The Toll Public Interest Center (TPIC) is pleased to announce that Deuel Ross L’09, Lecturer in Law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and Senior Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc, is the inaugural recipient of its Alumni Impact Award.
Ross was joined by two outstanding finalists: Kristen Dama L’07, Managing Attorney of SSI and Medical-Legal Partnership at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, and Jessica Feierman L’00, Adjunct Professor at the Law School and Senior Managing Director at Juvenile Law Center.
The Alumni Impact Awards are given to Penn Carey Law alumni who have demonstrated a passionate commitment to public service throughout their career and who have excelled in using innovative thinking to produce concrete and sustainable solutions to societal problems. The work of the Alumni Impact Awards’ honorees has substantially improved the lives of the country’s most vulnerable populations.
“The Alumni Impact Awards are intended to honor leaders and innovators in public interest law, and this year’s finalists represent the wide-ranging and all-encompassing legal advocacy expected of Penn Carey Law alums,” said Ayanna Williams, Associate Director for the Toll Public Interest Service Corps. “Deuel Ross has been instrumental in securing voting rights and desegregating schools. Kristen Dama has engaged in multiple successful initiatives to help people with disabilities and low-income families in getting needed assistance. Jessica Feierman has worked to eliminate costs, fines, and fees in the juvenile justice system. We were thrilled to honor them and look forward to commemorating their future accomplishments.”
Thanks to a transformational gift from the Robert and Jane Toll Foundation, founded by Robert Toll L’66 and Jane Toll GSE’66, Ross was awarded $10,000, and Dama and Feierman received $5,000 each.
The celebration event for the Alumni Impact Awards took place on April 19, 2022, in the Levy Conference Center, in conjunction with the Pro Bono Recognition Event. TPIC extends its sincere appreciation to all who joined to celebrate the commitment and dedication of these outstanding alums.
Learn more about the Law School’s staunch commitment to public service.