McGeorge School of Law Diversity Board

Bindhu Vargese, '10, is a legal consultant and corporate attorney for small and large start-ups, most recently consulting for a women-focused start-up, The Jane Club, as it transitions from a co-working space to a global brand and digital community. She is part of the Diversity Board to help guide McGeorge towards its goals of becoming an anti-racist institution so that students are equipped to become impactful leaders and agents of change in dismantling systems of oppression in our society. It is her hope that students be provided a supportive and inclusive environment for learning throughout their time at McGeorge. Outside of work, Bindhu is married and raising two toddlers in Los Angeles, manages a real estate investment portfolio, and uses her spare time teaching others to cook, and participates in both national and local political engagement.

Cornelle Jenkins, '15, is currently an associate attorney with Yempuku & McNamara in Sacramento, CA. He joined the Diversity Board to use his experiences as a law student and attorney of color to help fellow McGeorge students of diverse backgrounds thrive in the legal field. Outside of his position at Yempuku & McNamara, Cornelle has helped establish numerous nonprofit startups and is currently working to establish a nonprofit that provides at-risk and foster youth with mentorship and professional development opportunities. Cornelle aspires to help other overcome their circumstances and find true happiness in their careers and lives.

Darrin Lim,'04, is the Co-Founder and Partner of Politicom Law LLP, a U.S. political compliance law firm located in Sausalito, California that supports various organizations with campaign finance, lobby disclosure, and ethics laws. The firm is a minority and woman-owned firm with diversity as part of its DNA. Mr. Lim formerly served on the Steering Committee for the Council on Government Ethics Laws and was a Communications Director for a California state legislator. As a first-generation law school graduate, he knows first-hand the struggles of being a diverse lawyer and therefore seeks to amplify the concerns of diverse lawyers to empower them to become better lawyers.

Ernesto Falcon, '15, has spent his adult life connected to technology. Even before law school, he became Vice President of Government Affairs at Public Knowledge (PK), where he was successful in leading the organization's efforts to defeat AT&T's merger with T-Mobile in 2014. The following year, PK and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) scored a major victory for consumers by rallying the Internet community to defeat the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). After eight years in Washington DC, he returned to his home state of California to attend law school at McGeorge School of Law and continue his work for digital rights advocacy. Ernesto has rejoined the fight for consumers and Internet freedom at EFF as a Senior Legislative Counsel with a primary focus on intellectual property, open Internet issues, broadband access, and competition policy.

Lexi Howard is an attorney in the Legal Affairs Office of the California Secretary of State. For four years before that, Lexi was in private practice as a real estate and business attorney for a Sacramento law firm. Before, during, and after law school, Lexi was a public policy advocate and contract lobbyist, Before law school, Lexi worked for 26 years for a national title insurance and financial services corporation.

Lexi is the 2024 Chair of the McGeorge Diversity Alumni Board and is a founding and sustaining contributor to the McGeorge Virtual Food Pantry. She also serves on the McGeorge Capital Center Advisory Board, the Board of SacLegal, Sacramento’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association, as a founding member and advisor to the Disability Inclusivity Bar Association of Sacramento (DIBAS), and on the Board of the Sacramento LGBT Community Center. Lexi is also a mentor to law students as well as for high school students in the Law and Public Policy Academy at C. K. McClatchy High School.

Lexi was an evening/part-time student at McGeorge and earned her J.D. in 2015 with a Certificate in Capital Lawyering. While at McGeorge, Lexi was a student in the first term of the Legislative & Public Policy Clinic. Lexi served on the Student Bar Association as Vice President for the Evening Class and as Evening Class Representative; for the Capital Lawyering Association for Students (then known as the Government Affairs Student Association) as President and Vice President; and as Chair of the Lambda Law Students Association.At graduation, Lexi received McGeorge’s Outstanding Student Service Award and was selected by classmates as the Evening Class Commencement Speaker.

Mishael Pine, '03, is part-time staff attorney with Pacific Justice Institute in its New York Office. Prior to attending law school, she worked as an ICU nurse for several years before returning to school to obtain her law degree. Throughout her years as an attorney, she has volunteered for several nonprofit organizations including Access to Justice where she provided pro bono services to indigent litigants and the Queens County Bar Association Foreclosure Program representing clients in foreclosure settlements. Her passion to assist communities lacking resources has driven her desire to join McGeorge's Diversity Board where she hopes to parlay that passion into creating positive change for McGeorge's diverse students.

Susan Kuo is a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, where she serves as Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion as well as the Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. She serves as a Commissioner for the City of Columbia Municipal Election Commission. In past years, she has served as a board member for East Point Academy of South Carolina (South Carolina's First Chinese Immersion School), the ACLU of South Carolina, and the South Carolina HIV/AIDS Council.

Vida Thomas, '93, is an AV-rated attorney who has practiced law for over 25 years. In that time, she has conducted well over 200 workplace investigations and is experienced in complying with Title IX, Title Five, the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights, and the Firefighters Procedural Bill of Rights. She has considerable experience investigating matters within a union setting and is particularly adept at investigating complex involving high-profile employers and individuals. A founding member of the Association of Workplace Investigations (AWI), Vida co-chaired the AWI Best Practices committee and helped establish the AWI guidelines for conducting workplace investigations. Clients have complimented Vida's knack for making the law accessible, explaining complex legal concepts in a way that is both thorough and easy to understand. She believes training is most effective when it provides concrete, useful tips for navigating today's complicated and highly regulated workplace.