Robert Half Legal and the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) have named Christina Drakeford as the Robert Half Legal Scholar and a member of MCCA’s Lloyd M. Johnson, Jr. Scholarship Program, Class of 2020. She has been awarded $10,000 to use toward law school tuition expenses, in addition to the opportunity to work with MCCA leaders and mentors as she prepares for a legal career.
Currently enrolled at Harvard Law School, Drakeford graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science degree in policy analysis and management. She also was recognized as a Merrill Presidential Scholar, a distinction awarded to the top 1 percent of the University’s graduates for their significant scholastic, leadership and community service achievements.
As an undergraduate, Drakeford was the founder and president of the TASC Test Tutors Club, an organization focused on helping immigrants in the community to pass the TASC Test Assessing Secondary Completion™ high school equivalency examination. She also worked as a judicial intern for Hon. Barbara Johnson-Lee at the Buffalo City Court and served as a research assistant and senior teaching assistant at Cornell, among other activities. She is interested in exploring the intersection of law and business by pursuing a career as a corporate lawyer.
“The legal profession will be well served in the coming years by individuals like Christina, who has demonstrated strong leadership skills and a commitment to excellence, both inside and outside the classroom,” said Jamy Sullivan, executive director of Robert Half Legal. “We are honored to work with MCCA and invest in the future of the legal profession by supporting the next generation of promising lawyers.”
“The LMJ Scholarship Program is a critical part of MCCA’s work to ensure the next generation of legal leaders are as diverse as the world we live in,” said MCCA President and CEO Jean Lee. “We are thrilled to have Robert Half Legal’s support for advancing the academic and professional careers of outstanding law students like Christina and the diversity pipeline to the legal profession.”
Open to diverse students interested in a corporate law career and diversity and inclusion issues, MCCA’s Lloyd M. Johnson, Jr. Scholarship Program provides financial support for first-year law students who are financially disadvantaged and pursuing a Juris Doctor degree. Program recipients receive a $10,000 award for their first year of law school. In addition, MCCA offers mentoring opportunities for scholarship recipients and helps place them in paid internship positions with corporate law departments during the summer immediately following successful completion of their first year of law school. Each scholarship recipient also receives ongoing professional development.
