“The best thing about co-op was being exposed to so many different options and opportunities.
Mayumi Grigsby ’15
A self-described “nomad,” Mayumi Grigsby fled her native Liberia as a child in 1990 — on the last KLM flight out of the country before insurrection brought chaos to the nation. The cities where she has subsequently lived and worked — in Europe, Africa and the United States — are too numerous to list, but the take-away is too important not to state: human rights advocacy is not just a career for Mayumi, it’s a calling.
“I chose to attend Northeastern in order to acquire legal skills that I could use to educate and empower people to work for their own version of sustainable, positive social change,” says Mayumi. “The best thing about co-op was being exposed to so many different options and opportunities.”
“I have been given a gift. Throughout the Black diaspora, women of Black African descent are underrepresented as lawyers. I want to use that gift by paying it forward,” says Mayumi, the author of Empowered: Reforming a Dismissive Health Care System (New Degree Press, 2020), a book that addresses the dangerous impact negative interactions with healthcare providers and the healthcare system can have on Black women and their health.
Massachusetts Governor’s Office of Cabinet Affairs, Boston, Massachusetts
Mayumi received a Rappaport Fellowship in Law and Public Policy for her first co-op, which involved research, analysis and recommendations to the governor’s policy team.
- Black Law Students Association
- Committee Against Institutional Racism
- Student Bar Association
Vera Institute of Justice, New York, New York
Mayumi worked on nationwide assessment of the likelihood of success of gang-based asylum claims.
Center for Constitutional Rights, New York, New York
Once again the recipient of prestigious fellowships, Mayumi was honored as both the Helena Rubinstein Fellow for Women’s Justice and the Ella Baker Fellow. Her co-op involved client and witness interviews as well as legislative research related to gender-based violence in Haiti.
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly
Among Mayumi’s many honors, she received Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s Top Women of Law: Leadership Scholarship Award.
Alere, Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts
For her final co-op, Mayumi chose Alere, a global diagnostic device and service provider, where she worked with in-house attorneys on contracts and complex tax compliance analysis.