Education Law/Policy/Organizing Fellowship
National Coalition on School Diversity
Washington, D.C. (Currently Remote and/or Hybrid)
This fellowship offers a 2022 JD graduate the opportunity to work for one year with the National Coalition on School Diversity (NCSD), which is housed at the Washington-DC based Poverty & Race Research Action Council (PRRAC). The fellowship is open to JD students graduating in May 2022.
The National Coalition on School Diversity is seeking a Law/Policy/Organizing Fellow to assist NCSD with: outreach, organizing, and network-building efforts; analysis and development of federal, state, and/or local education policies; and legislative and administrative advocacy. The Law/Policy/Organizing Fellow will play a critical role in advancing NCSD’s policy goals by connecting local stakeholders/activists, advocates, and scholars with federal, state, and local policymakers (and one another). The fellow will work closely with NCSD staff, including its communications staff, to strengthen NCSD’s advocacy by effectively elevating lived experiences and research evidence; centering and amplifying youth voices; increasing the visibility of local and state efforts; and building authentic, reciprocal relationships between advocates, scholars, and grassroots stakeholders/activists (primarily students, parents, and educators). This is a great opportunity for recent graduates looking to weave together interests and skills in legal/policy advocacy, grassroots organizing, educational justice, and communications.
Founded in 2009, the National Coalition on School Diversity (NCSD) is a cross-sector network of 50+ national civil rights organizations, university-based research centers, and state and local coalitions working to expand support for school integration across the United States. NCSD functions as the main hub of the school integration movement, supporting its members in designing, enacting, implementing, and uplifting PK-12 public school integration policies and practices. NCSD is housed at the Poverty & Race Research Action Council (PRRAC), a civil rights policy organization based in Washington, DC. PRRAC’s primary mission is to help connect advocates with social scientists working on race and poverty issues, and to develop innovative approaches to structural inequality issues. PRRAC’s work explores the causes and consequences of housing and school segregation, and emphasizes the development of appropriate remedial strategies.
Qualifications: The fellowship is open to JD students graduating in May 2022. The ideal candidate for this position would have exceptional written and oral communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively and creatively across different constituencies (e.g. policy experts, media, and students/parents/educators). This is a new position at NCSD, and the selected fellow will have a role in shaping it. To be most successful, therefore, the fellow must be: proactive; a strategic and creative thinker; able to work well both independently and collaboratively; and committed to forming relationships with our member organizations and partners. The ideal candidate will: have prior experience working with youth, parents, and/or educators and/or as an organizer; be passionate about educational equity, school integration, youth leadership, racial justice, and systemic change; possess the ability to effectively situate their own experiences within the education system and articulate their connection to NCSD’s work in a compelling way; enjoy building networks, conducting outreach, and engaging and relating with people; have demonstrated capacity to effectively facilitate trainings and group processes; and deeply believe in the importance of cross-racial/cross-class/cross-generational work. Familiarity with and desire to actively apply movement law, critical race theory, reproductive justice, and other frameworks is a plus. A law degree at the time of employment is required. The position would be primarily supervised by NCSD’s Director, Gina Chirichigno, and PRRAC’s Executive Director, Philip Tegeler.
COVID-19: PRRAC has been working remotely, with some staff voluntarily coming into the office a couple days a week. We will be reevaluating this policy in 2022 and expect that there will be a shift back to a more frequent in-office presence. All staff are required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination. This position is based in Washington, DC.
Application: Applicants must submit a resume, brief statement of interest, two references (one academic and one character/personal, e.g. a mentor, peer, or former supervisor), and two relevant writing samples. Materials should be submitted to Gina Chirichigno at gchirichigno@prrac.org (or through your law school’s application system, if applicable). Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The National Coalition on School Diversity happily considers requests to host individuals for fellowships, where the projects align with our areas of expertise and the fellow is able to identify their own outside source of funding.
This includes current law students from any ABA-accredited law school seeking a postgraduate fellowship that is partially or fully funded by an external source, such as a Skadden fellowship, Equal Justice Works, Justice Catalyst, Soros, or a program funded by your school.
If you would like to explore potential opportunities, please contact Gina Chirichigno at gchirichigno@prrac.org.