15 Jun 2017
The Peggy Browning Fund has awarded a 10-week summer fellowship to Christian Gobel, a second-year student at University of Nebraska College of Law. Christian will spend the fellowship working at Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Washington, DC. The application process is highly competitive, and the award is a tribute to his outstanding qualifications.
In 2017, the Peggy Browning Fund will support over 80 public interest labor law fellowships nationwide. Securing a Peggy Browning Fellowship is not an easy task, with nearly 400 applicants this year competing for the honor. Peggy Browning Fellows are distinguished students who have not only excelled in law school but who have also demonstrated their commitment to workers’ rights through their previous educational, work, volunteer and personal experiences. Christian certainly fits this description.
Growing up with union family members in the Nebraska State Education Association and the Ironworkers Local 21, Christian was raised with the value that organized labor ensures workplace fairness. Working side by side with union organizers on Democratic political campaigns furthered his interest in pursuing a career in helping working people. His first clerkship upon completion of his 1L year was at Nebraska Appleseed in the Immigrants & Communities Program. His time there was focused on researching litigation techniques and legal theories to alleviate deplorable working conditions and hostile work environments faced by immigrant workers in the meatpacking and poultry plant industries. During his most recent semester, Christian clerked at Norby & Wade, a firm that serves as legal counsel to the Nebraska State Education Association.
The Peggy Browning Fund is a not for-profit organization established in memory of Margaret A. Browning, a prominent union-side attorney who was a member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from 1994 until 1997. Peggy Browning Fellowships provide law students with unique, diverse and challenging work experiences fighting for social and economic justice. These experiences encourage and inspire students to pursue careers in public interest labor law.
To learn more about the Peggy Browning Fund, contact Mary Anne Moffa, Executive Director, by phone at 267-273-2992 or by email at mmoffa@peggybrowningfund.org, or visit www.peggybrowningfund.org.