Dear Friends,
And, just like that, it’s fall again. One of the things we love about IfRFA being based at clinics is that our supervisors truly understand that each year is an opportunity to build on the successes (and learnings) of the previous cycle. This enables us to take the stuff that works into our next time through and use the feedback we're given to improve the program.
That's especially poignant this fall, as we're warily wondering if we might finally be able to get to meet our fellows in person. Since IfRFA's first workshop was supposed to take place in March 2020, we've been fully remote, both with our fellows and our bonding events. Nonetheless, there have definitely been some highlights - we've been able to provide more flexibility to fellows in terms of summer placements, we've gotten to build expertise at providing remote support, and our fellows have been able to concentrate on their work and focus less on logistical concerns, like moving. But it's hard not to yearn for the opportunity to all gather over a meal or have an in-person discussion.
That means that this year may be a bit of a turning point for the program. We hope to convene folks in-person, but it's unclear what things will be like in March 2022, or if we'll be serving our students in the best way possible if we push for in-person events. As a program that also serves folks with disabilities, providing remote-first events has meant that we don't have to ask our immunocompromised fellows to share their medical information with us, or to make compromises about who can participate and how. Maybe our post-COVID world can look better, not just different, in terms of adapting to the needs of individuals. Plenty to chew on, especially as some of our team has returned to the office.
What’s IfRFA been up to:
Our 2020-2021 cohort year consisted of
four fellows who all shared that they had meaningful summer clinic experiences. The cohort placements were as follows:
- Iltaff Bala was at the University of California, Berkeley’s Law and Technology Clinic.
- Nirali Vyas was at the University of Georgia School of Law’s First Amendment Clinic.
- Elias Schmidt was at the Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic.
- Makela Hayford was at Tulane Law School’s First Amendment Clinic.
We kicked off the year in March 2021 with our IfRFA Cohort Workshop where we had two full days of First Amendment crash course(s) for our fellows along with some low-key hot chocolate social networking. Over the summer, our fellows met with the IfRFA team once a week for virtual sessions on various topics that included navigating the workplace, networking, and learning
more about the First Amendment.
We were also fortunate enough to work with
She Geeks Out (SGO+) to provide a virtual DEI training workshop to our clinic sites. Supervisors at each clinic were required to complete an online course on unconscious bias in the workplace in preparation for a DEI training workshop, which took place on May 14, 2021. We've received rave reviews about the workshop and look forward to collaborating with SGO+ in the future.
Lastly, we want to give a very special shout-out to
Jenny Korn for running the IfRFA fellows POC check-ins this summer and
Lorilei W. who gave a fantastic and much-needed presentation on ACAT: Trauma-Informed, Anti-Racist Advocacy.
What’s up next:
The third round of IfRFA applications will go live on Thursday, December 2, 2021. We’re excited to open up the process to a brand new pool of applications. Information on what we offer and what we’re looking for can be found on our
website. Additionally, here’s a
preview of application questions that we’ll be asking. What’s important to know: All 1Ls and 2Ls can apply for the IfRFA fellowship between December 2, 2021 until January 10, 2022. We will not be reviewing any applications before January 10, so there’s no rush to apply as all apps will be surveyed at the same time.
For any questions, please email:
jkaur@law.harvard.edu.
Also, ICYMI: The
events page of the IfRFA website has all the videos of our events from the past year. If you missed out on anything, now’s the time to catch up!
Until next time!
The IfRFA Team