Inaugural class of Affirmative Leaders Fellows to be selected in the spring of 2019
Oakland, Calif. — Today, Public Rights Project launched a new fellowship to help state and local government offices expand their capacity to protect our communities. An innovative yearlong training and professional development program, the Public Rights Project Affirmative Leaders Fellowship is designed for practicing government attorneys seeking to develop or sharpen their affirmative litigation skills. Attorneys selected from across the nation will have the opportunity to establish, expand, or enhance their office’s capacity to vindicate their residents’ rights to economic, racial, gender, and environmental justice.
State and local government law offices have the ability to initiate actions to address violations of local, state, and federal laws that harm their communities. They can enforce laws that protect individuals’ abilities to take out a mortgage, gain equal access to housing or a job, invest in their education, drink clean water, and breathe clean air. When those laws go unenforced, our communities suffer. Public Rights Project seeks to catalyze state and local efforts to ensure compliance with these laws through effective, impactful affirmative litigation.
The Affirmative Leaders Fellowship offers selected attorneys a year of intensive, concrete skills-building training and the mentorship of experienced leaders in public impact litigation. The inaugural cohort of fellows will receive training in affirmative litigation strategies, policy research, coalition-building, community engagement, and public leadership. With the support of the Public Rights Project and access to its national network of affirmative litigation leaders, Fellows will be empowered with practical tools to pursue civil enforcement cases to protect vulnerable residents in their communities.
“State and local public law offices are one of the great untapped resources in the struggle for social justice,” said Jill Habig, Founder and President of Public Rights Project. “We talk to many offices that want to do more to protect their communities and are eager to develop the skills to do so. The Affirmative Leaders Fellowship will help offices and their attorneys develop those skills so that they’re able to more effectively defend the rights of their residents.”
Applications for the inaugural cohort of Affirmative Leaders Fellows will be accepted until March 8, 2019.
To apply, click here.
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