Caleb Greene L’24 and Harvey Lou L’24 named Weil Legal Innovators
Caleb Greene L’24 and Harvey Lou L’24 have been named as members of the inaugural cohort of Weil Legal Innovators (WLI). Sponsored by Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, the WLI program is a philanthropic initiative that provides funding for students accepted at participating law schools to defer their first year of study to work at one of WLI’s partner nonprofit organizations.
Greene, a graduate of Louisiana State University, will be spending his Innovator year with the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C. as Coordinator of the Youth Leadership Program with the Aspen Young Leaders Fellowship (AYLF).
“I am amazed to be part of the inaugural Weil Legal Innovators Program cohort and to be working for an incredible nonprofit like the Aspen Institute,” said Greene. “I could never have imagined my trajectory as a high school student from rural Liberty, Indiana.”
AYLF’s mission — engaging young people from low-income areas to tackle the world’s most pressing problems — attracted Greene.
“AYLF focuses on long-term solutions in communities such as St. Louis, Chicago, and the Mississippi Delta,” he said. “Instead of parachuting into these regions to implement change, AYLF seeks to empower young leaders who have personal experience with the problems within their communities.”
Lou, who grew up outside of Dallas and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, will be working with the Earthwatch Institute in Boston on their Sustainable Cities and Communities initiative. One of his first assignments involves collecting data on air pollution for the organization’s Operation Healthy Air project.
“As a first-generation immigrant and college student,” said Lou, “my fascination with the law originated from the desire to help my own family navigate the American legal system.”
Once he realized there was an entire profession dedicated to helping people do this, he said, law school was an “easy choice.”
“I’m extremely grateful to Weil for selecting me,” Lou said.
All Innovators receive a $50,000 salary and a full benefits package for their one-year fellowship. Upon beginning law school in fall 2021, they will receive a $10,000 scholarship toward first-year expenses.
“We remain dedicated to supporting and mentoring the next generation of leaders and change-makers from an early stage in their professional careers,” said Weil Executive Partner Barry Wolf, “and are proud to hold true to the firm’s commitment to invest approximately $1 million annually through the Weil Legal Innovators Program to the future of the legal profession and the public service sector.”