Sydney Tarzwell has a breadth of experience working for social justice in many forms. Sydney’s legal expertise spans from the Indian Child Welfare Act to tribal jurisdiction and from race equity to sexuality and gender law. As they explain it, “Injustice in all its forms motivates me to fight. I came to social justice work through working for and with my own (LGBTQQ) community but have learned that we’re all at our most powerful when working in solidarity. I’m inspired by my community and the communities and people I’ve been honored to work with.”

At NARF, Sydney’s work in the Alaska office is focused on the Indian Child Welfare Act, but they gained diverse experience serving as an attorney and supervisor at Alaska Legal Services Corporation, working with the Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York, as a Skadden Fellow at the Urban Justice Center, and clerking for Hon. Sidney R. Thomas at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. When not actively fighting for social justice, Sydney loves doing anything outdoors, reading speculative fiction, and spending time with their farm-animal-obsessed kid.

Education

• Columbia University School of Law, J.D.
  • James Kent Scholar
  • Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar
  • Allan Morrow Sexuality & Gender Prize
  • Lowenstein Fellow
  • Michael Ratner Fellow
  • Columbia Public Service Fellow
  • Columbia Human Rights Law Review (Notes & Submissions Editor)
  • Sexuality & Gender Law Clinic
• Princeton University, A.B. Anthropology, magna cum laude
  • Certificate in Program in the Study of Women and Gender
  • Senior Thesis Prize, Honorable Mention

Admissions to Practice

• New York
• Alaska
• 9th Circuit Court of Appeals 

Publications

• 38 Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 167 (2006-2007). The Gender Lines are Marked with Razor Wire: Addressing State Prison Policies and Practices for the Management of Transgender Prisoners.

Download high resolution headshot of Sydney Tarzwell here.