The Juvenile Law Center co-founder has spent 50 years advocating for the rights of youth in the legal system, taking on corrupt judges, changing policy and contributing to victories in the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 2004, as a third-year law student at Loyola Chicago I knew I wanted to fight for children’s rights but had no idea what the world had to offer. I came across a posting for the Zubrow fellowship at Juvenile Law Center.
In 2005, Riya Saha Shah started her legal career as a fellow with the Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center, a venerated 50-year-old nonprofit litigation and advocacy group. Two decades later, she will lead the organization that gave her that start.
Some days it seems like it was only yesterday, some days I feel the decades behind me. I can still remember the planning meetings around Judy Chomsky’s kitchen table — to be clear, Judy was the only one among us who actually had a kitchen table, not to mention other actual pieces of furniture — as we four soon-to-be graduates of Temple Law School hatched an idea to start a non-profit law firm for children.
As I approach my retirement, I am facing two directions. I am looking back over the past near decade that I have served as CEO of Juvenile Law Center, and I am looking forward to Riya Saha Shah leading the office as the next CEO, our 50th Anniversary and the work ahead in 2025.
Today, Juvenile Law Center announced the appointment of its next Chief Executive Officer, Riya Saha Shah. She will assume the position in the new year.
“It’s often very easy to see what’s right in front of you and to make a difference in the space where you currently live,” says Dr. Alexis A. Thompson. “But if we’re able and willing to step out just a little bit and to see that we are global citizens, that we have the possibilities of having an impact in our lifetime around the world, perhaps in the lives of [those] we’ll never meet — to be daring enough and bold enough to actually think that we can do that is a real privilege.”
The article (“Fresh push to crack down on juvenile crime,” Oct. 24) cited Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman’s proposals to “curb crime” by youth. In it, Bregman said the New Mexico Children’s Code is not working. He was correct.
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