JHP Public Service Alumni Award

2024 JHP Public Service Alumni Award Honoree

Clark Lee serves as a Senior Advisor at the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He advises on the implementation and enforcement of civil rights and privacy laws and regulations, federal rulemaking, congressional affairs, policy, intergovernmental and intra-agency collaborations, and public affairs.

Prior to joining the Biden-Harris Administration as an appointee, Clark was a consultant, strategist, and lawyer in advocacy, civic engagement, civil rights, compliance, elections, and public affairs, with more than two decades of results-proven experience. He advised nonprofits, elected officials, candidates, ballot measures, and political entities.

Growing up as a first generation American in an insular community inspired Clark to become civically engaged to help build bridges with our diverse communities and to amplify our collective voice, beginning with registering new citizens to vote at naturalization ceremonies as a student alongside his younger siblings, Arnold and Olivia.

Professionally, Clark was founding partner of Thinking Cap Strategies LLC, a boutique public affairs consulting firm with local, state, and national clients, such as the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, California’s Proposition 1 to enshrine reproductive freedom in the State Constitution, Governor Gavin Newsom’s anti-recall campaign, Adam Schiff for Congress, Mike Fong for State Assembly, Robert Luna for Los Angeles County Sheriff, and Katy Yaroslavsky for Los Angeles City Council. 

Clark has served as general counsel for a national voter engagement nonprofit; a director for two presidential nominating conventions; state director for a climate action organization; and advisor or staff member for state and local nonprofits advancing civic engagement, legal services, and access to health care and social services serving the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community.  

As California Democratic Party Political Director, Clark scaled up its electoral and community engagement operations, spearheaded strategic partnership collaborations, and oversaw campaign efforts that helped flip control of the U.S. House of Representatives and strengthen the supermajorities in the California State Legislature. As Los Angeles County Democratic Party Political and Communications Director, he steered its electoral, organizing, legislative advocacy, voter protection, and communications operations that helped elect or re-elect hundreds of community leaders to public offices at local, state, and federal levels, such as President Barack Obama, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, and Governor Jerry Brown. Clark also served in various roles for elected officials and candidates, such as Governor Gray Davis, U.S. Representative Judy Chu, State Assembly Member Mike Eng, and LASC Judge Edwin Chau, Southwestern alumnus and former State Assembly Member for the 49^th District. Clark has organized training programs for elected officials, candidates, organizational leaders, professionals, activists, and students.

A civically engaged advocate, Clark served on the California Secretary of State’s Ballot Translation Advisory Group under Secretaries Debra Bowen and Alex Padilla. He was appointed by Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis to the Los Angeles County Information Systems Commission and the Los Angeles County Assessment Appeals Board. Additionally, Clark served on the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Voting Systems Assessment Project Advisory Committee, Community Voter Outreach Committee, and Ballot Redesign Working Group; the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters Board of Directors; Claremont McKenna College Alumni Association Los Angeles Chapter Vice President and Mentoring Café Mentor; and various leadership positions in the Democratic Party. He helped organize community support in establishing the first environmental commission in the San Gabriel Valley region. Clark is a Truman National Security Project Partner and Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County Member.

Clark is a recipient of the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) inaugural national 40 Under 40 Award and more than a dozen AAPC Gold, Silver, and Bronze Pollie Awards, hailed as the “Oscars in political advertising;” Campaigns & Elections Reed Awards and Rising Star; the National Association of Asian Pacifics in Politics and Public Affairs inaugural 40 Under 40 recognition; the New Leaders Council 40 Under 40 Emerging Leaders Award; and the Claremont McKenna College Philip Roland Prize for Excellence in Public Affairs.

Clark graduated from Claremont McKenna College with Honors in Government and holds a Juris Doctor from Southwestern Law School with two additional Southwestern alumni in his family, brother Arnold, and sister-in-law Elaine. Currently in Washington, DC, he hails from the San Gabriel Valley and enjoys hanging out with his rescued dog, Sua Sponte.

