Current Fellows

Class of 2011

Lauren Barth

Lauren was born in Los Angeles, California, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana with her family during elementary school. She graduated from Indiana University Bloomington in 2008 with a major in Exceptional Needs Education.

While at IU, Lauren volunteered at educational events for local elementary school students and with the homeless population of Monroe County. Lauren's experience working with special needs students, specifically those with profound academic, social and emotional disabilities, sparked her interest in child advocacy, particularly as it pertains to education.

Lauren has spent two years as a camp counselor, and most recently, two years as site director for a summer camp in a suburban area of Indianapolis. Her work with children and their families has cemented her desire to advocate on their behalf.

Jaime Birk

Jaime Birk was born and raised in Oceanside, Long Island. She became interested in child advocacy during high school, as a result of her involvement with Big Buddies and Best Buddies, two student organizations that work with underprivileged children.

Jaime attended Binghamton University. Graduating with honors in only three years, she received her B.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Law with a minor in Sociology. While at Binghamton, Jaime participated in Binghamton's Youth Program, meeting with inner-city children to help them address educational and family issues. Jaime also worked with the Institute for Child Development, providing home care for autistic students. Her work there raised her awareness of the educational injustice special need children and their families must face. Jaime was a member of Sigma Alpha Lambda, the national leadership and honor Society as well as a member of Binghamton's Safe Zone, an alliance organization for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community. With Safe Zone, she worked with high school students who were coming out or questioning their orientation.

Andrew Ford

Andrew, originally from Florida, spent eight years of his childhood living on the island of St. Christopher in the Caribbean before moving back to the United States. Andrew graduated with honors from the University of West Florida with a BA in Social Work with a minor in Child Welfare. During his time there he was admitted to Phi Alpha, the national social work honor society. While pursuing his degree, Andrew became actively involved in several campus activities and organizations including the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, the Gay Straight Alliance, the Campaign for Gender Equality, and the Student Social Work Organization.

As an undergraduate student, Andrew interned at the Department of Children and Families and upon graduation was hired as a Child Protective Investigator. Although he enjoys his social work career and believes it is a very important profession he hopes to be able to do more for children and their families by combining his education and experience in social work with law.

Christine Garcia

Christine was born and raised in San Diego, California. She graduated from University of California Berkeley in 2006 with a B.A. in Political Science and minor in English. She spent the next two years as a full-time SCORE! Educational Director and volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA).

Her involvement with the non-profit organization, Voices For Children, sparked her interest in child advocacy. For two years, Christine advocated for a 15 year old dependent who found herself in the system because of her mother’s neglect and severe drug abuse. As a CASA, Christine guided her case child through court proceedings and advocated for her best interest through written court reports and recommendations. Her first hand experience working in an overburdened dependency system opened her eyes to the low attorney retention within the field and the resulting distrust that foster youth have for the dependency system.

Although she will miss the sun and surf, Christine is excited to explore the various ways she can offer consistent and effective legal representation to foster youth through her education and experience at Hofstra. As an attorney, she hopes to restore trust and efficiency in the dependency system by working to create stability for foster youth during often difficult and lengthy legal processes.

Sarah Montana Hart

Sarah is a Southern transplant to Long Island, originally hailing from a tiny town called Middleburg, Virginia. Sarah gave up the small town life to attend Columbia University in NYC, where she double-majored in Comparative Religion and Theatre History. Before graduation, Sarah received highest honors for one of her senior theses, exploring the dialectical relationship of the Internet and modern terrorism. After she graduated cum laude in 2006, Sarah took a position as an Investigative Analyst for the New York County District Attorney’s Office, Sex Crimes Unit.

While Sarah’s life has always included public service of various kinds, her experience at the DA’s office was the first to offer her a career path in the public sector that was truly inspiring. During her two years in the Sex Crimes Unit, Sarah worked with women, children, and families who were devastated by sexual predators of the fiercest kind.

Working with a select group of Assistant District Attorneys, Sarah helped the Sex Crimes Unit adapt to a new class of sex crimes, in which the Internet is used as a powerful weapon, both for and against criminal sexual activity. Having witnessed the devastating effect that these Internet predators can have on their victims, and having also witnessed the way the web can be used to bring these individuals to justice, Sarah decided to pursue a career in criminal justice and public policy. Her goal is to advocate for women and children who are the victims of Internet based crime, and work with legislators and law enforcement to create a strategy for successful prevention.