The winners of this year’s Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association (TCWLA) Scholarship Fund program were announced at a Hilgers House event.
In addition to the TCWLA Scholarship Fund’s annual Ann Forman and Mary Cooper scholarships, two new scholarships, named in honor of Judges Orlinda Naranjo and Lora Livingston, were also awarded.
The Lora Livingston Scholarship is awarded to a woman of African descent attending The University of Texas School of Law. The recipient should demonstrate a commitment to her community, a passion for access to justice, be involved in pro bono and public-service activities, and should exemplify servant leadership.
The inaugural Lora Livingston Scholarship was awarded to Tionna Ryan. Ryan just completed her second year at The University of Texas School of Law. She served as a research assistant for Tara Grove, Vinson & Elkins Chair in Law. Ryan was also the 1L representative for UT’s Student Bar Association. She was the vice president of the Thurgood Marshall Legal Society (TMLS), which is UT Law’s chapter of the National Black Law Students Association. In February, in honor of Black History Month, TMLS hosted the Afrofuturism Symposium, for which Ryan served as director. Before attending law school, Ryan was a an eighth-grade language arts teacher in Dallas.
The Orlinda Naranjo Scholarship is awarded to a Latinx woman attending The University of Texas School of Law. The recipient should show financial need, a history of involvement in the Latinx community, a demonstrated commitment to social and economic justice, and perseverance in the face of adversity, such as being a single parent.
The inaugural Orlinda Naranjo Scholarship was awarded to Jessica Martinez, who just completed her second year at UT Law. She took part in the Hispanic National Bar Association’s National Moot Court Competition. She has also served as the editor-in-chief of the Texas Hispanic Journal of Law and Policy. Martinez has been president of UT Law’s Chicano/Hispanic/Latino Law Student Association (CHLLSA) and is a member of the Robert W. Calvert Inn of Court, UT Law’s Women’s Law Caucus, and the Hispanic National Bar Association.
The Margaret Cooper Scholarship is awarded to a UT Law student who best demonstrates perseverance, financial need, and a commitment to community service.
This year’s Margaret Cooper Scholarship was awarded to Franchizca Scipio, who just graduated from The University of Texas School of Law. She clerked at the Travis County Probate Court, interned with UT Law’s Domestic Violence and Children’s Rights clinics, and served on the Texas Law Fellowship Board of Directors. She also participated in Explore Law, a summer program in which undergraduate students at UT Austin, Huston-Tillotson, and Austin Community College hear from faculty and staff at UT Law and the Longhorn Center for Academic Equity on the various fields of law and how the law school admissions process works. Scipio was active with TMLS, UT Law’s OUTLaw organization, which raises awareness of issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community, and she has volunteered at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church.
The Ann Forman Scholarship is awarded to a student who demonstrates interest in child welfare law and community service.
This year’s Ann Forman Scholarship was awarded to Katherine Lewis. Lewis is a graduate of The University of Texas School of Law, where she was involved in the Women’s Law Caucus, the Human Rights Law Society, and the Public Interest Law Association. She has served as a student attorney with the Children’s Rights Clinic, as a law clerk with Texas RioGrande Legal Aide in the Family Defense Project, and as a judicial intern with the Hon. Aurora Martinez Jones at the 126th District Court, which specializes in Child Protective Services cases.
In the fall of 2024, the TCWLA Scholarship Fund will hold a fundraiser for its newest scholarship, named after Ana Meija-Dietche. Meija-Dietche was a past president of TCWLA and board member of the Scholarship Fund who died on Feb. 24, 2024, of ovarian cancer. During her short life, she worked for Legal Aid DC, a Washington, D.C.,-based organization providing free legal services in housing, domestic violence/family, public benefits, and consumer law, as well as appellate advocacy, immigration services, and reentry services for individuals released from prison. She also worked in the Office of the General Counsel–Public Health Division of the National Institutes of Health.
After coming to Austin, Meija-Dietche worked for the State Bar of Texas as a program attorney, where she was integral in planning CLEs; as the director of the Healthcare Workforce Alliance of Central Texas, which raises awareness of the healthcare workforce needs of Central Texas; and as a professor and grant writer at Austin Community College.
The Scholarship Fund is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, separate from TCWLA, a
501(c)(6) professional association. All contributions to the Scholarship Fund are fully tax deductible. To learn more and to make a donation, visit tcwla.org.
(L-R): Iris Jones, Eva Andries, Barbara Marquardt, Judge Orlinda Naranjo, Amie Rodnick, and Judge Lora Livingston. Jones, Marquardt, and Rodnick co-founded the TCWLA Scholarship Fund, along with Judge Margaret Cooper (not pictured) in 1983 and incorporated in 1987.