Hillary Shah L’25

Hillary is a proud Indian-American and Texan passionate about alleviating social invisibility in marginalized communities. Her lived experiences have shown her the power that the law has to help and harm vulnerable people, and she is determined to be a part of the good.

Hillary got her start in community organizing as a teenager in her home state of Texas when she witnessed the unequal access to power resulting from rampant voter suppression. This realization led her to spend her time in college at the University of North Texas creating long-lasting civic programs and infrastructure that resulted in a 200% increase in voter participation in the North Texas area. Additionally, she served her community as Student Body Vice President, as well as interned with the ACLU, the Department of Commerce: Civil Rights Division, and Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

After college, Hillary worked with EMILY’s List, where she created digital fundraising and engagement programs to elect Democratic pro-choice women up and down the ballot. She was awarded the Harry S. Truman Scholarship for her passion for public service, making her the first Truman Scholar from her university in over 19 years.

Hillary is honored to be a Toll Scholar and is dedicated to using the education and resources that she has been afforded to uplift marginalized communities through expanding access to the ballot. Her experiences have illustrated how difficult it is to create lasting, positive change within the current voting rights legal framework. She hopes to one day play a small part in changing that very framework.

In her free time, Hillary enjoys baking, reading, arts and crafts, and reality television.