Jenner Law has named Bella Ramirez, a first-year student at Cardozo School of Law in New York City, as one of its 2026 Make a Difference Scholarship winners. The announcement matters beyond a single student's résumé: it signals how a personal-injury firm is using its scholarship funding to reward young people whose records combine academic achievement with sustained community advocacy, and it puts a public-interest spotlight on a law student already active in programs for first-generation and public-service students.
Ramirez's advocacy began in her teen years in South Florida. In her freshman year of high school, a school shooting at a neighboring school left 17 people dead, and she organized a county-wide rally and helped register hundreds of voters. She later interned in the Investigations Department at NBC News, where she helped uncover federal student aid fraud, and she has said the experience pushed her toward law school so she could more actively fight for positive change. She graduated cum laude from Boston University in 2025.
At Cardozo, Ramirez is in the Gates Scholar Program for first-generation students and the Public Service Scholars Program. She is a member of the American Constitution Society and the Public Interest Law Students Association, a 1L representative for the Latin American Law Students Association, and a senator on the Student Bar Association. She is also in training with the Unemployment Action Center, which helps unemployed people secure the benefits they need.
The award fits the firm's stated criteria. The Make a Difference Scholarship is directed toward academically excelling students who are also focused on making a real difference in their communities and the world. The firm, which has represented injury victims and their families since 2017, said Ramirez is a stellar example of such a student. Its practice includes clergy abuse, therapist abuse and nursing abuse cases, and the firm says its lawyers and paralegals have been trauma- and cognitive-interview trained at the Center for Hope.
The implications extend past the scholarship itself. By backing a student who has already organized around gun violence and worked on fraud investigations, the award reinforces a pipeline from community organizing and investigative work into public-interest law. It also draws attention to the firm's broader civic role: alongside the scholarship, it runs the Jenner Law Donor Fund, which donates to organizations focused on animal welfare, civil rights, women's safety, healthcare, veterans and food insecurity. For prospective law students weighing public-service paths, the recognition of Ramirez offers a visible model of how early advocacy can translate into legal training.
