Legal Fellowship Sponsorship in Education Advocacy

Advocates For Children (AFC) is a dynamic social justice organization that strives to ensure a high-quality education for New York students who face barriers to academic success, focusing on students from low-income backgrounds. AFC works on behalf of children and youth who are at greatest risk of academic failure due to poverty, race, ethnicity, disability, homelessness, immigration status/limited English proficiency, or involvement in the child welfare or juvenile/criminal legal systems. We use uniquely integrated strategies to advance systemic reform, empower families and communities, and advocate for the educational rights of individual students. For more information on AFC, see www.advocatesforchildren.org.

Fellowship Description

AFC seeks to sponsor a recent law school graduate for a fellowship in education advocacy beginning in September 2026. We are particularly interested in working with a candidate to craft a project to increase access to early childhood education, focused on either children living in shelter or children with autism.

Organizations such as Equal Justice Works and the law firm Skadden offer fellowships to enable recent law school graduates to work full-time at public interest organizations for one or two years. AFC has a long history of working with candidates to secure fellowships. Fellows have meaningfully contributed to our work in a variety of areas including early childhood education, school discipline, students at charter schools, students transitioning out of foster care, and students struggling with school avoidance. We are committed to providing strong supervision, training, and mentorship to our fellows.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Post-Graduate Legal Fellow will work in the following areas to increase access to early childhood education programs for children living in shelter or children who have autism:

• Direct representation of individual students and parents in education-related matters, including advocating on behalf of families in meetings with City agencies and litigating special education hearings to help parents exercise their rights to appropriate early intervention, preschool, and elementary school services and placements for their young children;
• Community education and training for parents and professionals on the educational rights of students and parents; and
• Policy advocacy to address systemic barriers to securing high-quality early childhood education for NYC students.

More specific duties and responsibilities will be established as we develop the project with the selected candidate.

Minimum Qualifications

• Applicants must be entering their third year of law school or be recent law school graduates who are eligible for these fellowships (e.g., graduating law students who are clerking next year);
• Understanding of and alignment with AFC’s mission. Please review AFC’s work at advocatesforchildren.org;
• Experience in education advocacy or disability advocacy preferred;
• Spanish fluency is preferred;
• Participation in a law school clinic and internships at nonprofit organizations preferred;
• Ability to effectively engage across cultures, identities, and ethnicities;
• Organized, detail oriented, flexible, and able to work independently;
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills;
• Strong writing ability;
• Ability to work collaboratively with teammates and partners;
• Strong presentation skills and comfort with public speaking;
• Ability to engage with a variety of stakeholders that include parents, community partners, and New York City Public Schools staff; and
• Desire to learn, both as an individual and as part of an organization, and apply diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism principles.

How to Apply

Candidates should submit a resume and cover letter highlighting their interest in developing a fellowship project with AFC and any personal or professional experience that demonstrates their connection to the populations AFC serves. Please apply as soon as possible but no later than July 18, 2025. AFC will review applications on a rolling basis through that deadline. 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.

Compensation

Selection of a candidate does not guarantee employment unless you are awarded a fellowship. This would be a full-time position, with a salary in the $83,899 to $88,657 range depending on when the candidate graduated from law school, and includes a comprehensive benefits package.

Currently, all AFC positions are expected to work at least 2 days a week in the office and may generally work remotely on the remaining days.

ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION INFORMATION

AFC’s current compensation package includes medical and dental insurance, with a plan option that covers full payment of medical plan premiums for staff and their qualified dependents. AFC has generous time-off policies that include 10 federal holidays, office closure between Christmas and New Year’s Day, and 15 vacation days and 15 paid time off days in the first year of employment. AFC also currently offers a 403(b) plan with a fully vested employer match and coverage of the premium cost of life insurance, short-term disability insurance, and long-term disability insurance.

AFC is an equal opportunity employer that actively seeks to recruit and retain a diverse staff and especially encourages all applications including from people of color, persons with disabilities, parents of persons with disabilities, persons of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or gender expressions and persons of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. AFC is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation when requested by a qualified applicant or employee with a disability or other protected characteristic. The policy regarding requests for reasonable accommodation applies to all aspects of employment, including the application process. To request accommodations, please email HR@advocatesforchildren.org.