Kaitlyn O’Leary, ’26, Awarded Peggy Browning Fund Fellowship to Advance Workers’ Rights
Kaitlyn O’Leary, ’26, has been awarded a prestigious Peggy Browning Fund Fellowship, one of the nation’s leading programs for students pursuing careers in workplace justice advocacy.
O’Leary, a first-generation college and law student from Dumont, New Jersey, will spend the summer in Washington, DC, working with O'Donoghue & O'Donoghue, one of the oldest and largest union-side law firms in the United States. As a fellow, O’Leary will assist attorneys representing a broad coalition of unions, including building trades, electrical workers, ironworkers, EMTs, letter carriers, and communication workers—among them, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the very union that shaped her family’s story.
O’Leary’s commitment to labor advocacy is personal and deeply rooted. Her father, an electrician and longtime union steward of Local 3 IBEW, spent his career safeguarding the rights and safety of fellow workers—sometimes from precarious positions high above the Hudson River on the George Washington Bridge. His advocacy, O’Leary says, often came at a personal cost. “My father would tell me that being a steward put a target on his back,” she shared. “Management would try to intimidate him whenever he stood up for his coworkers. I want to use my law degree to protect workers like my dad from employers who prioritize profit and efficiency over safety and fairness.”
This summer, O’Leary will contribute to legal research, draft memoranda on collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, and employee benefits governed by ERISA, and assist in litigation and administrative proceedings. She sees the fellowship as a pivotal step toward her long-term goal of becoming a labor lawyer. “It offers the rare opportunity to gain hands-on experience in union-side representation, including areas like collective bargaining and employee benefits under ERISA, which can be very difficult to break into. The experience will help me identify which aspects of labor law resonate most deeply with me and refine my career focus after graduation. It will also connect me with a community of legal professionals who share my commitment to economic equity and workers’ rights.”
O’Leary praised the Peggy Browning Fund for making public interest legal work more accessible. “Many law students face financial pressure to pursue corporate law summer jobs because paid public interest roles are limited,” she noted. “The Peggy Browning Fund changes that dynamic. It offers meaningful legal experience and financial support, making it one of the most impactful opportunities for students dedicated to advancing economic justice.”
O’Leary currently serves as Chief Steward of the Professional Schools for the UChicago Graduate Student Union. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Richmond, where she majored in political science and minored in sociology.
O'Leary encourages fellow students to consider the Peggy Browning Fellowship. “I highly recommend the fellowship to any student interested in or curious about public interest, economic equity, or workers’ rights,” she said. “It offers an invaluable opportunity to gain a meaningful foothold in the labor law field while providing access to a broad network of experienced attorneys and labor leaders. As someone from a working-class background, I see the Peggy Browning Fund fellowship as an especially valuable and accessible opportunity.”