Meet FOWI Alum, Tanya Pierce, A Force for Justice

There are some women whose very presence commands change. Tanya Pierce is one of them.

A mother. A law student. A survivor. A sister.

Tanya walks with the weight of a story that could have broken her, but instead, she built a path to power from the rubble. Today, she stands at the intersection of lived experience and legal brilliance as a 2L at Mitchell Hamline School of Law and The LOHM’s first-ever Law Clerk. Through the Minnesota Justice Foundation’s Public Service Program, Tanya is not only studying the law — she’s wielding it.

As Chairwoman of our #RemissionNow Campaign Legislative Committee, Tanya, with fierce grace, carries the voices of women shackled by restitution into the halls of power. With every meeting, every policy brief, every impassioned speech, she demands what the system was never built to give us: fairness. dignity. repair.

As LOHM’s liaison to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Tanya helps lead the charge for the Fairness in Restitution Act because she knows firsthand what it means to be criminalized and then billed for your own oppression. She also supports our clemency work — offering hope, second chances, and legal support to those still behind bars.

Tanya is the kind of woman who makes it impossible to forget that justice-impacted does not mean powerless.

“Women impacted by restitution deserve more than reform, they deserve justice.” — Tanya Pierce

Her dream is to become a white collar Federal Defense Attorney. But she’s already defending something far greater — our right to be more than what we’ve been through.

At The LOHM, we don’t just believe in second chances. We believe in resurrection. We believe in taking what was meant to destroy us and turning it into purpose. And we believe that when one of us rises, we all do.

Tanya Pierce is rising. And we’re lifting with her.