The Podium
The Advocate's Mic Podium highlights our speakers. Here is where we pass the mic. We continually look for ways to bridge gaps and have more voices heard. Why not ask the advocates themselves and highlight their stories?
The goal is to pass the mic to each advocate to draw more attention by going right to the source. The more people that pump up the volume, the better.
We will update you with our newsletter when the next advocate is featured.
Marcela Levy
Marcela Levy is a Partner at the law firm Mannheimer, Perez e Lyra, a proud working parent of twins, and a dear friend/workout buddy. She received her LL.B. from the Catholic University of Rio De Janeiro in 2008 and received her LL.M. in 2012 from Columbia University in New York City where she also met her husband. Our first encounter was in 2012 in a midtown conference room, when she was on secondment at the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Marcela continues to practice law in Brazil and during the pandemic she videotaped herself reading children's books to her children. She created an Instagram account @mae_le_pra_mim and has a massive loyal following. Marcela is also the author of two childen's books, A espera por voce and Enquanto você não chega. Marcela lives in São Paulo with her husband and two children.
Aliza Shatzman
President and Co-Founder of The Legal Accountability Project,
a nonprofit aimed at ensuring that as many law clerks as possible have positive clerkship experiences while extending support and resources to those who do not. Aliza earned her BA from Williams College and her JD from Washington University School of Law. After law school, Aliza clerked in DC Superior Court during the 2019-2020 term. In March 2022, Aliza submitted written testimony for a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing about the lack of workplace protections in the federal judiciary, detailing her personal experience with gender discrimination, harassment, and retaliation by a former DC judge.
Kieran Paul
Founder, Director and Legal Career Coach
Gradvantage Partners
Kieran Paul works with aspiring attorneys to obtain roles in top law firms and coaches them on how to move up within BigLaw. He serves as a mentor and is constantly connecting people, creating valuable support systems. We had a great discussion about his journey and how he is giving back to the legal community.
Stephanie Singer
Stephanie Singer lives in Norfolk, Virginia. She is a communications specialist at Mercy Medical Angels (a non-profit that helps save lives with medical transportation for those in need). She is also a passionate autistic self-advocate, whose goal is for the workplace and society to treat autistic individuals with dignity and respect. Some of her special interests include writing, drawing, singing, 1990s/2000s Disney, and Tae Kwon Do. She holds a first-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and works as an instructor at a dojang (martial arts school) in Virginia Beach. Her motto is from a line in her writing: “Anyone can be a hero, just by being themselves.” Stephanie is living proof of this motto - she is autistic and proud of it, and not afraid to show up as her authentic self.