Message from the Pro Bono Unit
As we reflect on the past quarter, we’re filled with deep gratitude for the incredible dedication, compassion, and commitment shown by our pro bono volunteers and partners. Thanks to your support, we’ve made meaningful strides in advancing justice. Your efforts – whether through direct representation, translation support, training delivery, or behind-the-scenes advocacy – continue to strengthen our communities and protect the rights of those most often overlooked.
Whether you volunteered at a community event, interned with us, provided pro bono legal support, worked with us full-time or part-time, or simply helped spread the word by referring a friend or sharing our mission, your contribution truly matters. We are continually inspired by the collective strength of volunteers, interns, pro bono partners, community organizations, staff, and supporters who come together to create a more just and inclusive world alongside us.
Looking ahead, we’re excited to offer even more ways to get involved. Whether it’s participating in Know Your Rights, Bystander Intervention, or How to Respond trainings, providing language support through interpretation and translation, or joining upcoming community events and legal clinics, there’s truly something for everyone. We encourage you to stay connected, keep advocating, and invite others to become part of our growing network. Thank you for standing with us and showing up time and again in service of justice and community empowerment.
Quarterly Highlights
Showcasing the Impact of Pro Bono Work
- Volunteers: This quarter, over 90 volunteers contributed significant time and expertise to advance access to justice.
- Hours Donated: Our interns and volunteers contributed approximately 2,400 hours this quarter, working across a mix of remote and in-person schedules/events.
- Clients Served: Thanks to this incredible support, we successfully served over 2,000 clients providing vital legal assistance and advocacy through our helpline, outreach events, clinics, and legal cases.
Intern Program Spotlight
We are excited to have 19 interns this summer, including 6 law students who are gaining valuable hands-on experience in a variety of legal areas. These interns have shown exceptional dedication through flexible schedules and strong commitment.
Case Spotlight
Our client was referred to us by a partner agency after enduring extreme control and psychological abuse from her ex-husband. Although there was no physical violence, her abuser placed her in an apartment complex with 13 surveillance cameras to monitor her every move. They shared a 3-year-old son, and our client had just given birth to their infant daughter when the abuse escalated. The abuser left the newborn with her, completely cut off her access to their son, and forced her to sign manipulative contracts restricting her rights and communication.
Desperate to see her son, our client walked miles with her infant to the abuser’s home, only to be rejected and threatened with deportation due to her conditional green card status. Isolated and without a car or access to finances, she struggled to eat during postpartum recovery. When she ran out of food, she had to ask neighbors for help, but the abuser—monitoring her through the cameras—intimidated them into cutting off contact.
At her postnatal medical appointments, the abuser attempted to control her conversations with hospital staff. A nurse who spoke her native language overheard him telling her to “shut up” and offered to call 911. The hospital connected her to a domestic violence support agency, which in turn contacted our team.
We swiftly filed an ex parte request for a domestic violence restraining order and gathered declarations from neighbors and nurses willing to testify. We also substituted into the ongoing divorce case to advocate for custody, spousal support, and child support. Despite the abuser hiring two attorneys, we successfully navigated discovery and court proceedings.
Ultimately, we secured full legal and physical custody of both children for our client, along with child and spousal support, and a stay-away order. We also supported her during the emotional custody exchange with her son. Our ALLIP team provided critical language interpretation and translation throughout the case.
Finally, our Immigration Project filed an I-751 waiver based on abuse and divorce. After two years, USCIS approved her petition, and our client received her permanent green card -marking the start of a new, safer chapter in her life.
Recognition of Outstanding Pro Bono Partners
We want to extend our deepest thanks to our outstanding pro bono partners—law firms, individual attorneys, community-based organizations, and students—whose commitment fuels our mission. Your passion and expertise empower our clients and strengthen our community.
Pro Bono Spotlights
Alex Wong, Citizenship Intern
Tell us a little bit about where you’re from, your school, studies, passions, or experiences.
My name is Alex Wong, and I am a second generation Taiwanese-American. Quite unexpectedly for an immigrant, I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana as it was the only place where both of my parents could find jobs as newly minted college graduates. Since then, I have lived across the United States from San Diego to Los Angeles to Seattle and to San Francisco. This constant moving shaped who I am as I developed a love for geography, history, and politics. Today, I attend the University of Southern California as an Economics and Data Science Major who aspires one day to attend law school. In my free time, I enjoy analyzing elections, watching sitcoms, and running around Los Angeles with my girlfriend.
What prompted you to get involved with AJSOCAL?
Going into college, I had very little previous work experience, yet I knew that I wanted to involve myself in something adjacent to the legal field during my freshman year if at all possible. I didn’t quite know how to begin, and it was a miracle when I found the USC Joint Educational Project Pre Law Program which AJSOCAL had partnered with. After reading AJSOCAL’s emphasis on the Asian American community, I knew that I wanted to apply as a legal intern for the fall semester. I’ve always felt as though Asian Americans are often overlooked within our political communities due to our limited participation within the civic process, so I saw this internship as a way for me to help close that divide. At the same time, I felt as though this was a great opportunity to understand Los Angeles more as a new college transplant to the city. So, I took a leap of faith and applied to AJSOCAL not really knowing what to expect.
