Post-Graduate Opportunity for Legal Fellowship Sponsorship in Education Advocacy for NYC Students at Advocates for Children of New York, Inc.

Advocates for Children of New York seeks to sponsor a rising 3L or eligible recent law school graduate for post-graduate public interest legal project fellowships (such as Equal Justice Works and Skadden) in education advocacy.

Applicants should send a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references to Deran Cadotte at afcfellowship@advocatesforchildren.orgwith the subject “Fellowship Sponsorship Application” as soon as possible, but no later than July 8th, 2011. 

Post-Graduate Opportunity for Legal Fellowship Sponsorship in Education Advocacy for NYC Students at Advocates for Children of New York, Inc.

Advocates for Children of New York, Inc. (AFC) seeks a Post-Graduate Legal Fellow to work in one or more of the following areas:

• Direct representation of individual children and parents in school-related matters, including special education hearings and suspension hearings;
• Community education and training for parents and professionals on students’ and parents’ rights; and/or
• Policy reform to address systemic barriers to quality education for New York City students.

AFC promotes access to the best education New York can provide for all students, especially students of color and students from low-income backgrounds. We use uniquely integrated strategies to advance systemic reform, empower families and communities, and advocate for the educational rights of individual students.

Organizations such as Equal Justice Works and the law firm of Skadden, Arps offer fellowships to enable recent law school graduates to work full-time at public interest organizations for one or two years. AFC seeks to sponsor a recent law school graduate for a fellowship in education advocacy beginning in September 2012.

Interested applicants should send a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references to Deran Cadotte at afcfellowship@advocatesforchildren.org with the subject “Fellowship Sponsorship Application” as soon as possible, but no later than July 8th, 2011. AFC will review applications and make a decision on a rolling basis. Once AFC agrees to sponsor a candidate, AFC and the candidate will work together to apply in the fall for funding from the organizations offering fellowships. AFC will work with the candidate to craft a project that fits the interests of the candidate and helps to meet the community needs that AFC sees.

AFC is proud that our candidates have received Skadden or Equal Justice Works fellowships in four of the past five years. These fellowship projects have focused on early childhood education, students with behavioral challenges, students at charter schools, and students transitioning out of foster care. We are committed to providing strong supervision, training, and mentorship to our fellows.

Applicants must be entering their third year of law school or be recent law school graduates.

AFC is an affirmative action employer that actively seeks to recruit and retain a diverse staff and especially encourages applications from people of color, persons with disabilities, persons of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or gender expressions, and persons of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.