The Student Leadership Award is the National LGBTQ+ Bar’s highest honor for law students. The award recognizes two law students who have demonstrated leadership within their school and in the surrounding community, especially in the area of LGBTQ+ equality. The 2026 co-winners will receive free Lavender Law® registration as well as travel and lodging assistance to Chicago (up to $500) if they are still a law student at the time of the conference and are able to attend the conference. Those who have already graduated or otherwise will not be able to attend Lavender Law® will receive a $500 cash gift.
Nominations may be submitted by anyone, including nominees themselves. In addition to a letter of support signed by the nominator, three additional letters of support may be submitted with the nomination, but are not required (for a total of four letters maximum). Please carefully review the criteria and direct all questions to programs@lgbtqbar.org.
Nominations due April 1, 2026 by Midnight Eastern Time
2025 Winners
The Student Leadership Award is the National LGBTQ+ Bar’s highest honor for law students. The award recognizes two law students who have demonstrated leadership within their school and in the surrounding community, especially in the area of LGBTQ+ equality. Congratulations to our 2025 Student Leadership Awardees!
Mary Berg (she/her) is a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. For the past year, she served as the president of UW Law’s Queer Law Student Association (QLaw). In this role, Mary worked to host a Name and Gender Marker Change Clinic with the UW Center for Patient Partnership’s LGBTQ+ Health Justice Program. During the clinic, about 20 law students served 30 community members seeking name and gender marker changes for themselves or for their kids.
Additionally, Mary was the primary organizer of QLaw’s educational programming, which included a panel discussing the impacts of recent federal policy changes on LGBTQ+ youth, a scholarship talk about states weaponizing the family regulation system against Black LGBTQ+ families, a panel discussing the future of DEI work in Wisconsin, and a Wisconsin LGBTQ+ law practitioner panel. These events featured clinicians, academics, practitioners, legislators, and community advocates, and the events cumulatively reached about 400 audience members.
Nick Hunsicker (they/them) is a rising 3L at Temple University Beasley School of Law. Nick served as the President of Temple’s OUTLaw, where they grew membership in the organization, organized multiple charity events, and advocated on behalf of queer and trans law students. In response to the Trump Administration’s Executive Orders, Nick led a “Know Your Rights” event for law students and community members. Nick also interned at the Mazzoni Center during their 2L year, working with queer and trans clients on name changes, adoptions, and discrimination claims. Nick wrote their Law Review article on the importance of online privacy for queer and trans children.
Prior to law school, Nick worked in fundraising and lobbying at Mural Arts Philadelphia, the largest public art organization in the United States. After law school, Nick plans to work at a litigation-focused firm, where they will hone their skills as an advocate and provide pro bono representation to the queer and trans community in Philadelphia. Nick obtained a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.A. in Media Studies from the University of Amsterdam, with a concentration in New Media & Digital Culture. Their scholarly work focused primarily on gay men online, from diva worship on Twitter to Chechen state violence enacted through Grindr. Nick is interested in the intersection of law, technology, and identity. Since Nick was a high schooler in suburban Pennsylvania, they’ve consistently been an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.
Previous Awardees:
2024
Winner – Jibri Douglas, Rutgers Law School – Camden
Winner – Charlie Ferguson, University of Pennsylvania, Carey Law2023
Winner – Wenxi Lu, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
Winner – Kyle Hildebrand, Georgia State University College of Law2022
Winner – Dylan Bitar, Charleston School of Law
First Runner-Up – Edson Abadia Jr., Stetson University College of Law2021
Winner – Julio Cazares, University of Mississippi School of Law
First Runner-Up – Demetrius Williams, Emory University School of Law2020
Winner – Ian F. Tapu, University of Hawai’i
First Runner-Up – AK Shee, University of California, Los Angeles2019
Winners – Chan Tov McNamarah, Cornell Law School, and Candelario Saldana, University of Miami School of Law
2018
Winners – Nicole Schladt and Faris Mohammed, Emory University School of Law
First Runner Up – Ashley Fasano, University of San Diego School of Law2017
Winner – Christopher “Tripp” Zanetis, Stanford Law School
First Runner-up – Andy Blevins, Willamette University
Second Runner-up – Beck Zucker, The George Washington University Law School2016
Winner – Joshua Treybig, Seattle University School of Law
Winner – Kathleen Cullum, Indiana University Maurer School of Law2015
Winner – Adam Grogan, Albany Law School
Winner –Paul Sautter-Walker, Albany Law School2014
Winner – Deborah Lolai, Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
Runner-up – Brenna Ragghianti, Elon University School of Law2013
Winner – Mieko Failey, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
Runner-up – Elizabeth Dooley, Stanford Law School2012
Winner – Michelle Garcia, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
Runner-up – Adam Chang, University of Hawaii, Manoa2011
Winner – Jason C. Beekman, Cornell Law School
Runner-up – Ashland Johnson, University of Georgia School of Law2010
Winner – C. Hays Burchfield, University of Mississippi
Runner-up – Danielle Hawkes, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law