What did you enjoy most about your pro bono experience?
Without a doubt, I enjoyed the Thursday citizenship clinics the most during my nine months at AJSOCAL. It was the only place where I got to interact with our clients face to face, which for me carried far more weight than anything done over the phone or text. You feel as though you are actually making a tangible impact as you help clients through filling out the N-400 application and answering any questions they may have. Many times, it felt like a puzzle to solve and a real challenge to both help the client through the process while making sure they felt as comfortable as possible. While I came into the office multiple times a week, Thursdays were the days that I would really look forward to.
What have you learned or how have you been personally affected by your experience as an AJSOCAL volunteer?
AJSOCAL was the first actual work experience I’ve ever had. I quite literally wrote my very first resume before applying for this internship, so any encapsulation of the knowledge I had learned through the course of my nine months here would be an automatic understatement. On a personal level, a lot of this was intangible knowledge of how to work within an office setting, a team setting, and a legal setting. At the same time, the experiences of the clients I worked with deepened my understanding of what life was like in Los Angeles for other immigrants who may be less well off than my family or may be in the same situation my family was in when I was born in rural Indiana. There was something beautiful to me about taking the metro to work every day, walking in downtown Los Angeles, and speaking to mothers, fathers, children, and grandparents from such diverse Asian American backgrounds.
Do you have an inspirational story you can briefly share from your time volunteering?
My favorite moments were whenever I was tasked with helping a couple during our Thursday citizenship clinics. Oftentimes it would be a mother and a father or a grandmother and a grandfather attempting to go through the citizenship process together. Obtaining citizenship is an arduous task. It involves taking time off work for appointments, providing hundreds of dollars for the filing fee, and having much of your life within America scrutinized by immigration officials. Yet it was inspiring to me how couples always tackled these challenges together and helped each other through it all—even with actions as simple as photocopying their husband’s passport or remembering important dates. The resiliency is something that I still think about and motivates me to work harder for those around me.
What advice would you give to other associates who are considering pro bono work?
To just go for it. I think a lot of the time students such as myself wonder how difficult it would be to get a pro bono internship or if it would look good on a resume. The truth is that nonprofit organizations can always use help in one form or another and oftentimes it is at short staffed, integral firms like AJSOCAL where you can actually create the most impact for the community. Pro bono work is hands-on and truly teaches you to think on your feet to solve daily problems. At least for me, this problem solving helped improve my personal confidence and really prepared me for my future opportunities.
Lauren Tran, Administrative Intern
Give us a 3-sentence biography about yourself. Tell us a little bit about where you’re from, your school, studies, passions, or experiences.
My name is Lauren Tran, and I am from Santa Clarita. I am a third-year pre-law undergraduate student at UCLA currently pursuing a double major in English and anthropology. I’m specifically hoping to pursue a career in immigration law in the future, which would complement my passion for helping people and creating communities within Los Angeles. Outside of Advancing Justice, I occupy myself with dragon boating, running, writing for my school’s newspaper, and tutoring!
What prompted you to get involved with Advancing Justice?
During my first year of university, I took an English class entitled, “Refugee Literature,” in which we focused on reading stories surrounding the experiences of displaced peoples. During our class, we volunteered at various organizations in Los Angeles supporting refugee communities, including the CARECEN Day Labor Center. My firsthand experience engaging with and listening to the stories of refugees in Los Angeles heightened my interest in helping support immigrant communities, so when the class ended, I searched for more organizations that would allow me to continue doing volunteer work. Advancing Justice was right down the street from the Day Labor Center I had previously volunteered at, and it aligned with all of my personal values, so I immediately signed up to volunteer!
What did you enjoy most about your pro bono experience?
As an administrative intern, I am often the intermediary between clients arriving at the front desk and legal advocates and attorneys within the office. Thus, my day-to-day interactions with people working at Advancing Justice and with clients coming into the office are something I will always treasure. Within the office, there is a real sense of community that is cultivated through storytelling, gift-giving, and through pure, unfiltered kindness. I’ve heard so many stories from people from all walks of life, and I am so incredibly thankful to be a participating member of a community which celebrates the diversity of people’s various lived experiences.
What have you learned or how have you been personally affected by your experience as an Advancing Justice volunteer?
As a volunteer, I’ve gained a greater appreciation for the value of small acts of kindness. It really is a two-way street. The people at Advancing Justice do whatever it takes to keep their communities safe; in return, clients who come into the office do whatever they can to display their gratitude, whether it’s through gifting baked goods, through verbal thanks, or through offering bright smiles even amidst one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. At times, mutual understanding isn’t always easy to come by, but the persistent attempt to try in spite of that creates strong, unshakeable bonds.
