 1p-3p)
alexis.chappell@gmail.com

Alexis grew up in many places, but finished high school in Tennessee and graduated from American University with a major in Psychology in 2005. After working for a mental health non-profit, she was ready to return to school in order to pursue her passions for health law and public interest work.

Alexis had a great experience serving on the Pro Bono Board last year, and she is thrilled to be the Alumni Coordinator. In this position, Alexis will reach out to alumni to spread the word about the Pro Bono program, encourage alums to submit pro bono projects, and fundraise for the Board's various activities. Alexis' other passions include running, Diet Coke, photography, intramural softball, Carolina basketball, and traveling.

Public Relations Coordinator

Meredith Flowe (Office Hours: Thursday 10a-12p)
flowe@unc.edu

Meredith is a native of Greensboro, North Carolina and 2004 graduate of UNC-CH with a B.A. in International Studies. She taught middle school math as a member of the Teach For America Corps in New Orleans and then worked with charter school and child care lending at Self-Help in Durham, NC before law school. As a 1L, she returned to New Orleans with other Carolina students to volunteer with the Pro Bono Project and spent the summer as a clerk for Judge Linda Stephens at the NC Court of Appeals and intern at Legal Aid of NC. This past summer she interned at the Corporation for National and Community Service in Washington, D.C.

She is excited about keeping the Carolina Law community informed about all the amazing pro bono service opportunities and encouraging students to make a commitment to pro bono service part of their careers.

Group Projects Coordinator

Julie Zibulsky (Office Hours: Monday 2p-4p)
jzibulsky@gmail.com

Julie is a New York native who graduated from University of Rochester, majoring in Psychology and Law, Policy and Social Change. After college she moved to Charlotte, North Carolina to teach third grade as a Teach For America Corps member. As a 1L she was involved with the Innocence Project, North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services, Carolina Street Law, and traveled to New Orleans on the pro bono winter break trip. That summer she interned with Public Citizen Litigation Group in Washington D.C. and this past summer she interned at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Public Defender's Special Litigation Division, both in D.C.

After spending last year as the Attorney Projects Coordinator, Julie is very excited to continue serving on the Board as the Group Projects Coordinator and take on a more active role in developing projects with students.

Winter Break/Spring Break Coordinator

Joe Vossen (Office Hours: Tuesday 11a-1p)
joe.vossen@gmail.com

Joe is a native of Topeka, Kansas and graduated from Kansas State University in 2008. He was involved in several service organizations as an undergraduate. Attracted by the friendly and challenging environment at Carolina Law, he chose to move south to begin his legal career. After graduation he hopes to work in private practice.

After participating in the New Orleans winter break pro bono trip his 1L year, he became interested in getting more involved with the Pro Bono Program. Joe believes pro bono work can be a valuable part of every lawyer's career-no matter the practice area. His passions are fitness, reading, porch swings, and homemade ice cream.

Winter Break/Spring Break Coordinator

Emily Wallwork (Office Hours: Tuesday 11a-1p)
emilywallwork@gmail.com

Emily is a Charlotte, North Carolina native and a 2008 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a degree in English. She is interested in public policy and public defense work and plans to work in Washington, D.C. after graduation.

As a 1L, Emily had an amazing experience on the spring break trip to Eastern North Carolina and hopes to inspire that same excitement for pro bono that this trip fostered in her. Emily's non-legal interests include travel, reading, history, and Carolina Panthers football.

Special Trips Coordinator

Louis Massard (Office Hours: Wednesday 2p-4p)
louismassard@gmail.com

Louis was born and raised in Naples, Florida. After graduating from Northwestern University in 2006, Louis worked at King & Spalding in Washington, D.C., and contributed to several of the firm's pro bono initiatives. After being part of the 2008 New Orleans Pro Bono Trip, he chose to get more involved with the Carolina Law Pro Bono Program. Through Carolina Law's New Orleans and Eastern North Carolina trips, Louis hopes to increase the visibility of the Pro Bono Program and to inspire the legal community to make a greater commitment to pro bono work.

Assistant Dean for Public Service Programs

Sylvia Novinsky
snovinsk@email.unc.edu

In its ongoing commitment to public service, Dean Boger appointed Sylvia Novinsky as the school's first Assistant Dean for Public Service Programs. Novinsky has been with the School of Law since 1996, after practicing public interest law representing migrant farm workers and immigrant workers in Virginia and New York. She served as the school's first public interest career counselor and in 2000, became the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs. As Assistant Dean for Public Service Programs she combines these varied experiences to counsel, advise and support students interested in public service and public interest law, as well as continuing to foster the school's pro bono activities.

"As a great public law school, our tradition of public service is deep-rooted and core to our mission," noted Dean Novinsky. Upon graduation, approximately 20% of the class goes on to pursue careers in the public sector. While in school, approximately 50% of the student body performs pro bono service. Still, there are challenges for students and graduates who want to do public service, particularly as debt burdens at all law schools increase. "Helping students identify avenues for pursuing their commitments to pro bono and public service, and supporting them while they are doing so, is crucial," said Dean Novinsky. "Our students are following in the footsteps of many great Carolina Law alumni who have gone on to serve our state and the nation and we want to make sure we support them as they incorporate these values of serving the public in their own educational pursuits and legal careers."