The Initiative:
The Initiative for Community Power at NYU (“The Initiative”) fosters deep community partnerships and brings decades of high-impact community organizing and power-building work. The Initiative catalyzes analysis, innovation, and project work to create a more equitable, democratic, and racially just society.
The Initiative combines scholarship, field-building, experiential education, convenings, field placements to study and challenge inequality and anti-democracy. The Initiative works closely with non-profit, academic and government partners to reimagine the parameters of the possible, and to transform our vision of dynamic democracy, rooted in racial and economic justice, into reality. The Initiative is housed within the Center on Race, Inequality and the Law at NYU School of Law.
The Fellowship/s:
The Initiative is seeking summer fellows interested in pursuing, or continuing, a career focused on community power-building, racial justice, movement lawyering and democratic engagement.
The Fellow/s will play an important role in the Initiative’s evolving work, under the supervision of the Initiative’s leadership. The Fellow will be expected to actively participate in the Initiative’s research, organizing, campaigning and organizational partnerships. Over the course of the fellowship, Fellows generally have the opportunity to produce research and engage deeply with deeply rooted, democratic organizations working to advance innovative strategies to promote justice and equity.
Fellows may also have the opportunity to manage and supervise other students and consultants engaged in work on the Center’s behalf.
A few priority projects for 2022 include:
- Promoting Power for Tenants: In partnership with key tenant organizations in New York City (Make the Road NY, Housing Justice for All, New York Communities for Change…), the Initiative is working on a campaign to create policy to promote tenant unions and tenant power;
- Promoting Progressive Governance: In partnership with Local Progress (a network of 1200 progressive local elected officials committed to racial and economic equity and partnership with base-building organizations), the Initiative is working to support the creation of resource materials on model policies and best practices; and
- Catalyzing Effective Power-building and Organizing Work with Lawyers: the Initiative is working to create a broad set of training materials and resources to help train law students and lawyering in effective community organizing practices and fostering deep, collaborative relationships with empowered constituency-based organizations.
- Supporting the development of social housing programs to create truly affordable, non-market housing for as many tenants as possible.
To apply, please submit the materials listed below in a single PDF to the Initiative’s Director, Andrew Friedman, at andrew.friedman@nyu.edu. Please use the subject line “2022 Summer Fellowship.” Your application should include:
- Cover letter describing your interest in, and qualifications for, the Fellowship program, including an explanation of why you would like to become a Fellow of the Center;
- Resume; and
- Writing sample
To learn more about the Initiative, please feel free to email the address above.