2017-2018 LALSA Board

President
Shabel Castro

Hometown: Bronx, NY
Undergrad Institution: Macaulay Honors at Lehman College, CUNY
1L Summer Internship: Center for Appellate Litigation
Favorite food to eat: Rice, beans, with pollo guisado and also, mangu with salami.
If you had one super power, what would it be and why?  My super power would be a combination of the Flash’s super speed, Professor X’s telepathic abilities, and Supergirl’s super strength.

Shabel is from the “boogie-down” Bronx, home of the NY Yankees. She is currently a second-year student and a Toll Scholar at Penn Law.  Additionally, she is pursuing a Master of Science in Social Policy at the School of Policy & Practice. Prior to law school, Shabel worked as a Legal Advocate at Part of the Solution (POTS). As an advocate, Shabel worked diligently to help restore her clients’ access to public benefits and assisted in preventing housing evictions for numerous families. As the first in her family to pursue a graduate degree, Shabel hopes to use her law degree to implement grassroots and community oriented social change. Shabel loves making other people smile, volunteering, Disney movies, board games, listening to superhero film scores, and traveling to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, where her extended family resides.

Social Chair
Anthony Tan

Hometown: New Orleans, LA
Undergrad Institution: LSU
1L Summer Internship: District Attorney’s Office Domestic Homicide Unit; Kean Miller LLP
Favorite food to eat: Beans, Rice, and Chicken (together as one unit)
If you had one super power, what would it be and why? The ability to manipulate time and space because it would allow me to possess any type of super power.
 
I am a harbinger of big ideas, a writer who believes that words are more powerful than bullets, a just man in an unjust world. I believe that greatness is not reserved for the special among us and that through hard work, belief, and planning anything is possible. I believe that everyone should live their lives as if they were the superheroes in their own movies. Hi, I’m Anthony, and I don’t like small talk.

Vice-President
José Valenzuela

Hometown: Indio, CA
Undergrad Institution: UCLA
1L Summer Internship: Office of the General Counsel Willis Towers Watson
Favorite food to eat: Chile Relleno with some good beans and rice. 
If you had one super power, what would it be and why? Fly like Superman. would make it easier to explore new places.
 
Jose is Southern California native who abides by Spider-Man’s maxim that with great power, comes great responsibility. Although he may not be able to shoot webs or scale buildings, he believes that we must use our talents to continually better our communities. He is the son of immigrant parents from Sinaloa, Mexico who not only showed him the importance of following through on your goals, but also instilled a love for banda, mariscos, and having a good carne asada with friends and family.











Academic and Mentoring Chair
Nathalie Sosa

Hometown: Miami, Florida
Undergrad Institution: University of Florida
1L Summer Internship: Stearns Weaver
Favorite food to eat: dark chocolate
If you had one super power, what would it be and why? Being in two places at once because there’s always so much I want to do!
 
Nathalie was born and raised in Miami and looks forward to returning home after law school. After graduating from the University of Florida, she spent eight years working in public education in Phoenix and Denver. She held various roles, including: Teacher, Director of Human Capital, and Assistant Principal. Nathalie is married and has two daughters, Isabel, who is three, and Elena, who is two. She also has two dogs, Jewely and Milo. Her family loves hiking, traveling, eating, and playing at the beach together.






Secretary
Sabrina Ruchelli

Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Undergrad Institution: University of Delaware
1L Summer Internship: United States Attorneys’ Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania 
Favorite food to eat: Turkey Reuben from Hershel’s Deli 
If you had one super power, what would it be and why?  ​Time travel, so that I actually had time to be a law student.
 
Sabrina grew up just outside of Philadelphia, went to school in the city, and then went to exotic Newark, Delaware where she studied History at the University of Delaware. Following graduation, she spent the year living in other people’s homes and looking after their dogs. Here at Penn, in addition to her involvement with LALSA, Sabrina also serves as the Co-director of Admissions for Lambda. She spent her 1L summer with the United States Attorneys’ Office E.D.Pa., continuing her quest to never have to actually move away from the Philadelphia area.
 

Treasurer
Alberto Gomez

Hometown: Valencia, Venezuela/ Miami, Florida
Undergrad Institution: University of Florida
1L Summer Internship: Pennsylvania Office of General Counsel Main Office
Favorite food to eat: Ice Cream
If you had one super power, what would it be and why? Teleportation; so that I can stop giving Uber/Lyft all of my money.
 
Over 2,000 miles north of his birthplace of Venezuela, Alberto is a rising 2L who can often be found bemoaning about the “artic” Philly weather. Prior to arriving to this northern tundra, Alberto attended the University of Florida, where he studied Finance and was a member of the Delta Chi fraternity. Post-graduation, Alberto participated in Teach For America here in Philadelphia, teaching K-8th grade students science, math and Spanish. After 5 years in education and with much of his hairline lost, he decided to come to Penn Law. At the school, Alberto is the treasurer of the Latino/a Law Students Association and is involved with the Youth Advocacy Project. In his free time, Alberto enjoys complaining to his classmates about the public-school system, snow, and the effects of aging.
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Community Outreach & Pro Bono Chair
Stefanie Ramirez

Hometown: San Antonio, TX
Undergrad Institution: St. Mary’s University
1L Summer Internship: Bizchut, The Israel Human Rights Center for People with Disabilities in Jerusalem, Israel
Favorite food to eat: Asian food
If you had one super power, what would it be and why? Cat attraction. So all of the cats would come to me and I would be surrounded by cats always and forever. I love cats.
 
I was born and raised in Texas; spent most of my life in San Antonio. After undergrad, I taught for 2 years in San Antonio with Teach for America. Teaching was the greatest experience of my life because I walked away with names and faces as the reason for continuing to push to reform the current education system in the United States. My focus and passion lies with ensuring our children get the best life possible and are able to be productive members and leaders of our future. My 1L summer was spent in Israel with Bizchut doing comparative research regarding inclusive education.