Sherwin Lee Siy Memorial Fund

Please help us honor Sherwin Lee Siy’s legacy of activism and mentorship by supporting the next generation of policy advocates through an endowed fellowship in his name.

Sherwin Lee Siy was a pillar of our organization for nearly 10 years and a passionate advocate for the openness of information in the digital era. His openness and enthusiasm as a mentor to young advocates left a lasting mark across the entire field.

With the support of Sherwin’s friends and family, Public Knowledge has created a memorial fund to endow a fellowship. This will be part of our PKTrains program to train the next generation of public interest advocates in tech policy. Thanks to the generous donors who have helped Public Knowledge reach over 30% of our $1.5 million goal, we can expand the PKTrains program to create a more diverse pool of advocates in our field.

This campaign has allowed us to support three Sherwin Lee Siy Memorial Interns over the past three summers. Iltaff Bala, our inaugural Sherwin Lee Siy Memorial Intern, hails from Sherwin’s hometown of Houston, Texas, and is a passionate advocate for social justice. She graduated from Case Western Reserve University Law School in 2023. She is now a clinical teaching fellow at the Communications and Technology Law Clinic at Georgetown. The Summer 2023 Sherwin Lee Siy Memorial Intern, Yujung Rho, is a law student at Georgetown University, and is aiming to transition from a career in technology to one deeply rooted in tech policy advocacy. The Summer 2024 Sherwin Lee Siy Memorial Intern, Ifeacho Awachie, is a law student at Howard University. He is a musician who is passionate about policy issues related to copyright and artificial intelligence.

With this fellowship, we intend to build upon Sherwin’s life work and fundamentally transform how advocates in our field represent the growing diversity within this country. You can learn more about Sherwin and his impact on the field in this video honoring his memory.

To contribute to the fund, please use the form below to make a tax-deductible donation. You can also make an annual pledge at publicknowledge.org/LeeSiyFundPledge.

To make a gift of pledge over $10,000, please contact us at SherwinLeeSiyMemorialFund@gmail.com. You can also mail a check to the following address:

Public Knowledge
1818 N Street NW
Suite 410
Washington, DC 20036
Memo Line: Sherwin Lee Siy Fund

VISIONARY – $100,000 +

• Custom Benefits Package (Choose any two):
  • Chris Lewis “Good day to do public interest work” coffee mug
  • Future IP3 Awards judges committee
  • One Privileged Conversations guest speaker opportunity
  • Lunch with PK President & CEO
  • Sponsorship and Remarks at Emerging Tech event
  • Invitation to propose and co-create a custom benefit activation
• VIP Reception at Public Knowledge’s IP3 Awards
• Sherwin Lee Siy Memorial Fund Donor Award
• Logo on Sherwin Lee Siy Memorial Fund webpage and appropriate materials
• Logo on the IP3 Awards program, webpage, and appropriate materials
• Framed Poem Authored by Sherwin Lee Siy
• Ten Tickets to Public Knowledge’s IP3 Awards

CHAMPION – $50,000 – $99,999

ADVOCATES – $25,000 – $49,999

FRIENDS – $10,000 – $24,999

Photo Credit: Myleen Hollero, Wikimedia