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Student board member-elect Amaya Hazard pledges to center students; board hears mentorship program success
Summary
Amaya Hazard, the Inglewood Unified School District student board member-elect, told the board she intends to center student voices. Board member Ernesto Castillo presented a Women’s Law Mentorship Program that served about 80 girls and 50+ law mentors, emphasizing representation and career exposure.
Amaya Hazard, the student board member-elect for the 2025–26 school year, told the Inglewood Unified School District board on May 7 that she intends to make student voices central to district policy. "Policy is personal," Hazard said in remarks the board described as the speech she gave to the county student advisory council; she identified herself as an 11th-grader at Inglewood High School and thanked family and staff who supported her election. The board said Hazard will be sworn in at the August meeting and will take her seat then.
The meeting also included a presentation from board member Ernesto Castillo on the Women’s Law Mentorship Program, which pairs girls in grades 6–12 with mentors from Loyola Law School and other legal volunteers. Castillo said the two-year effort enrolled roughly 80 student mentees and more than 50 mentors, offered monthly workshops, mock trials with a federal judge and field trips, and produced vision-board and leadership activities. "Representation changes futures," Castillo said, noting that only "2% of lawyers are Latina and only 2% are Black women," and describing mentorship as a pathway to expand those numbers.
Castillo highlighted specific program elements: one-on-one mentorship, mock-trial exercises (students acted as prosecutors, defense attorneys, jurors and witnesses), campus events with community speakers, and partnerships with organizations such as Loyola Law Women’s Law Association and Upward Bound. He described the program’s goals as increasing career exposure, confidence and leadership for girls across district schools.
Board members greeted Hazard’s speech with praise and thanked Castillo for the presentation. The board noted the program’s role in elevating student aspirations and building community partnerships; Hazard thanked the board for welcoming her as a student representative. The board plans the formal swearing-in of the student board member at its August meeting.
