About CDO

Eric J. Stern is the Assistant Dean of Career Development. In this role, he manages the day-to-day operations of the CDO and was the architect of Berkeley Law’s judicial clerkship program and the founding staff advisor for the First Generation Professionals group.  Dean Stern joined the CDO after a career in politics and advocacy—serving as one of six National LGBTQ Co-Chairs for the 2008 Obama-Biden Campaign and as a Political Adviser to the John Edwards for President Campaign. In the 2004 election cycle, he was appointed as the Director of LGBTQ Outreach for the Democratic National Committee.  Dean Stern received his J.D. from the Northeastern University School of Law and his B.A. from Marietta College. While in law school, he interned for the U.S. Department of Justice, the Whitman-Walker Clinic, the Children’s Law Center, and the Human Rights Campaign. After law school, he was awarded a Dorot Law Fellowship at the Alliance for Justice.

Elizabeth joined the CDO in 2020 after several years of practice and administration at San Francisco litigation boutique Durie Tangri LLP. At Durie Tangri she focused on tech and IP litigation as an attorney and then served as the Head of Recruiting and Professional Development. Before that, she began her legal career as an associate at O’Melveny & Myers (SF), representing large companies in several high-stakes patent litigation cases. Elizabeth received her J.D. from Berkeley Law in 2011, where she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal. She is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Elizabeth received her B.S. in Engineering Physics from U.C. Berkeley in 2004 and is a former professional modern dancer who had the pleasure of performing on tour with the Martha Graham Dance Company before law school.

Leslie joins the CDO with 12 years of experience at The University of Chicago Law School, working in career services and alumni relations. She counsels students and alumni at all stages of their job search, with a particular focus on private sector positions and developing interview skills using the persuasive skills students learn in law school. Prior to joining Berkeley Law, Leslie worked for 5 years in politics with Run for Something, as the Senior Director of Community, recruiting and supporting young, diverse candidates to run for local and state office across the country. Leslie graduated from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, received a B.S. in Radio/TV/Film and Women’s Studies from Northwestern University, and practiced corporate law at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP in Chicago. She and her family moved to the Bay Area in 2018.

Kate joined the CDO after practicing in the Dallas offices of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP and Haynes and Boone, LLP where she focused on representing clients engaged in commercial real estate and private equity transactions. Kate received her J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law and served as an editor of the First Amendment Law Review and a staff member of the North Carolina Law Review. Before attending law school, Kate taught seventh grade language arts in Charlotte, North Carolina through the Teach for America program. Kate received her B.A. in History from Rice University.

Anna joined the CDO after working as a litigation associate in the Washington, D.C., and San Francisco offices of Covington & Burling LLP. She focused on pharmaceutical patent litigation and also maintained an active pro bono practice. Anna clerked in Memphis for the Honorable Jon P. McCalla of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee in 2015-16. Prior to law school, Anna taught high school math, also in Memphis, and worked in research and development at a consumer pharmaceutical company near Philadelphia. Anna holds a B.S. in Bioengineering with honors from Penn State University, an M.S.Ed. in Education Policy from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Elizabeth Granlund is the Employer Relations and Recruitment Programs Manager at the Career Development Office. Prior to joining the CDO, she was the Recruitment Coordinator at Skadden and DLA Piper for several years. She coordinated the summer associate program, on-campus recruiting efforts and professional development initiatives. Prior to working on the law firm side, she was the Recruitment Coordinator and the University of San Francisco, School of Law and Whittier Law School in Southern California. She managed the On-Campus Interview Programs, maintained the online databases, engaged in employer outreach and helped develop alumni programming. She received her Master’s degree in Organization and Leadership from the School of Education at the University of San Francisco. She received her B.A. from the University of Michigan in Psychology. Elizabeth enjoys working with students and providing opportunities for students to achieve their career goals.

Deep Kaur Jodhka graduated from Berkeley Law in 2013 and worked for nearly 9 years at Bay Area Legal Aid providing systemic advocacy and direct legal representation to low income people with disabilities, people with criminal records, and military veterans. As a Supervising Attorney, she trained and mentored attorneys in all aspects of administrative hearing and federal district court practice and led a legal team that provided SSI/Social Security advocacy services in local county jails. While in law school, Deep clerked for Legal Services of Northern California and National Employment Law Project and participated in EBCLC’s Clean Slate Clinic. Deep received her B.A. degrees in Chemistry and Communication from UC Davis. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Sikh Family Center, the only Sikh-American organization focused on addressing gender-based violence and harm. 

Lucy Benz-Rogers joins the CDO with a background in direct legal services, immigration law, and international human rights. Prior to joining the PIPS team, she spent five years at the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area (IIBA) providing a wide range of direct immigration legal services. Lucy started her legal career as a Staff Attorney for Farmworker Legal Services of Michigan, where she advocated for migrant agricultural workers in the areas of employment rights, public benefits, and immigration law. Lucy received her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in 2014, where she was a Stein Scholar for the Public Interest, a Crowley International Human Rights Scholar, and was selected to join fact-finding and advocacy human rights programs in Rwanda and Haiti. She received her B.A. in International Development Studies from UCLA, and she grew up in San Francisco.

Ja’Nai Aubry joined the CDO in March 2024. Prior to joining the CDO, Ja’Nai was an Associate at the Law Office of Julian Gross where she assisted nonprofits and public entities with a range of initiatives to advance racial and economic equity in land use and infrastructure development. Previously, she was the Director of Continuum of Care Strategies at EveryOne Home, the former backbone agency for Alameda County’s Continuum of Care, where she worked to help advance racial and gender equity in the county’s homeless services system. Prior to that, Ja’Nai was the Housing and Gender Justice Staff Attorney at Family Violence Law Center, where she engaged in state, local and federal policy advocacy centering the needs of unhoused women of color. Ja’Nai started her legal career as a law fellow at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles where she helped staff a domestic violence clinic and Medical Legal Partnership clinic, where she assisted clients with immigration, family law, housing and public benefits matters. Ja’Nai received her J.D. from UCLA Law in 2016. She received her B.A. from Santa Clara University in Middle Eastern and Northern African History.

Prior to joining the CDO team, Teyah was the Program Associate for NIAM Group, a professional services consulting firm specializing in research, facilitation and outreach. For NIAM Group, she organized community engagement meetings centered on the development of Oakland Unified School District’s Central Kitchen – an Instructional Farm and Educational Center.  Prior to that, she worked within higher education in two different capacities, one as a Career Development Coordinator for Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, where she coordinated fall and spring OCI and other career focused programs and events and as a Academic Graduation Assistant at California College of the Arts, San Francisco, where she advised art and design students on their academic degree requirements for graduation.  She holds a B.A. in Social Work from San Francisco State University, is a bay area native and dedicated soccer mom. 

Before joining the CDO, Emily served as Programs Manager at San Francisco-based education non-profit 826 Valencia. There, she managed and facilitated writing programs out of 826 Valencia’s newest location in Mission Bay, serving under-resourced schools in southeast San Francisco. Emily was a public high school educator before her time with 826 Valencia, teaching newcomer immigrant students in the Bayview district of San Francisco. Before teaching, she did a year of service with AmeriCorps at 826 Valencia, which set her on the education path and led her to earn her MA in Urban Education from UC Berkeley. Emily received her BA from UC Berkeley as well, where she studied English and Spanish and was an early member of the campus improv troupe TBD Comedy. She’s a Bay Area native and a lover of musicals.