2023 JHP Public Service Alumni Award Honoree

Yeison Soto Valdez is a Staff Attorney at the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice (LACLJ), where he represents survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking in their immigration matters. Mr. Soto Valdez’ decision to work with the immigrant community stems from his personal experience as an immigrant, after immigrating to the United States when he was 7-years-old.

Growing up undocumented, Mr. Soto Valdez faced the same barriers that his clients face as undocumented immigrants. After learning that his parents had fallen victim to notario fraud and finding some stability in the United States after he was granted DACA, Mr. Soto Valdez decided to attend law school to help his community. Mr. Soto Valdez graduated from California State University, San Bernardino with a B.A. in Political Science. He earned his J.D. from Southwestern Law School with a concentration in Public Interest Law.

Mr. Soto Valdez was actively involved as a student at Southwestern serving as president of the Immigration Law Students Association, on the Board of the Southwestern Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, and co-president of Tax Law Society directing the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site at Southwestern in addition to clerking for various non-profit organizations providing legal services to immigrants and in Southwestern’s Immigration Law Clinic, Community Lawyering Clinic, and Appellate Litigation Clinic. As a student, Mr. Soto Valdez has been recognized by Public Counsel with the Helen and Morgan Chu Public Interest Prize and by Southwestern’s Public Interest Law Faculty Committee with the Woolverton Family Public Interest Award.

As a staff attorney with LACLJ, Mr. Soto Valdez has represented numerous survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking with affirmative petitions such as: U-Visas, T-Visas, VAWA, adjustment of status, asylum and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status as well as advocating for children and survivors in removal proceedings and in bond hearings. Mr. Soto Valdez is also actively engaged in community outreach to immigrant communities conducting know‐your‐rights presentations to educate immigrants on immigration remedies as well as community awareness on notario fraud.

Mr. Soto Valdez continues to represent and serve his community as a Board Member for the Legal Aid Association of California and is a member of the Immigration Committee of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.

After more than 20-years of living in the United States, Mr. Soto Valdez became a naturalized citizen and he continues to volunteer on weekends to help lawful permanent residents apply for citizenship.

2022 JHP Public Service Alumni Award Honoree

Ashley D. Williams was born a product of rape and raised in the foster care system. She lived in 36 placements, with MacLaren Hall being the first of many, and attended 26 schools by the time she turned eighteen.

Ashley attended Dorsey High School, where she was enrolled in the Law Magnet Program. While at Dorsey, she participated in the Los Angeles County Superior Court (LASC) Teen Court Diversion program, UCLA Street Law, and Young Lawyers. Upon graduating, she was honored with the dedication of the “Ashley Williams Computer Center” at Dorsey High School.

Ashley went on to attend UCLA, where she co-founded the Bruin Guardian Scholars Program, which assists former foster youth in navigating the university system. She was a UCLA Law Fellow, McNair Scholar, Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholar, and a Justice Corps Graduate Fellow.

She then attended Southwestern Law School, where she returned to the LASC Teen Court Diversion Program as a mentor, participated in the Associate for Corporate Counsel Diversity Pipeline Program, the Black Women Lawyers of Los Angeles Mentorship Program, and Southwestern’s Children’s Rights and Street Law Clinics, continuing her community activism and leadership work while honing her legal skills.

Following law school studies, Ashley served as a judicial extern with Judge Harry Pregerson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and then as a Congressional Intern for U.S. Representative Karen Bass. Guided by her experiences in foster care, Ashley drafted a policy report presented at a congressional briefing titled, “Fostering a Culture of Silence: The Need to Improve Reporting of Sexual Abuse in Foster Care.”

In April 2019, Ashley’s mother’s decades-long struggle with addiction ended her mother’s life. Since May 2019, she has worked at Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers, Inc., representing parents like her own mother, many of whose children are in foster care. She has gained experience all over the courthouse, guided by her unique perspectives and insights into the child welfare system as well as her professional experiences and achievements. Ashley is currently assigned to the Dedicated to Restoration through Empowerment and Advocacy (DREAM) Court, a specialized courtroom serving children and youth who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation.

