Samah Sisay

Bertha Justice Fellow, Center for Constitutional Rights

Samah Mcgona Sisay was born in Liberia and immigrated to the United States with her family at a young age. Samah completed her undergraduate studies in International Affairs at the George Washington University and received her law degree from NYU School of Law. While at NYU Law, Samah was an Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Fellow and served as a student advocate for two years in the Immigrant Rights Clinic (IRC). Samah was also awarded an International Law and Human Rights (ILHR) fellowship at NYU Law to work for Defence for Children International in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where she monitored the juvenile court and detention centers and advocated for the release of juvenile survivors of sexual violence. Samah is currently a Bertha Justice Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights. Prior to this position, Samah served as an Equal Justice Works Fellow and Staff Attorney at African Services Committee. During her two year fellowship, Samah provided legal representation on immigration matters to African and Caribbean immigrant women, both transgender and cisgender, impacted by gender-based violence. Samah also organizes with Survived and Punished New York; a prison industrial complex (PIC) abolition coalition working to end the  criminalization of all survivors of domestic and sexual violence.