The Intersection of
Law & Public Policy: 2024 Update

Steven Johnston (they/them, he/him) is an attorney advisor with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Board of Veterans’ Appeals. They have written over 400 opinions adjudicating Veterans’ disability compensation claims. They were a founding member and first president of VA’s LGBTQ+ employee resource group, PrideVA, and have developed and conducted trainings for staff VA-wide and for the judges of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. While on detail with the Veterans Experience Office, Steven helped implement LGBTQ+ affirming policies at VA concerning the usage of employee pronouns, data collection for LGBTQ+ Veterans and employees, and the development of an LGBTQ+ office at VA. They have also clerked in criminal court in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and juvenile court in Tucson, Arizona. Steven graduated from La Salle University with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History, was a 2017 Law and Public Policy Scholar, and is a 2018 graduate of Temple Law.   

Noelia Rivera-Calderón (she/they) is the Right to Education Fellow & Staff Attorney at Advancement Project, as well as the Incoming Director of the Law and Public Policy Program at Temple University Beasley School of Law. Noelia’s career in education policy was sparked by teaching middle school students in North Philadelphia. While studying at Temple, they served as Program Director of the School Discipline Advocacy Service, an organization through which law students serve as advocates for students facing school disciplinary proceedings. Following law school, Noelia was the Pride Law Fund Fellow at the National Women’s Law Center, where she published the report “We Are Not Invisible: Latina Girls, Mental Health, and Philadelphia Schools.” This report inspired policy change efforts at the local, state, and federal levels. Noelia also published an LGBTQ+ advocacy curriculum co-written with student leaders called “Brick by Brick,” which has been taught in three cities nationwide. Following this work, Noelia clerked in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Noelia’s work has appeared in the National Lawyers Guild Review and outlets including The Hill, Remezcla, and Refinery29. In 2020, Noelia was named a Temple University Alumni Association 30 Under 30.  

Nikki Hatza (she/her) (LAW ‘20) is an adjunct with the Law & Public Policy program, and currently serves as a federal judicial law clerk on the E.D. Pa. Prior to clerking, she was a litigator at a large law firm in Philadelphia where she represented financial institutions in anti-money laundering investigations, advised schools in education law matters, and assisted public entities with government affairs issues. Nikki also has experience in the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) field, educating and advising organizations on internal anti-discrimination policies and best practices. She maintains an active pro bono practice representing individuals in civil rights cases and also volunteers as the Education chair for the Philadephia LGBTQ+ Bar Association. As a 2018 Law and Public Policy Scholar,  Nikki evaluated and prosecuted Title VII claims with the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ. Prior to law school, Nikki taught high school on the Navajo Nation with Teach for America, and spent two years as a Fulbright grantee in Santander, Spain teaching international relations classes.

Gerard Leone (he/him) is a Deputy City Solicitor in the Airport Unit Regulatory Affairs Division. Gerard came to the Law Department after six years with the Commonwealth Office of General Counsel, most of which he spent representing the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Philadelphians will know PHMC for the blue and yellow historical markers around the city, but the PHMC administers historic sites, the archives of the Commonwealth, and the state historic preservation office. In an odd twist one of his internships while at Temple was with an entirely different PHMC, the Public Health Management Corporation, in addition being a clerk intern to judges at FCC Office of Administrative Law, the NJ Office of Administrative Law, and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  Aside from being an alumni of Temple’s Beasley School of Law, he has his Master’s from the University of Chicago, and  his BA from the University of Pennsylvania. In his free time, Gerard is usually at the gym, reading, or going to see electronic music.