Ashley’s commitment to public service and advocacy has been recognized with a multitude of awards from Sidley Austin LLP, Southwestern Law’s Public Interest Law Faculty Committee, California Change Lawyers, the Langston Bar Association, the Black Women Lawyers of Los Angeles Foundation, the Los Angeles County Public Service Distinction Award, the Hon. Justice Vaino Hassan Spencer Scholarship, the Justice Arleigh Woods Scholarship, and many more.  In 2022, Ashley was awarded a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition of Outstanding and Invaluable Service and nominated for the 2022 Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute's Angel of the Year by U.S. Representative Karen Bass due to Ashley’s extensive record of child welfare advocacy. Recently, Ashley was named as Outstanding New Lawyer by the National Association of Counsel for Children and selected to present as a Faculty Member at the National Child Welfare Law Conference.

Ashley considers herself a successful product of the dependency system and aims to one-day sit as a judge serving in the courts of juvenile dependency and delinquency law.

Inaugural JHP Public Service Alumni Award Honoree

Andrés Holguin-Flores is a staff attorney at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), where he leads national class action suits challenging employment discrimination and civil rights violations of immigrants, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients, and Latinos.

Mr. Holguin-Flores graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, with dual undergraduate degrees in Sociology and Chicana and Chicano Studies. He earned his J.D. at Southwestern Law School.  As a law student, he was active in leadership positions on campus, including Southwestern’s Public Interest Law Committee, and his law clerk experiences included clerking for the Immigration Law Clinic at Southwestern, serving as a judicial extern to the Honorable Terry J. Hatter, Jr. of the U.S. Central District Court for the District of California, and externships with Inner City Law Center, MALDEF, and the ACLU of Southern California. 

Upon law school graduation, Mr. Holguin-Flores clerked for the Honorable Terry J. Hatter, Jr. and the Honorable Harry Pregerson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  After completing his postgraduate clerkships, Mr. Holguin-Flores went on to begin his work in impact litigation and immigrant rights policy advocacy with MALDEF handling all phases of civil rights litigation, including investigation, discovery, depositions, settlement, and appeals in the representation of individuals throughout the United States.

Inaugural JHP Public Service Alumni Award Honoree

Professor Godoy is an associate attorney at JML Law, where her practice focuses on representing employees in all areas of employment law, including discrimination, wage and hour, whistleblowing, wrongful termination, labor disputes, and personal injury cases. Professor Godoy handles all phases of litigation, including vetting clients, discovery, depositions, mediation, trials, and pre and post-trial motions. Professor Godoy has been recognized as a “Super Lawyer - Rising Star” by the publishers of Los Angeles Magazine for 2019 and 2020.

Professor Godoy graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in History, a B.A. in Political Science, and a minor in Sociology from the University of Southern California, completing her honors thesis for both of her B.A. degrees. She earned her J.D. from Southwestern Law School. While in law school, she was active on campus and served as an editor for the Journal of International Media & Entertainment Law, received recognition for her commitment to academic excellence graduating in the top 10% of her class, and was recognized on the Dean’s List, and received Witkin Award for Labor Law. She volunteered over 500 hours of pro bono work at various legal non-profits and received the Dean’s Merit Scholarship, the ABTL Public Service award, the Wildman/Schumacher Scholarship, and many other accolades for her achievements. Her externship experience includes taking part in Southwestern Law School’s Immigration Law Clinic, serving as a judicial extern for the Honorable Terry J. Hatter, Jr., as well as externships with EEOC and Bet Tzedek’s Wage and Hour Clinic.

After completing her law degree, Professor Godoy served as an ABOTA Fellow, working at a defense firm prior to focusing her practice on representing employees through all stages of litigation. Professor Godoy continues to be an active volunteer with Bet Tzedek’s Workers’ Rights Clinic, as well as taking on other pro bono cases. Professor Godoy is also involved in several legal organizations and serves as the Vice-Chair for the Workers Outreach Committee and the Treasurer for the Whittier Bar Association.