Past Jim Rubin International Fellows Biographies

The Jim Rubin International Fellowship Program empowers rising environmental lawyers to tackle complex environmental problems. It reduces financial barriers, provides mentorship and fosters leadership and creativity so fellows can conduct research and engage and inform the public and policy-makers. The fellowship is based in Washington, DC. Past Fellows include:

 

Karabo Mokgonyana

Karabo Mokgonyana

2023 Jim Rubin International Fellow

Karabo is a Legal and Development Practitioner focusing on human rights protection, effective implementation of international law and grassroot peacebuilding. Her work is mainly characterised by legal advice (mainly in human rights, public law and international law), advocacy and campaigning, project/program management and coordination, development research, advisory work and data management. She has worked with several multilaterals (e.g. African Union, United Nations and Commonwealth) and civil society organisations (e.g. CIVICUS, Change.org, Sesi Fellowship and Skill Hub) to advise and implement development programs. She has further advised government entities (e.g. GIZ - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Stockholm International Water Institute, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa) on inclusion and effective representation in developing programmes and policies for youth, womxn and other marginalised communities/identities. She has a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing and Law) and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Witwatersrand and she is currently completing a Masters in International Law with the same institution. Karabo has approximately 7+ years worth of experience working in the development sector from a grassroot to international level. However, she has also worked in the legal sector with institutions like Webber Wentzel, Wits Law Clinic and the Constitutional Court of South Africa. She has been granted several awards for the work that she does e.g. 50 Most Powerful Women in South Africa for 2022 by Mail and Guardian, 2022 Outstanding Youth Philanthropist by the Gauteng Provincial Legislature and 100 Most Influential Young Africans of 2021 by Avance Media. Karabo publishes on Mail and Guardian, Business Live and other media platforms op-eds on various public interest topics including climate change, gender and youth, human rights, legal developments and peacebuilding.

Junhong Li

Junhong Li

2021 Jim Rubin International Fellow

Junhong Li was a legal scholar from China. Between April 2019 and January 2020, she worked at the China Environmental Protection Foundation (CEPF), where she managed CEPF’s NGO environmental public interest litigation capacity-building project. Junhong worked for the UN Environment-China University of Political Science and Law Environmental Law Academy and as a project manager for Centre for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims (CLAPV) at the China University of Political Science and Law (CUPSL), where she managed internationally funded programs for training judges, prosecutors, lawyers, environmental law enforcement officers, environmental NGOs staff and journalists on environmental legal practice and environmental public interest litigation in China. She also participated in research projects on legislation of climate change, protection of marine biodiversity in the areas beyond national jurisdiction, the revision of Fishery Law of China and wildlife protection in China, and work related to cooperation on environmental rule of law among Belt & Road Countries. She has participated in ministry-level projects on environmental legislation and policy of China through her affiliation with CUPSL. Junhong holds a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Southampton, United Kingdom; an LL.M. from CUPSL, and bachelor degrees from Renmin University of China and Henan Normal University.

Ginary Tatiana Gutierrez Robledo

Ginary Tatiana Gutiérrez Robledo

2020 Jim Rubin International Fellow

Ginary Tatiana Gutiérrez Robledo is a Colombian-trained lawyer with certificates in human rights and constitutional law. She has previously worked as an attorney at the Procuraduria General de la Nacion/Inspector Attorney General Office in Bogotá, Colombia. Her work has included coordinating the monitoring processes of government compliance with agreements made between the government and Afro-Pacific communities, collaborating with communities to educate people on their human rights, developing community empowerment strategies for exercising democratic rights to fight corruption, and handling matters related to environmental justice. Trained in both Colombia and the United States, Ginary graduated from Duke University Law School with an LL.M. in May 2020 as a fellow of the Racial Discrimination Watch of Dejusticia and Ford Foundation. Prior to Duke, she studied at the Rosario University Law School in Bogotá, Colombia where she received an M.A. in administrative law and an undergraduate law degree in 2018.

Alexander Ramdass

Alexander Ramdass

Alexander is an Attorney at Law licensed to practice in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. He possesses an LLM from the University of the West Indies in Legislative Drafting and is presently pursuing an LLM in Environmental, Natural Resources and Energy Law at the Lewis and Clark Law School in Oregon. Prior to beginning LLM studies, Alexander was the Jim Rubin International Fellow at the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) where he contributed to the preparation of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) Report on the Environmental Rule of Law and conducted independent research on the extractive sector in Trinidad and Tobago. His career began as legal counsel at Fishermen and Friends of the Sea where he coordinated several strategic litigations and participated in the stakeholder review of several environmental laws regionally. Presently, he is the external legislative drafting and environmental law consultant at the Guyanese firm Persaud, Goopeesingh and Co. and collaborates with the Shridath Ramphal Research Centre at the University of the West Indies Cavehill Campus on their various climate change research initiatives.