OPD was recently chosen as one of four sites to hos the summer, 12-week Community Engagement Fellowship. OPD joins the Alameda County Public Defenders in Oakland, CA, the Nashville Metropolitan Public Defender's Office, and the Legal Aid Society in New York.
The BPDA Community Engagement Fellowship is a 12-week summer program that pairs Black undergraduate and graduate HBCU students, who aspire to do racial equity and community defense work, with public defender offices. This internship opportunity will offer hands-on lessons about addressing systemic issues of racism that plague the legal system while inspiring young people to achieve their educational goals and consider careers in public defense.
"We are thrilled and honored to be chosen for the fellowship and to be in the company of some extraordinary fighters for justice. There is much work to be done at the local and state level, in both policy and practice, to write the sins of the past and ensure they do not follow us into the future.
Building a pipeline of Black defenders is one of BPDA’s core pillars. BPDA exists to support all Black defenders, including attorneys, paralegals, social workers, mitigation specialists, investigators, and client advocates. The BPDA Community Engagement Fellowship is open to students seeking careers in all areas of public defense. The BPDA Community Engagement Fellowship also provides an opportunity for four public defender offices access to a fully paid full-time intern for the summer at little to no cost to them. The goal is for public defender offices to be able to implement a project or program that expands their outreach to the communities they serve in an effort to promote racial equity.
OPD will utilize our fellow to expand our policy advocacy and outreach at the local and state level. New Orleans remains one of the most incarcerated places on Earth. Injustice, discrimination, and inequity loom large in our criminal legal system. While we regularly partner with our community and other stakeholders to combat these injustices, reform our criminal legal system, and create a supportive and healthy community, there is much work to be done. .
For more information on the Black Public Defender Association and the Community Engagement Fellowship, visit their website.
