MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — Jenny Thoma, a 2016 graduate of the WVU College of Law, is a winner of the inaugural Public Interest Award from Equal Justice Works for her commitment to public service.
Thoma was selected out of more than 30 students from 26 laws schools in the Southeast. Equal Justice Works is a national organization based in Washington, D.C., that helps law students and lawyers provide effective representation to undeserved communities and causes.
A native of Moorefield, West Virginia, Thoma is the past president of WVU Law’s Public Interest Advocates (PIA). Among her accomplishments, she led PIA’s successful effort to raise $31,000 for fellowships for students to work in public interest law this year.
Thoma is a former PIA fellow and worked at the Appalachian Citizen’s Law Center in Whitesburg, Kentucky, and the Kanawha County (West Virginia) Public Defender’s Office. She was also active in the West Virginia Innocence Project law clinic that works to exonerate the wrongfully convicted.
This summer, Thoma will begin her professional legal career as a law clerk to Judge Michael Aloi in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.
Prior to law school, Thoma worked at the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, and served as a volunteer lobbyist with Alaska Wilderness League in Washington, D.C.
In addition to a J.D., Thoma holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Communication Studies from West Virginia University.
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