The years of work that Becca Heller has put in as a human rights lawyer who works as director and co-founder of the Manhattan-based International Refugee Assistance Project has paid off in the form of a “genius” grant from the MacArthur Foundation.

Heller is part of a group of 25 journalists, artists, scientists and others who were picked for the prestigious fellowship. The fellows receive $625,000 grants that are distributed over five years; Heller was the only practicing attorney to make the cut. The names of the nominators and their selection process are mostly kept secret.