Lena Welch focuses on employment rights as a member of the community access team. Lena joined DRNC in August 2020 as a Kennedy Fellow on the education team. Welch earned bachelor’s degrees in journalism and economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. While in law school, she represented clients in the Child Advocacy and Health and Disability Law Clinics. She worked on class action lawsuits as a law clerk at Disability Rights Advocates in the summer of 2019 and interned for the summer of 2018 at the Disability Law Center of Virginia. Her experiences with family members and friends with disabilities led her to pursue a career in disability law. In her free time, Welch enjoys baking, yoga, and spending time with her cats.