Hazel Millard L’26

Hazel graduated from Middlebury College with a BA in History in 2018. As an undergraduate, she studied 20th-century civil rights and labor movements in the U.S. Outside of the classroom, Hazel organized voter registration drives and created resources for students to apply for absentee ballots. Through that work, she saw firsthand the unnecessary hurdles young people often face to participate in elections and the variability of voter experiences depending on the election laws of their home state.

Following graduation, Hazel moved to New York City, where she worked at the Brennan Center for Justice. As a research and program associate and then as an advocacy campaign strategist, Hazel advocated for campaign finance, voting, and election administration reforms in New York State. She worked on campaigns in close partnership with broad coalitions to advance small donor public financing and improve the state’s election administration system. Most recently, Hazel collaborated with partners at a statewide disability rights organization on a study of polling place accessibility in New York. The team’s findings and recommendations will be published in a forthcoming report. During her time at the Brennan Center, Hazel also served on the staff union’s bargaining committee.

Hazel intends to use her law degree to continue fighting for inclusive, representative, and responsive democracy, in both elections and government as well as the workplace.