Marco Balestri, CC'22 Named Samvid Scholar

Congratulations to Marco Balestri CC'22 for being named a Samvid Scholar!

The Samvid Scholars Program was established in 2021 by Samvid Ventures to invest in the graduate education of future leaders who are committed to effecting positive change in society. The program provides two years of tuition funding for students in graduate schools across the United States, in addition to professional development support, leadership training, and mentoring. The 2025 Samvid Scholars will be the program's fifth cohort; read all about them here!

Marco Balestri CC’22 is a lifelong New Yorker. At Columbia, he majored in History, and won the Chanler Historical Prize for his thesis examining the disenfranchisement of naturalized immigrants under the 1922 New York State Literacy Test Law. Marco’s thesis was inspired by his work at the Brennan Center for Justice and as an organizer on multiple Senate and Congressional campaigns. Since 2022, Marco has worked at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, helping more than 185 families remain in their homes and securing more than $2.2 million in rental assistance for his clients. At NDS, he also founded a citywide working group of lawyers and advocates to improve access to public benefits, spearheaded the publication of a New York Times article on housing voucher access, and testified before the New York City Council. As a Samvid Scholar, Marco will pursue a JD at Harvard Law School. He hopes to focus on the intersection of indigent defense and systemic legal reform, with an interest in promoting legal education to help grassroots organizations build lasting power.