Freidin Brown, P.A. & SAVE Launch Social Justice Scholarships
MIAMI, FL. –September 16, 2019–
The law firm of Freidin Brown, P.A. and SAVE are proud to launch the Freidin Brown, P.A. & SAVE Social Justice Scholarships, which will award $25,000 in scholarships to four (4) LGBTQ and allied students in South Florida who strive to lead in a field of Social Justice. After receiving a number of extremely impressive applications, four scholarship recipients have been selected and will be honored at SAVE’s Luminary Awards on September 18, 2019. Each recipient has a proven record of leadership and contributions to the LGBTQ community and has demonstrated a commitment to a field of Social Justice in their professional futures.
Our $10,000 scholarship will be awarded to Ariana Aboulafia, a third-year law student at the University of Miami School of Law. Ms. Aboulafia is the Senior Articles Editor of the Race and Social Justice Law Review, and previously served as the Vice Present of OUTLaw, where she was instrumental in ensuring that a new gender-neutral bathroom was installed on Miami Law’s campus. This summer, a paper that she authored on LGBT homelessness was honored by the National LGBT Bar Association. Upon her graduation, she hopes to work full time at the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office and contribute to their mission of fighting for social justice on behalf of indigent clients.
Pictured from right to left: Ariana Aboulafia, Aiyana Gonzalez, Daniel Jimenez, Michael Murgo
Additionally, we are thrilled to award $5,000 scholarships to Michael Murgo, Daniel Jimenez, and Aiyana Gonzalez.
Michael Murgo is a PhD student in Counseling Psychology at University of Miami. His research focuses on how stigma and discrimination affect the mental health of LGBTQ people, and how psychologists can best serve our community in the face of these challenges. Michael is currently a trainee at the Miami VA Medical Center, where he provides psychotherapy to LGBTQ veterans. At the national level, Michael serves on the Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity Public Policy Committee of the American Psychological Association.
Daniel Jimenez is in his first year of the PhD program in Social Welfare at Florida International University. The focus for his dissertation is sex work, specifically among male to female (MTF) transsexual women. Previously, Daniel worked with Miami-Dade County Public schools as a Mental Health Coordinator under the Department of Mental Health Services. Daniel is certified in Florida as a HIV Test Counselor, a trainer in Youth Mental Health First Aid, and certified in Restorative Justice Practices.
Aiyana Gonzalez is a BSW student at Barry University’s School of Social Work, where she is President of Barry’s LGBTQ+ P.R.I.D.E. Club and has organized numerous student events for organizations such as Pridelines, Transgender Day of Remembrance, Aqua Foundation for Women, and Transcon. Aiyana recently coauthored a research study, Examining Interpersonal Risk Factor for Suicidality Among TGD Youth, with her professor/mentors and a colleague at the World Professional Association for Transgender Health Conference in Washington, DC.
“We are proud to give our support to these four students who have already made an impact on the LGBTQ community. Each scholarship recipient has demonstrated tremendous leadership in their field of Social Justice and, having spoken to each of them, I can tell that they’re not even close to being done,” said Jonathan Freidin, an attorney at Freidin Brown, P.A. who also sits on the SAVE Board of Directors.
The scholarship recipients will be recognized at SAVE’s annual Luminary Awards, which honors young professionals for their contributions toward equality. The Luminaries will be held on Wednesday, September 18, 2019, at Bacardi HQ in Coral Gables, Florida. Tickets can be purchased online at www.LuminaryAwards.org.
Freidin Brown, P.A. is a Miami-based law firm that focuses on medical negligence, complex personal injury, and whistleblower cases throughout Florida and the United States. With over a century of combined experience, our lawyers have dedicated their careers to obtaining justice for their clients. By collaborating with SAVE on the Social Justice Scholarships, the entire family at Freidin Brown, P.A. hopes to promote equality and social justice throughout our community. For more information on the firm, please visit www.YourFloridaTrialTeam.com or contact Caroline Venditti at cv@fblawyers.net.
SAVE is recognized as South Florida’s leading organization dedicated to protecting people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) against discrimination. Since 1993, SAVE has advocated for equal rights for persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities through political advocacy, community outreach, and other activities. Starting with the landmark passage of Miami’s Human Rights Ordinance in 1998, its expansion to protect the transgender community in 2014, and the litigation spearheaded by SAVE which resulted in marriage equality in Florida in January 2015, SAVE continues to lead the fight for LGBTQ equality. Its mission is to promote, protect and defend equality for the LGBTQ community in Florida and its vision is to have a community where people who are LGBTQ have full equality in all facets of life. For more information on SAVE, please visit www.SAVE.lgbt or contact Tommy Gomez at tommy@save.lgbt.
