Emma Petite

Emma Petite is a Legal Intake and Operations Specialist in the New York office of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, a national law firm with offices in the District of Columbia, New York, California, Tennessee, and Maryland. Emma graduated with honors from Johns Hopkins University, with degrees in political science and international studies. Emma is passionate about addressing racial and class injustice through the law, specifically the rights of incarcerated people. While at Johns Hopkins, she completed two year-long research projects, focusing first on testimonies during the COVID-19 pandemic from the American Prison Writing Archive, and next on the role of the Black Panther Party newspaper in serving as a voice and method of organizing for incarcerated individuals in the early 1970s. These efforts earned her the Undergraduate Research Excellence Prize awarded by the Chloe Center for the Critical Study of Racism, Immigration, and Colonialism. Additionally, she tutored weekly at two Maryland correctional institutions. Previously, Emma has interned with the legal team of the International Rescue Committee, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Black Girls Vote Research Network, and for U.S. Congressman John Sarbanes’ constituent services office. With dedication to justice and equity, Emma aspires to pursue a J.D. in the future.