When There Are Nine Scholarship Project Announces Second Class of Scholars

NEW YORK (October 13, 2022) – The When There Are Nine Scholarship Project, a program established by alumnae of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) in partnership with the Federal Bar Council and Federal Bar Foundation, today announced its second class of women Scholars: Demi Moore, Kylie Mignat, and Ami Ishikawa. The four inaugural Scholars continue to receive financial assistance and mentorship bringing the total number of When There Are Nine Scholars to seven.

Established in late 2020, the When There Are Nine Scholarship Project honors the legacy of former U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by furthering her commitment to expanding career opportunities for women in the law and promoting equity and diversity in the legal profession.

“We are thrilled to announce our second cohort of Scholars for the When There Are Nine Scholarship Project,” said Rebecca Monck Ricigliano, one of the founders of the When There Are Nine Project, Steering Committee lead, and co-chair of the White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement Practice at Crowell & Moring, LLP. “The continued support of the Federal Bar Foundation, Federal Bar Council, and the Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s Office alumni community is key to the success of the Project and our ability to make a difference in the legal careers for our women Scholars.”

“The support from our fellow SDNY alumni and others has enabled us to offer these three talented young women financial assistance and invaluable resources as they navigate their law school educations,” said Carrie H. Cohen, one of the founders of the When There Are Nine Scholarship Project and partner and co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Investigations + White Collar Defense Group. “We are honored to be announcing our second class of Scholars and are excited to support them on their legal journeys.”

“The Federal Bar Council and Federal Bar Foundation are very pleased to support this important program promoting and advancing diverse women in the legal profession,” said Anna Stowe DeNicola, executive director of the Federal Bar Council. “We are thrilled for and congratulate the newest class of Scholars and look forward to supporting their professional development over their law school careers.”

Each of the outstanding young women was selected based on her academic achievement, her commitment to serving her community, and her perseverance in the face of adversity—character traits embodied by the late Justice Ginsburg. The recipients were chosen from a pool of nearly 300 applicants.   

“This year’s Scholars were selected for their tenacity and commitment to law,” said, Jessica Ortiz Chair of the Selection Committee. “The scholarship provides so much more than funding to these rising Scholars. This is an opportunity for us as current members and leaders in the New York legal community to mentor the deserving recipients and help usher in their success.”

Read more about each recipient:

• Demi Moore was born and raised in New York City. She graduated summa cum laude from Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College – City University of New York, and holds a master’s degree in social sciences from the University of Chicago. She is currently a second-year at Yale Law School, where she is outreach chair of Yale Law Women+, a senior symposium editor of the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, and a board member of both the Yale Law Students for Climate Accountability and Yale Environmental Law Association. She aspires to practice environmental and consumer protection law, and to empower disadvantaged communities through her work in those areas. She gained firsthand experience in this regard as part of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at Yale Law School, where she has worked to advocate for housing affordability and desegregation in Greater New Haven, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, where she spent this past summer exploring a range of environmental health and safety issues.
• Kylie Mignat grew up in Queens, Long Island, and northeastern Pennsylvania. She is a first-generation college student, graduating summa cum laude from the University of Scranton with a triple major in international studies, German cultural studies, and Hispanic studies in 2018. She holds a master’s degree in Latin American and Caribbean studies from New York University. Kylie has worked as a senior paralegal at Kids in Need of Defense in New York City and as a bilingual paralegal advocate at My Sisters’ Place in White Plains, NY. This fall, she entered the University of Virginia School of Law as a recipient of the Virginia Public Service Scholarship. After graduating from law school, Kylie plans to return to New York City and advocate for child survivors of trauma.
• Ami Ishikawa grew up in four different countries but has made New York City her home; she intends to practice there after law school. She graduated from Harvard College with an honors degree in economics. At Harvard, in addition to serving on the Honor Council, she focused on mentoring freshmen as a peer adviser. Following graduation, she worked at Morgan Stanley as an analyst. This fall, Ami is entering her first year at Yale Law School. Ami hopes to combine her knowledge of economics and the law to work toward effective regulation of our financial system, establish safeguards to protect the public from market failures, and ensure that the system works for everyone’s benefit.

The recipients will be honored at a reception on October 21 where they will meet with their new mentors and their support community. More information on the When There Are Nine Scholarship Project can be found here. The project is funded exclusively by charitable contributions. Donations to the project can be made here.

About When There Are Nine

The When There Are Nine Scholarship Project was established in 2020 in partnership with the Federal Bar Council and the Federal Bar Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, by a group of women lawyers who served together as assistant U.S. attorneys in the Southern District of New York. The Project’s mission is to honor the lifelong work of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by creating a scholarship and related programming that will advance equity and diversity within the legal profession and continue the late justice’s many efforts to expand career opportunities for women attorneys.

Members of the When There Are Nine Scholarship Project Steering Committee include:

• Carrie H. Cohen – Morrison Foerster
• Anna Stowe DeNicola – Federal Bar Council
• Carolina A. Fornos, Co-chair of the Mentoring Committee – Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
• Dani R. James – Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP
• Amanda Kramer – Covington & Burling LLP
• Sharon Cohen Levin, Co-chair of the Fundraising Committee – Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
• Rebecca Martin, Chair of the Programming Committee – Jones Day
• Jessica Ortiz, Chair of the Selection Committee
• Cristy Phillips
• Rebecca Monck Ricigliano – Crowell & Moring LLP
• Jocelyn E. Strauber 
• Wendy H. Waszmer, Co-chair of the Mentoring Committee – Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati