Scholar Entries - Hispanic Lawyers Scholarship Fund of Illinois

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Are you a past recipient of an Hispanic Lawyers Scholarship Fund award?

Name

Bianca Brown

Current Mailing Address

2532 N Hamlin
Chicago, IL 60647
United States
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Phone

(773) 849-3610

Connection to Illinois

I was born and raised in Illinois and plan to stay

In what city do you intend to practice law upon graduation?

Chicago

Name of Law School

Loyola University Chicago School of Law

Class year

1st year law student

Full Time or Part Time Student?

Full Time

Date you began attending THIS law school

08/19/2025

Anticipated Graduation Date

05/14/2028

Current GPA

3.0

Law School Honors, Awards or Special Recognitions

Civitas ChildLaw Fellow

Name of Undergraduate Institution

DePaul University

Degree (BA, BSE, etc.) and Concentration/Major

Special Education

Undergraduate Graduation Date

06/15/2024

GPA

3.8

Undergraduate Honors, Awards, or Special Recognitions

Dean’s List; University Honors; Honors Distinction; Vincentian Service Scholar; Outstanding Senior

Were you employed in 2025?

yes

If yes, please identify your employer(s).

Chicago Hopes for Kids

What was your immediate family’s (including you and your spouse or domestic partner, if applicable) estimated income from all sources for the 2025 Tax Year?

$10000.00

Do you expect to be employed in 2026?

If yes, please identify your employer(s).

Please estimate your immediate family’s (including you and your spouse or domestic partner, if applicable) income from all sources for the 2026 Tax year

$6000.00

Please estimate your parent's average annual household income over the last five years

75000

Do your parents own or rent their home? Please describe, if necessary

My mother owns her home

Describe your parents' health insurance situation. Do they have employer-sponsored health insurance, health insurance through the exchange, or no health insurance?

health insurance through pension

LIST below your total EXPENSES for attending law school for ONE YEAR (Please refer to example in FAQs)

Total Tuition Cost $

$59670.00

Books Cost $

$1700.00

Fees Cost $

$2608.00

Housing Cost $

Food Cost $

$3500.00

Total Expenses $ (add above entries)

$64,870.00

LIST below your total FUNDING sources you plan to use to pay for these expenses (Please refer to example in FAQs)

Student Loans $

$54,252

Scholarships and Grants $

$36,000

Personal Contribution (Savings/Employment) $

Family Contribution $ (include parents, spouse, partner, etc.)

Total Funding $ (add above entries)

$90,252

For 2Ls and 3Ls, what is your current TOTAL loan debt from the previous law school years?

Please list any community service activities with which you have been involved in the last ten years, paying particular attention to activities in support of the Hispanic community. For each activity, please include the dates of your participation, a short description of the organization and the community they serve, and a description of the activity you performed to help them. (Please read FAQs before completing)

Chicago Hopes for Kids August 2024-August 2025 Chicago HOPES for Kids is a nonprofit organization providing educational and enrichment programming to children and families living in homeless shelters throughout Chicago. The organization primarily serves low-income families, many of whom are Hispanic/Latine and immigrant households experiencing housing insecurity. I worked as an educator and mentor, providing literacy support, homework assistance, and enrichment activities for elementary-aged students. My work focused on supporting students’ academic confidence, English literacy development, and social-emotional growth. I also worked closely with families and staff to ensure programming was culturally responsive and supportive of students navigating housing instability.

DePaul University Admissions Student Ambassador & Outreach. Decemeber 2021-August 2024. DePaul University is a large urban university with a strong commitment to serving first-generation college students and students from Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods, including Hispanic/Latine communities.As a student assistant and ambassador, I supported outreach initiatives aimed at increasing access to higher education for underrepresented students. I regularly worked with prospective students and families—many of whom were Hispanic/Latine and first-generation—answering questions about financial aid, course selection, and navigating college systems. I served as a trusted point of contact for families unfamiliar with higher-education processes.

Peer Mentor at Depaul University. July 2021- June 2023. Through various campus-based mentoring initiatives at DePaul University, I supported first-generation and low-income students, including Hispanic/Latine students transitioning to college. I provided one-on-one mentorship focused on academic success, time management, and navigating institutional barriers. I assisted students with understanding financial aid, class registration, and campus resources, while also offering culturally informed support grounded in shared experiences as a student of color.

