Kariuki Bestowed NBLSA Student Award
April 15, 2011
Ann Kariuki 3L has received the National Black Law Students Association’s (NBLSA) Most Outstanding Student Award, which was presented at the national convention in Houston. Kariuki serves as the career and professional development chair of the USF School of Law chapter of the Black Law Students Association.
Kariuki, who was born in Kenya, developed a passion for justice at a young age that led her on the path to law school. She is active in volunteering, mentoring, and tutoring at several Bay Area legal clinics and community service and advocacy organizations, including La Raza Centro Legal, the Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, and The Forgotten International. She has also served as a law clerk for the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, a judicial intern for the Superior Court of California in San Francisco, a legal intern for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, and a program assistant for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Global Health Bureau.
“I believe that the black community at large still struggles to gain access to many areas previously withheld based on discriminatory policies, whether it’s academically, economically, socially, or politically,” Kariuki said. “As a young black educated woman, I believe it is my duty and privilege, as it was for those that came before me, to continue to champion all efforts to advance and empower my community both locally and globally.”
Kariuki was also a recipient of the NBLSA Rodney Pulliam Memorial Scholarship, Charles Houston Bar Association Scholarship, Bar Association of San Francisco Minority Scholarship, and Bono and Capps California State Society Congressional Award.