WLALA Fran Kandel Public Interest Fellowships 2019
Due: March 4, 2019, by 5:00pm | The Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles (WLALA) Fran Kandel Public Interest Fellowship enables law students to work with an organization or individually to develop and implement a project in the field of public interest law, in the spirit of Fran Kandel. The WLALA Foundation is a non-profit charitable corporation created to increase the utility of the law as an instrument of social justice. Since 1985, the WLALA Foundation has awarded over 30 law student grants totaling over $130,000.
The WLALA Kandel Fellowship is designed to fund particular projects with a tangible outcome. While not intended for purely academic research, the fellowship can support an internship with a project component. Strong preference is given to applicants who have the support of a sponsoring organization and who have arranged for an organization or suitable individual to supervise their project. Each Kandel Fellow may receive up to $5,000 as a stipend. Fellows may also accept school or other public interest funding.
The purpose of the WLALA Kandel Fellowship is to:
- Provide help to the disadvantaged by funding original projects that will directly
benefit the under-
represented in the greater Los Angeles area; - Educate and expose law students to legal concerns affecting the disadvantaged; and
- Encourage the legal community's involvement in public interest law by funding students who show the capability of and commitment to assisting those in need.
Examples of Past Projects:
WLALA awarded two Kandel Fellowships in 2018. One fellow interned at the Counsel on American
Islamic Relations and created a seminar about legal rights for immigrant and refugee women who face
domestic abuse in the Los Angeles region and the other fellow interned at Asian Americans Advancing
Justice and created know-your-rights materials for Filipino migrant workers. You can view these and other previous projects at www.wlala.org/page/89.
Completion Requirements:
Completion requires recipients to (1) present the finished project three times to
different groups that would most benefit from the information provided; and/or (2)
present the finished project one or two times to different relevant groups and prepare
an article to be published in the WLALA newsletter and/or other relevant journal,
newsletter, or publication describing the completed project.
Application Instructions:
To apply, please send a resume and responses to the essay topics below. Please type
your essays, single-
spaced, on separate pages. Put your name and the essay letter at the top of each page.
Devoting no more than 500 words to each, please discuss:
A. Your specific proposal, including: (i) the goals and intended tangible results;
(ii) the target
population and what need(s) the proposal will meet; (iii) if you will be working under
an organization's
auspices, information about the organization and contact information for the supervising
person; (iv) the
activities that will accomplish the proposal's objective; (v) what makes your proposal
worthy of funding;
(vi) information about similar materials currently available in the greater Los Angeles
area and how your
proposal's intended tangible results differ; and (vii) a proposed project timeline
and the ability to timely
complete it no later than August 31, 2019.
B. Your background - personal, educational, and professional - Discuss experiences
that you believe
demonstrate your commitment to the public interest; indicate what you expect to learn
from your project and how it ties in with your career goals. Include any other information
you believe makes you and your project appropriate for a WLALA Fran Kandel Public
Interest Fellowship.
C. (Optional) Budget – In addition to the up to $5,000 stipend for you, funds may
be requested for
costs of your project. Previous costs have been awarded for amounts ranging $500 to
$2,500. Provide a
specific breakdown and explanation of each expense you intend to incur (i.e., printing,
video production).
Submit applications by email to nramirez@lacourt.org and sarah.quist@usdoj.gov with subject line
"WLALA Kandel Grant Application." Applications must be received by 5:00 p.m., Monday, March 4,
2019. Finalists will be requested to provide the name, address, and telephone number for
one academic
reference and one work reference.
Questions? Contact Co-Chairs of WLALA's Grant Committee:
Hon. Nancy Ramirez
(661) 483-5986
Sarah Quist
(213) 894-0609