The purpose of the Diversity Leadership Fellows Program is to increase diversity and meaningful inclusion in the active membership of the ISBA and its section councils and committees; to give further emphasis to ongoing efforts to raise awareness of the importance of diversity and inclusion to the ISBA; and to ultimately develop a diverse group of future leaders of the ISBA. These goals will be achieved by introducing new members (especially young lawyers and under-represented groups) to the work, structure, and policies of the ISBA. This program is intended to complement the newly instituted program of appointive “underrepresented” seats on the Board of Governors.

The three Diversity Fellows made their first official appearance at the ISBA Mid-Year meeting in December 2014, and have been working with their Diversity Leadership Council mentors to increase their involvement in the ISBA.

As they beginning their second year, each of the Fellows will be appointed to a section council or committee, approved by the ISBA President-elect. The Fellows will have full voting rights during meetings and will be expected to fully participate in the work of the section council or committee. The Fellows Program Chair will also assign each Fellow a second year mentor from among the membership of the Fellow’s selected section council or committee.

Please welcome to active involvement in your section council or committee KiKi Mosley, Hellin Jang and Inez Toledo, who were selected from the Fellows nominees.

KiKi Mosley graduated from Denison University in 2000 with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology/Anthropology and Black Studies. After she completed her undergraduate studies, she worked for Orbitz.com on the Business Development team and then moved to Tanzania, East Africa, where she taught at several schools over the course of three and a half years. Her interest in working in immigration law came from her own experiences in traversing the immigration system with members of her own family. Mosley graduated from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2010 with certificates in both International and Comparative Law and Public Interest Law. While at Chicago-Kent, she was a member of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) and the Immigration Law Students Association (ILSA) She also worked in the Immigration Law Clinic while a second-year student and clerked for an immigration law firm. Before starting her own immigration law practice, Mosley worked as an associate attorney practicing immigration and nationality law. She is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Louisiana.

An active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Mosley served on the Fall Conference Committee in 2011. She is also a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association. She has experience working on a variety of immigration matters including asylum, removal, family- and employment-based immigration, and naturalization. She devotes approximately 10 percent of her practice to pro bono and volunteer work. She has accepted appointment to the Standing Committee on Racial & Ethnic Minorities and the Law.

Hellin Jang graduated from Cornell University in 2001, with a B.A. in Government, concentration in Law and Society. She then attended Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where she distinguished herself as staff editor of International Law Review, president of the Asian American Law Students Association and a Central Region finalist on the Thomas Tang Moot Court Team. She also garnered a variety of practical experience. She served as a project assistant in the Real Estate and Corporate Departments at Jenner & Block in Chicago, a legal assistant in the Asia and Pacific Practice Group at Baker and McKenzie in Chicago, a judicial intern at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, a 711 law clerk with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, and a law clerk at Kim & Chang in Seoul, Korea. Since June 2010, Jang has been an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois in the General Law Bureau. There she defends the State, its officers, agencies, employees and judges in all aspects of civil trial litigation.

Jang serves as a volunteer Korean/English translator and is a Busan Committee member, City of Chicago Sister Cities International. She is a past president and current board member of the Korean American Bar Association of Chicago, a member of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and a Central Region director of the Thomas Tang International Moot Court Competition.

Inez Toledo is a staff attorney for the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission, where she represents people with mental illness who are the subject of civil commitment and involuntary treatment petitions. She is also a board member of several charitable foundations that support people with mental illness and physical and mental disabilities. She is a tireless advocate, holding fundraisers and giving her time to people in any kind of need. She recently spearheaded a project called “The Living Room” which is now underway in Aurora. It will be a safe place for the homeless and/or mentally ill to spend their days and be part of a community.

Admitted to practice in 1987, Toledo previously worked as an assistant state’s attorney in Cook County. She is actively involved in the Kane County Bar Association as a member of the organization’s Diversity Committee and a leader of the Elder Care, Disability & Mental Health Law Committee. In nominating her for a diversity fellowship, Kane County Public Defender Kelli Childress wrote, “Inez is a role model not only to Hispanic attorneys, but to women as well. In fact, she is a role model to all of humanity. She is kind and generous, passionate about her work and about people. She would be a tremendous asset to the ISBA, and her contributions to our common interests would be unquantifiable. She will rejuvenate those of us who currently participate, and will inspire new members from all walks of life to join and make a difference.” ■