Last week, the National Native American Law Student Association (NNALSA) announced this year’s Community Task Force. This group of individuals—selected from NALSA students across the nation—was created with the goal of facilitating townhalls with each NALSA area around the U.S.
Colorado Law 1L Malorie Stick was one of three students selected.
“Specifically, we [the task force] want to hear from marginalized communities in NALSA such as 2SLGBTQ+, Black/Afro-indigenous, and Veteran communities,” Stick shared of the task force’s goals. “The question we want to answer is how National NALSA can better serve its members and chapters, especially when it comes to building community.”
The task force will be facilitating town halls starting this month and lasting until February 2024. Beginning in March, the task force will then finalize a report with their findings and present it at the Annual NNALSA Conference on April 4-6 in Sandia, New Mexico.
“As a task force member, my personal goal is to ensure that everyone feels empowered to speak up and feels that their input will be heard and valued,” Stick said.
"I think it is essential and beneficial for every student to feel as if they have a supportive community while in law school, especially marginalized communities who have historically been excluded from the legal community."
Stick has a passion for empowering Native Americans in the professional and educational realm and enjoys fostering meaningful discussions. She became interested in the task force position, because it provided an opportunity to help her fellow Indigenous law students feel empowered and heard. Additionally, this work with NNALSA aligns with some of Stick’s future goals once she obtains her JD.
“With my law degree, I want to be an advocate for those in need, specifically, I want to advocate for women in domestic violence situations,” Stick shared. “Generally, I am interested in Family & Juvenile Law and how this area of law intersects with Indian Law. Careful listening, establishing trust, advocacy, and facilitating difficult conversations is an everyday part of being an attorney, and being on this task force will give me experience and practice with these skills which will help me achieve my goals.”
Congratulations, Malorie, on this exciting accomplishment! Learn more about NNALSA here and visit our student chapter’s page here.