Swansea graduate joins as a Justice First Fellow
Children's Legal Center Wales welcomes Elisa Jenkins
Swansea University graduate Elisa Jenkins has joined the Children's Legal Center Wales as a Justice First Fellow funded by The Legal Education Foundation.
The Fellowship aims to support aspiring lawyers in the field of social justice. Elisa is one of 22 fellows who have taken up their posts in 2021. Elisa is the first Justice First Fellow appointed to work with the Children's Legal Center Wales.Upon starting in her new role, she said:
“The Fellowship, which funds a Trainee Solicitor over 2 years, supports Fellows, such as myself, to pursue a long and rewarding career using law as a tool for social justice. The intention is that Fellows will go on to become leaders in their field and advocates for access to justice and the rule of law.”
The Children's Legal Center Wales is a bilingual service available throughout Wales and based at Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law at Swansea University. The Center aims to provide information on and access to legal advice for children and young people. Elisa joins the team as a trainee Children's Rights Lawyer to assist the Center in developing a service around the legal framework that supports children's rights in Wales.
Elisa has a special insight into children's needs from years of volunteering in roles with children, especially children with special needs, but also because she, as an adopted child, has been involved in the care system whilst she was a child.
After studying for an LLB at the University of Reading, Elisa came to Swansea University to study LLM Legal Practice and Advanced Drafting through the medium of Welsh and a Masters in International Economic Law at Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law. In 2019, Future Finance named her one of the UK's 15 inspirational students from over 750 students.
While studying her LLM degree in Welsh in 2020, Elisa received a Welsh Government Bursary for students who choose to study through the medium of Welsh. She said:
“Studying my postgraduate course through the medium of Welsh at Swansea University was a comfort to me. I felt I could reach my full potential because I was more comfortable writing in Welsh. It has also strengthened my career prospects. In Wales, most companies are looking for individuals who can communicate in both written and spoken Welsh. The ability to speak Welsh is also beneficial for communicating with customers and / or clients who wish to use the Welsh language. Having a bilingual person is attractive to a company. ”
Professor Elwen Evans KC, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, said, “I congratulate Elisa very much on her achievement of this Fellowship and wish her well the important work that it will do. Swansea University is leading the way through the work of the Children's Legal Center Wales and it is good to see that our Welsh-medium graduates are contributing to those developments.”
