Charnell Gilchirst graduated from Western Governors University of Salt Lake City,, Utah in 2021.
Charnell’s upbringing cultivated her commitment to service-oriented activities. While in the U.S. Navy, she explored new cultures and received her A.S. in Liberal Arts from Excelsior College. After serving five years as an Electronics Tech, she set out on a self-led journey to discover her purpose. Having a passion for writing, she began freelance authoring for Constant Content, a platform she continues to write for.
While freelance writing, she discovered a love for law and her purpose—advocating for equal access to resources. Armed with her newfound purpose, she completed her B.S. in H.R. Mgmt, minoring in Business Admin. She was awarded a Diversity Scholarship covering her first year’s tuition to pursue a J.D. at Western State College of Law.
She serves as the V.P. of OUTLaw, a student organization that supports the LGBTQ+ community. Charnell also debuted as a writer for the news platform, Newsbreak while she and her wife simultaneously established DOPE Quick Reads LLC. She seeks to spark a renewed interest in news and policy change through objective, though-provoking creative writing.
As a member of the 2022 Thurgood Marshall Bar Association’s Summer Associate Program inaugural class, she accepted a summer internship at Elder Law and Disability Rights Center, formed to increase access to justice for individuals ineligible for traditional non-profit legal who cannot afford private attorneys.
As the Community Service Director of the Black Law Students Association, she recently established membership with ‘TrackItForward,’ to track volunteer hours. This provides needed but often inaccessible recordkeeping to qualify for many scholarship and grant opportunities, a simple but valuable resource.
Graduating in 2025, she plans to pursue a career in law's employment and labor or disability rights sector. She shares simple advice that “paying it forward” has netted her greater intrinsic satisfaction and ‘richness,’ than she could have ever imagined.