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. 2019- Present. Community Service Programming. Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. is a national service organization with a strong emphasis on educational empowerment, social justice, and community uplift. Local programming frequently serves Black and Hispanic/Latine communities in Chicago. As an active member and former chapter president, I organized and participated in service initiatives including youth mentoring, educational workshops, and community outreach events. My leadership focused on creating inclusive programming responsive to the needs of students and families of color, particularly those from historically marginalized communities.

Please provide a statement describing your background and focus your statement on your reasons for pursuing a legal career and your legal career goals. This statement is important. Please give it appropriate attention. (min. 1000 characters) (Please read FAQs before completing)

I have always lived at the intersection of two worlds. As a Black and Mexican woman, I grew up navigating multiple cultures and identities, often feeling as though I never fully belonged in any single space. From an early age, I learned to code-switch—adjusting my language, behavior, and expectations depending on whether I was at home, in my predominantly white school, or among peers from different backgrounds. That constant negotiation sharpened my awareness of how institutions overlook people who do not fit neatly into predefined categories, particularly families of color.

That awareness became especially clear in school. In high school, I watched students of color disproportionately disciplined and quietly excluded from advanced academic opportunities, while their talents went unrecognized. At the same time, I had to fight to be taken seriously in the honors program, where I was often one of the only students of color and felt pressure to constantly prove my intelligence and right to be there. These experiences were formative. They taught me that inequity is not abstract—it is lived, normalized, and reinforced through systems that reward conformity and punish difference. Rather than discouraging me, these experiences pushed me to speak out and advocate for others who felt marginalized for being “too much” or “not enough.”

I carried this commitment into college, where I focused my academic and service work on educational equity and systemic racism. During my junior year at DePaul University, I conducted research on systemic discrimination faced by Black and Brown students in Chicago Public Schools. The data revealed alarming disparities in funding, discipline, and access to resources, but it was the stories behind the statistics that resonated most deeply. I spoke with students who felt abandoned by a system that treated them as afterthoughts and educators stretched thin by policies that hindered meaningful support. Their experiences mirrored my own as a student of color navigating predominantly white academic spaces.

Presenting this research at my university’s honors conference and the National Collegiate Honors Council marked a turning point. One question stayed with me: What are you going to do about it? That moment transformed my understanding of advocacy. I realized that documenting injustice was not enough—I wanted the tools to challenge the policies and legal structures that allow inequity to persist. Law became the path through which I could turn lived experience and academic inquiry into tangible change.

My desire to pursue a legal career deepened through direct community service. As a literacy leader with Chicago HOPES for Kids, I worked with children experiencing homelessness and collaborated closely with families navigating housing and educational instability. I witnessed parents advocating fiercely for their children while lacking access to legal knowledge or institutional support. These experiences affirmed that family law and child advocacy shape the most fundamental aspects of life—safety, stability, and dignity.

Majoring in special education further solidified my path. Through this training, I learned how to advocate for students’ rights, navigate complex regulatory frameworks, and address the consequences of exclusionary discipline practices that disproportionately impact Black and Brown students. I learned how to advocate for myself within systems not designed with me in mind, and I became determined to use the law to advocate for others who lack the resources or voice to do so.

These experiences led me to Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where the ChildLaw program aligns directly with my purpose. As a ChildLaw Fellow, I am developing the legal skills necessary to advocate effectively for children and families while remaining grounded in the communities I aim to serve. My involvement in student organizations focused on youth, education, and family advocacy allows me to begin bridging legal training with real-world impact.

In the immediate future, I plan to pursue internships in child protection, domestic relations, and legal aid settings to strengthen my litigation and client-counseling skills. Long term, I aspire to work as a family law attorney serving low-income families, ideally within a legal aid organization or children’s law division. I hope to combine direct representation with policy advocacy and community education to address both individual crises and systemic inequities.

Please upload a copy of your financial award letter labeled as follows: LastName.FirstName.FinAwardLtr*

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BrownBiancaFinAwardLtr.pdf

Please upload a copy of your resume labeled as follows: LastName.FirstName.Resume*

Please upload a copy of your law school transcript labeled as follows: LastName.FirstName.LSTranscript*