Alyssa Kewenvoyouma ’22

Nurturing the Native Legal Community

Berkeley Law wasn’t Alyssa Kewenvoyouma’s initial top choice — until she came for a visit.

After a slew of meetings (including with Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Kristin Theis-Alvarez, Professor Seth Davis, and two then-students of Native descent), Kewenvoyouma, who grew up in Arizona and is Hopi and Navajo, was hooked.

“After witnessing the amazing work they had done to build a Native community, I knew I wanted to be a part of it,” she says.

STEPPING UP: Alyssa Kewenvoyouma was named the National Native American Law Students Association 2L of the year. Photo by Darius Riley

Alyssa Kewenvoyouma sitting on stairs and smiling

Alyssa Kewenvoyouma ’22

Nurturing the Native Legal Community

Berkeley Law wasn’t Alyssa Kewenvoyouma’s initial top choice — until she came for a visit.

After a slew of meetings (including with Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Kristin Theis-Alvarez, Professor Seth Davis, and two then-students of Native descent), Kewenvoyouma, who grew up in Arizona and is Hopi and Navajo, was hooked.

“After witnessing the amazing work they had done to build a Native community, I knew I wanted to be a part of it,” she says.

STEPPING UP: Alyssa Kewenvoyouma was named the National Native American Law Students Association 2L of the year. Photo by Darius Riley

As a 1L, she was a Berkeley Center for Law and Business Scholar, a program for students interested in business law — a nod to her prior work in the finance sector. She jumped into the Berkeley Law Raza Law Journal, the La Alianza Law Students Association, Berkeley’s chapter of the National Native American Law Students Association (NNALSA), and the Native American Legal Assistance Project, a Student-Initiated Legal Services Project.

“My mother is Mexican-American and my dad is Native. Being able to honor all sides of my identity and give back to these communities has been extremely significant to me,” Kewenvoyouma says. “Being a part of all of these helps me stay connected to why I came to law school as well as my unique identity.”

She says she has particularly loved the Berkeley Law and broader NNALSA community. Just 2,640 of the more than 1.2 million attorneys in the United States identify as Native, so finding other Native students means a lot, as does the broader support of other Black, Indigenous, People of Color organizations at the school.

“I have met some of the smartest, most passionate, most caring people I have ever met in my life at Berkeley Law.”

Earlier this year, NNALSA named Kewenvoyouma its national 2L of the year — as well as the organization’s representative for the region including California, Arizona, Hawai’i, and Nevada — for her work at Berkeley Law.

“NNALSA has been a place for all of us to come together,” Kewenvoyouma says. “It’s also a place for us to come up with ideas on how to raise awareness and take substantive steps to impact and help the Native community.”

Berkeley Law members have been there to support one another through the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. They’ve also been busy, pushing for awareness of repatriation of indigenous remains on campus and advocating for professors and organizations to incorporate an acknowledgement of the university’s location on xučyun territory — unceded Ohlone land.

After law school, Kewenvoyouma will pursue an MBA at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. She wants to represent Tribal Nations and entities, particularly in the energy and finance sectors.

“I have met some of the smartest, most passionate, most caring people I have ever met in my life at Berkeley Law,” she says. “They motivate and inspire me to be the best version of myself and to be the best advocate I can for my communities.”—Gwyneth K. Shaw

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