Public Interest Law Network AGM 2024 - Executive Committee Nominations
Hi PILN Members,
You're invited to attend our AGM at 6:15pm on Thursday the 3rd October for our 2025 PILN Executive Committee nominations!
To participate in voting, join us in person at Room0533 (Law building) or zoom: https://unimelb.zoom.us/j/88040801124?pwd=W8NfOqqZKX9TzWGk8Ewpz3sawHODqt.1 Password: 437868
Candidates nomination:
Emily Gu (they/them): nominating for Vice-president or Events Director
”As Vice-President or Events Director, I aim to continue centring First Nations Justice in PILN’s events and initiatives. I plan to continue PILN’s strong events portfolio, including the Decarceration Symposium and collaborations with VALS, the Indigenous Law and Justice Hub, and Flat Out Inc through the Public Interest Practical Skills Workshops. I’m also eager to create new partnerships with APAN, Law Students for Refugees, and Sawt Al Sudan to host events like a Blak-Palestinian Solidarity Panel or workshops on decolonizing refugee law and disability justice. To engage more First Nations, disabled, and POC students, I’d work with different LSS portfolios. I’m also committed to making our events more disability-friendly by ensuring clear accessibility information is provided. In my role, I hope to continue a strong tradition of offering students valuable insights and skills in public interest law that will help them sustain doing meaningful work in this space.”
Melanie Vo (she/they): nominating for communications Director
” I believe spreading awareness about current legal issues in our society can be done through various creative mediums! While words on paper is straightforward, it oftentimes can be overlooked by an audience, scrolled passed and forgotten in today's climate where we are overwhelemed and overstimulated by content every day on social media. As a communication director, I want to introduce new ways of grabbing people's attention that can improve student/community engagement with PILN. Through intentional photography, impactful graphics, cinematography/video-editing, and other artistic expressions, I believe PILN can express their stances on socio-political causes in ways that force people to pause their day-to-day and reflect on the messages being said through these unique mediums. Everyone also has a right to information. Therefore, as a communications director, I would ensure that information about upcoming events or lectures were effectively promoted and advertised to the community with plenty of time for people to hype up the event and schedule their attendance around their personal committments.”
Leroy Fernando (he/him): nominating for President or Vice-president
”PILN's strength is within its meaningful and powerful collaborations with the law school students, societies and academics to build long lasting connections with community, organisations, firms and governmental bodies. Delivering the capacity to deliver socio-legal justice. I believe that we as members of PILN can expand our current membership base with collaborative events within the law school especially targeted at first year students and students with interest in socio-legal justice. With the expansion we can continue furthering our current PIPs and run more events such as the decarcerstion symposium. My largest plan is to connect current students to organisations, departments and businesses with socio-legal justice at the forefront and utilise our members to develop strong collaborative events, because PILN is not just its President or executive team but the collective voices and wealth of knowledge we all bring to the table. “
Shane Morgan (he/him): nominating for Events Director
”My ideas for PILN in 2025 involve: 1) A focus on connecting current students with professionals working in the Public Interest Law sector through the form of ‘career night’ panels and other similar networking events. These would inform students about the many different forms and pathways that a career in Public Interest Law can take, which are less common knowledge when compared to the corporate sector; 2) Ongoing engagement with, and recruitment of, PILN members throughout the semester through semi-regular meetings of a ‘PILN Book Club’ - where PILN members can share and discuss relevant books - and through more collaboration events (such as film screenings) with other Public Interest centric clubs; 3) Work with the ‘Indigenous Law and Justice Hub’ and other organisations to deliver short-form lectures and resources for students on the parts of Indigenous Australian Customary Law that don’t appear within the compulsory units at MLS.”
Marko Golubovac (he/him): nominating for Communications Director or Treasurer “Communications director: As the Strategy Director for Naarm Law Students (NLS), I play a key role in guiding the overall content strategy for NLS’s three main social channels (LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram). I have been able to apply the skills developed in my professional role as a Content and Community Associate at the Genesis Pre-Seed Fund on NLS’s legal education projects by directly contributing to the growth of our LinkedIn and TikTok following and engagement rate. By ensuring the right mix, style and posting rhythm of content, we have been able to see measurable increases in engagement and reach both internally at the law school and within the broader community. Having completed a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance, Marketing), I understand how to align the right communications strategy with the tone and branding of an organisation. At PILN, I would be excited to lead a revamp project on the website and begin to utilise LinkedIn more regularly. Strategically, engaging closely with PILN’s extensive network of legal professionals can help to strengthen the pathway from law student to working in the public interest law field.
Treasurer: Having completed the Bachelor of Commerce with a Finance major, I am able to draw from the theoretical skills gained from the degree alongside the practical experience I have from my role as a Financial Services Vacationer at EY. These experiences combined have strengthened my understanding of how an organisation’s financial decision-making and record keeping drives the execution of its strategic goals. At PILN, maintaining consistent sources of funding and taking a long-term view on income and outgoings would ensure that the network’s yearly events can be funded each year and resourcing is set aside well in advance. Having a strong relationship with GSA is essential however, as Treasurer, I would seek additional funding where available from outside groups to build the network’s presence within the community and its rapport with potential future funders.”
Malaika Durrani (she/her): nominating for Secretary or Communications Director
”In a Communications Director role, I would love to create an engaging community by sharing informative posts on public interest law topics. A weekly spotlight on different issues could help keep everyone informed and spark valuable discussions. Additionally, I would try to boost our presence in the MLS and attract new members whilst raising awareness about what we stand for. By making PILN a go-to resource for both information and networking, we can strengthen our community and make a real impact in public interest law.”
Alyssa Davies (she/her): nominating for Communcations Director
”I'd be interested in developing the different social media platforms so that there are more regular updates and content posted, including some information about the team and what PILN is about both in the university context and in every day life. I think that a lot of students are interested in the concept of public interest law however might not realise what it actually is and the different areas of law it covers.”
My Nguyen (she/her): nominating for Vice-president or Secretary
”As Vice President, I plan to apply my passion for social justice and experience in the public interest field to continue and expand on topic areas covered by the Public Interest Practical Skills workshops that would benefit students interested in practicing in the field and spark engagement in the wider student body. In collaboration with the President and external stakeholders, I plan to introduce workshops covering trial advocacy and plaintiff litigation skills; client interviewing on how to effectively communicate with clients from a diverse range of backgrounds and the role of administrative law and processes to public interest litigation. I plan to reach out to public interest stakeholders and connections to further explore potential topics and invite speakers to these workshops.
As Secretary, I can bring my organisational skills and attention to detail to the role to ensure that PILN's meetings, events and compliance matters are run smoothly and efficiently. I enjoy keeping track of important information, keeping records up to date with detail and coordinating members. As someone who cares about PILN's mission, I plan to ensure effective and clear communication between members and leadership to keep everyone engaged and informed in support of our objectives and to maintain cohesion. In terms of my vision, I will strive for transparency and maintain members involvement through frequent newsletters, keeping detailed meeting minutes and facilitating effective planning and events coordination.”
