The prestigious Trustee Social Justice Legal Advocacy Fellowship provides an early career lawyer with an opportunity to spend two years as a staff attorney with the Institute. The Social Justice Fellow will work to advance social and racial justice on behalf of New Jersey’s urban communities in the Institute’s three programmatic areas: (1) economic mobility; (2) criminal justice reform; and (3) civic engagement. We are funding this fellowship through the generosity of trustees and friends of the Institute. To learn more about the position and to apply, please click here.

“The Social Justice Fellow will join the Institute at a critical moment in time, when our work in advancing economic justice, reimagining criminal justice, and building an inclusive democracy couldn’t be more important," said Douglas S. Eakeley, Institute Board Chair.

Through research, legal advocacy, and community engagement, the Institute works to address the roots of the issues that have challenged Newark in the fifty years since its rebellion. Community-police tensions and income inequality, in particular, have left too many residents outside of the opportunities available in this great city. The Institute advocates for systemic reform that is at once transformative, achievable in the city, and replicable in communities across the state and nation. As the then–Newark Mayor Kenneth Gibson said, “Wherever American cities are going, Newark will get there first.”

“This moment presents an important opportunity: in a year marking the 50th anniversary of both the Newark Rebellion and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ‘The Other America’ speech, New Jersey’s cities hold incredible promise to unite us around solutions to the greatest social and racial justice challenges of our time,” said Ryan P. Haygood, Institute President & CEO. “The solutions will come from the ground up in our cities, not from Washington, D.C. down. The Fellow will join our team in creating these solutions.”