Partner Profiles
Holly Martinez, Mimi Owolabi & Asha Stewart
A Trio of Interns Making the Most of Their Summer
Our partner profiles offer us the privilege of introducing you to some of the most impactful individuals who make up the Reclaim Your Future campaign. This month, we have a whole trio of amazing people to tell you about!
Asha Stewart, Holly Martinez, and Mimi Owolabi all work as summer interns for the Arizona Justice Project (AJP), a Phoenix-based legal aid provider that fights to exonerate wrongfully convicted people and leads the Reclaim Your Future marijuana expungement campaign with the help of six other organizations across the state. Asha, Holly, and Mimi all pursued internships with AJP after learning about AJP’s expungement work via their respective colleges and universities: Birmingham City University (U.K.), Arizona State University, and Phoenix College.
“In a class I took last summer, one of the assignments was to choose and research a local non-profit,” Holly explained. “I chose AJP and arranged a meeting to learn more about their mission. The staff told me about internship possibilities, and I jumped on it as soon as the position opened.
“I had not been close to expungement efforts prior to this opportunity,” Holly added, “but, as someone who voted for Proposition 207 (the 2020 ballot initiative that legalized adult recreational use of marijuana in Arizona), I found it imperative to provide information to those eligible for the benefits of expungement.”
“Here in Arizona, the expungement campaign is a step in the right direction to rebuild a better community.”
AJP’s summer expungement interns assist with the day-to-day activities of the Reclaim Your Future campaign, including vetting eligible cases, assisting with research projects, and planning events. Each agrees that their work has significantly impacted their view of the criminal justice system in the U.S. and its effects on underserved and hyper-criminalized communities of color.
“Marijuana records don’t just impact individuals, they impact the community,” Asha said. “Whilst I am not from Arizona, I do come from a place (U.K.) where people are held back by marijuana charges, misjudged, and not given a chance to prove themselves. Here in Arizona, the expungement campaign is a step in the right direction to rebuild a better community.”
Once their internships are complete, Mimi, Asha, and Holly are either certain they will pursue, or leaning toward, careers as attorneys.
“I want to go to law school and become a criminal defense attorney,” Mimi said. “I want to contribute towards protecting individuals’ rights and ensuring everyone receives a fair trial and due process under the law.
“I hate to see abuse of power,” Mimi added, “and I think everyone should be treated the same way regardless of status.
Working together on the only state-funded expungement effort in Arizona has turned this trio of tenacious interns into good friends and passionate advocates for expungement.
“Mimi is incredibly sweet, selfless, and always willing to give a helping hand,” Asha said. “And Holly is a true team player and advocate for what the expungement project is all about, doing everything and anything possible to get the best results. I look forward to learning from both of them the rest of this summer.”
Meet Mimi, Asha, and Holly at our next expungement clinic in Phoenix on Thursday, August 17, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Mesquite Library, 4525 E. Paradise Village Pkwy. N. For details, see https://azexpunge.org/legal-clinic/marijuana-expungement-clinic-phoenix-08-17-23/.
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