University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School’s third-year student Mariel Mussack is one of 28 Skadden Fellows who will devote the next two years of their careers to working in the public interest.

Since 1988, the Skadden Foundation has funded public interest fellowships of 877 graduating law students and clerks. The program provides two-year fellowships “to talented young lawyers to pursue the practice of public interest law on a full-time basis” with the goal “to improve legal services for the poor and encourage economic independence.”

In the Skadden Fellowship Foundation’s 32-year history, 29 Penn Law students have been named fellows.

As the daughter of immigrant parents, Ms. Mussack was inspired to apply for the fellowship by her desire to help immigrant communities thrive in this country, especially in the workplace. Ms. Mussack has had previous clinic experiences at the Law School and internship opportunities at Community Legal Services and Justice at Work.

Ms. Mussack earned a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature and international studies at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She will serve her fellowship at Philadelphia’s Justice at Work, formerly known as Friends of Farmworkers, which provides free legal aid, community education and advocacy for workers.