2024 Allen County Bar Foundation Scholarship Winners Announced

For the third consecutive year, the Allen County Bar Foundation (ACBF) has awarded scholarships to students with ties to Allen County, Indiana to support and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the Allen County legal community.

This year’s winners are La’Kendra Deitche and Lauren Monasa. Each will receive $3,000 for tuition and fees or for bar exam preparation. This year, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP and Stewart Richardson Deposition Services have generously contributed funds to this scholarship.

Ms. Deitche graduated from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in May 2024 and is preparing to take the Indiana bar examination later this year. While in law school, she was a member of the Student Diversity Advisory Board, served as the first Black president of the Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF), founded the Disabled Law Students Association (DLSA), and worked as a research assistant to the DEI director, among other things. She also completed an internship with the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, in Washington, D.C. After graduation from law school, she returned to Allen County to clerk for the Allen County Superior Court - Civil Division. Her hope is to make a career in Allen County practicing Civil Rights law and eventually to open a non-profit in Fort Wayne focusing on helping individuals from marginalized and historically excluded communities such as black and brown people, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQiA+ community.

Ms. Monasa currently attends Indiana University Maurer School of Law. While there, she has worked with District 10, a law practice that provides free legal services to people with low incomes, as well as Indiana Legal Services. She is also a part of OUTlaw, a club on campus that elevates LGBTQ+ identities and allies. She was born and raised in Allen County, and she plans to return to live and work there upon graduation.

These remarkable students join a list of other accomplished winners in receiving the ACBF Legal Opportunity Scholarship. Over the past three years, the ACBF has given away almost $20,000 in scholarships to advance its efforts of increasing DEI in the Allen County legal community.

The ACBF is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to promoting civic engagement and knowledge of the law. To accomplish its mission, the ACBF gathers and directs resources to programs and organizations that educate individuals in Allen County and Northeast Indiana about civics and the law. The ACBF Board includes board members from the bench, bar, and the community.