Champion for Justice: Meg Gould ’11 Honored

2024 Young Alumna Award recipient discovered her passion in a St. Mary’s classroom.

Meg Gould’s high school dedication became her career. Today, she works at Chicago-based Loevy & Loevy as a Justice Fellow, focusing on cases involving police misconduct, wrongful convictions, prisoners’ rights, employment discrimination, and excessive force.

But Gould’s interest in social justice was catalyzed through a Global Issues class at St. Mary’s.

“We picked a topic for the final project about a global issue with a local impact in Memphis that we all really cared about, and I chose juvenile justice in Memphis,” Gould said.

Since then, Gould has continued to find opportunities to fight for the rights of all people, from Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Botswana to New York City, Charlottesville, and Memphis. For her commitment to service, Gould received the 2024 Young Alumna Award from St. Mary’s at the Founders’ Day ceremony.

Dr. Patti Person Ray ’65 witnessed Gould’s first spark of interest in human rights in that Global Issues class.

“From the beginning of our class, Gould was eager to explore the various issues we studied, and she was deeply impacted by the injustices she discovered. Her commitment to understanding these injustices went beyond mere interest — she was driven to find solutions,” said Dr. Ray, who now serves as St. Mary’s historian.

“I was just a high schooler when I became interested in social justice issues like juvenile justice, and now I’m a civil rights attorney, representing a lot of people who were wrongfully incarcerated when or around the age they were juveniles,” Gould said. “The full circle of the impact that St. Mary’s leaves on its students is really and truly powerful.”

After graduating from the University of Virginia as an Echols Scholar, Gould taught English and math in Botswana and spent her free time volunteering with a locally-run refugee advocacy program. When she returned to Charlottesville, she worked in education policy and youth development and volunteered for a prison education program. These activities sparked an interest in law and policy.

Combining her newfound interest in law and her long-lasting passion for domestic and global human rights issues, Gould knew Columbia Law School would provide her with opportunities in all these areas.

“At Columbia Law School, I could do all of the things. I had really strong clinical legal experiences in New York City, but also all around the world,” Gould said. “I couldn’t decide if I wanted to focus fully on domestic issues or invest in global issues.”

Gould said one of the most memorable experiences during law school was working with AdvocAid and their international partner, the Death Penalty Project in Sierra Leone, where the organization and other volunteers aimed to abolish the death penalty.

During her time in law school, she also served as the co-chair of the International Refugee Assistance Project, outreach chair for the Human Rights Institute 1L Advocates Program, a Human Rights Law Review staff member, and co-founder of the Paralegal Pathways Initiative, which connects formerly incarcerated individuals with employment opportunities in the legal field.

“It comes as no surprise to me that Gould has gone on to become a civil rights attorney,” Dr. Ray said. “I have always believed she was destined to make a meaningful difference in the world, and I am incredibly proud of all she has accomplished and will continue to achieve in her career.”

Gould’s work, from exploring juvenile justice in Global Issues at St. Mary’s to representing wrongfully incarcerated individuals, always stands on the same passion of caring and advocating for others globally and domestically.

“I think global and domestic issues overlap and intersect, and I see it in my job every day,” Gould said. “It’s all very fast-moving. The best part of the job is getting to know all of our clients, but it’s hard a lot of days to confront the really horrific injustices that have happened to them. To be their advocate in the courtroom and make their cases the best you can is all that matters.”