Do you have an inspirational story you can briefly share from your time volunteering?
In the winter of 2025, there was a client who came into the office asking for help. His brother was attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, and there was a legal issue that was preventing him from doing so. Even though I informed the client that we were unable to help him unless his brother came to the office in-person, he confided in me about his life in Los Angeles and his family’s difficulties with immigrating to the U.S. It was a short interaction, lasting around ten minutes, but the client went out of his way to tell me that Los Angeles felt like a mean and lonely place, and my willingness to listen to his story made the city feel friendly. Perhaps this sounds counter-intuitive to the point I’m trying to make, but the sad reality is that we can’t always help everyone. In spite of that, taking the time to make people feel heard and to listen to people’s stories goes a long way. The communities we create and the impact we leave are founded not only on the stories we tell, but the stories we hear and take with us.
What advice would you give to other associates who are considering pro bono work?
I would advise associates considering pro bono work to stay curious. Everyone has a story to tell, and everyone has something to teach. By keeping yourself open to listening and to understanding, regardless of whether you share anything in common with people, you will find yourself creating genuine connections everywhere you go.
Upcoming Opportunities & Events
- Back to School Health and Wellness Fair
- Tabling
- August 2, 2025, from 9:00am-1:00pm
- 8200 Westminster Blvd, Westminster, CA 92683
- *If interested, please reach out to Nathan at nvuong@ajsocal.org
Training & Resources
Training & Resources: Empowering Communities through Education
In a time of rising hate incidents, deepening mental health needs, and persistent threats to civil liberties, AJSOCAL is committed to equipping our communities with the knowledge, tools, and support to stay safe, informed, and empowered. This past quarter, we’ve continued to offer the following cornerstone trainings to meet the moment:
Bystander Intervention (BI) Trainings
With anti-Asian harassment still occurring in public spaces, our Bystander Intervention trainings give participants practical tools to safely intervene when witnessing acts of hate or discrimination. Drawing from real-life scenarios and the nationally recognized 5Ds framework (Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, and Direct), these sessions are designed to build confidence and collective responsibility. Whether you’re on the street, on public transit, or online—everyone can play a role in preventing harm.
How to Respond to Harassment & Practice Resilience (HTR) Trainings
These sessions help individuals and communities process harm and build resilience, with a focus on emotional well-being, identity affirmation, and intergenerational connection. In an era where mental health is increasingly urgent—especially within marginalized communities.
During this interactive training, participants also learn Right to Be’s methodology for responding to anti-Asian/American harassment:
- Trust your instincts
- Reclaim your space
- Practice resilience
These tools are designed to empower participants to navigate harm while centering their own safety and healing.
Know Your Rights (KYR) Trainings
As we navigate through the new administration, now is the time to equip our communities and organizations for what’s ahead. Our 1-hour presentation, Better Together:
Connecting and Protecting Immigrant Communities in a New Administration, led by our Immigration Staff Attorneys will share ways that impacted immigrants and allies can prepare for new and potential immigration policy changes under the Trump administration.
This training provides a basic understanding of how and why deportation works, as well as what is happening in the current political and legal landscape. Participants will learn about immigrant rights – what they are, how they can be exercised, and why they matter. The training includes opportunities to practice Know Your Rights (KYR) scenarios to help build confidence in real-life situations. In addition, it offers tools and resources that can be shared with immigrant communities, and guidance on how organizations can support and advocate for immigrants while understanding their own rights and responsibilities.
We offer training for Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) and other Community Leaders to equip them with the knowledge they need to support AAPI immigrant communities under the current administration.
If your organization or team is interested in hosting or attending one of these trainings—or accessing past recorded sessions and toolkits—please reach out to us at nvuong@ajsocal.org or visit our website https://ajsocal.org/bystander-intervention-trainings/
Call to Action: Make a Difference with Us
Whether you’re looking to give back, gain experience, or deepen your impact in the community, we invite you to take the next step with us. We offer a wide range of pro bono and volunteer opportunities—some virtual, others in-person—that meet real and urgent needs in our communities.
We schedule volunteers on an as-needed basis according to client and program demands, so the best way to get involved is by filling out our Volunteer Interest Form. This form connects to our internal database and allows us to quickly identify and reach out to you when relevant opportunities arise.
Additionally, if you know someone who’s passionate about social justice and may be interested in joining our team, we’d love for you to refer a friend or colleague for a full-time or part-time position at AJSOCAL. We’re always looking for dedicated individuals committed to advancing equity and justice in our communities.
If you’re interested in hosting a Know Your Rights, Bystander Intervention, or How to Respond to Anti-Asian/American Harassment training at your firm, school, or organization, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Thank you for being part of our growing pro bono community. Your time, energy, and commitment continue to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those we serve. We’re so grateful for your partnership and hope to continue working together to advance justice and equity for all.
If you have any questions, would like to get more involved, or have ideas to share, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at nvuong@ajsocal.org.
Thank you again for your support — we couldn’t do this without you.