Every month, we give the Amicus Mundi Award to someone in our community who exemplifies our shared values of service and volunteerism. In celebration of our law school graduates this May, we are honoring a remarkable volunteer who has not only made a significant impact — but did it while still in law school.
Join us in congratulating our first law student Amicus Mundi winner:
Congratulations, Nnamdi Nwaezeapu!
An example for his siblings: During his 3L year at Columbia, Nnamdi’s pro bono advisor introduced him to We The Action where he found a project with The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) that met his volunteer requirements and perfectly suited his interests.
Born and raised in Washington, DC, Nnamdi is passionate about education access. While in high school, he benefited from programs aimed to help students attend college. He was the first of his siblings to go to college, and wanted to set a good example for his family.
“TICAS is working to make higher education accessible for students, and I wanted to be part of that,” Nnamdi says.
Nnamdi’s impact: Nnamdi revamped the contract process for TICAS, building templates that they can use to negotiate vendor contracts to save time and maximize impact.
He also researched California legislation which directly affects TICAS' payroll, vendors, and contracts. The guide that he wrote will help ensure that TICAS remains compliant with California law.
Ana Oseguera, Associate Director of Operations at TICAS, emphasized the importance of Nnamdi’s work, saying that Nnamdi made the organization feel more comfortable now that they have better contract wording and an understanding of the new laws.
“If we didn’t have a volunteer, we would’ve had to hire a lawyer which is really expensive for us,” Ana says. “We were happy to give a student this learning experience. We work to advocate for students, so it was great for us to be able to make that connection.”
Volunteering as a student: Nnamdi acknowledged that law school is very challenging, and it’s often hard to see how what is taught will be useful in the real world.
“When you volunteer for organizations like WTA and TICAS, you get to put your lessons to work and it makes the law school experience come alive,” Nnamdi says. “If you want to make law school enjoyable, volunteer. I got to do something that touched my interests in transactional law but suited my interest in helping students get into college. There is no shortage of opportunity.”
We’re eager to continue working with Nnamdi after he is admitted to the bar!
Congratulations to all 2023 law school graduates, and a huge thank you to Nnamdi Nwaezeapu for all of his hard work! If you want to follow in Nnamdi’s footsteps and volunteer, check out WTA’s project listings.