SWLAW Blog | Awards & Honors

December 3, 2020

1L Roxana Martinez Lopez Awarded 2020 California ChangeLawyers Scholarship

Congratulations to 1L Roxana Martinez Lopez on becoming a 2020 California ChangeLawyers Scholar! Roxana was selected for her dedication to creating a better legal system by serving as an advocate and ally to marginalized communities. Her scholarship is sponsored by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP.

California ChangeLawyers, formerly known as the California Bar Foundation, is a statewide foundation that empowers the next generation of lawyers, judges, and activists. Their mission is to build a better justice system for all Californians. The California ChangeLawyers scholarships support diverse law students in their pursuit of higher education and a legal career. Since 1990, the foundation has distributed 1208 scholarships. In 2019, the foundation awarded $435,000 in scholarships to 55 students, of which almost two-thirds were women, and nearly all were first-generation law students.

Roxana grew up in a low-income indigenous Oaxacan community that shaped how she views access to opportunity and legal resources. She is a ChangeLawyer because her experience of facing economic barriers, lack of resources, and distrust of the legal system has moved her to commit to making a difference within the legal world.

Roxana graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Political Science and Chicana/o Studies and a Minor in Labor and Workplace Studies. While attending UCLA, she worked as a UCLA BruinCorps tutor for English Language Learners, as an SEIU summer organizer, and as a student assistant at the UCLA School of Law. She also volunteered at various organizations, including JusticeCorps and CARECEN.

"As an attorney, I hope to attain the tools to provide disadvantaged communities with the legal assistance and representation that we have often been deprived of within society's institutions."

- Roxana Martinez Lopez, 1L

See Roxana in the 2020 ChangeLawyers Scholars video here: