THE PROGRAM
Administered through AFCA, the Garvey-Nkrumah Fellowship Program is a summer leadership and professional development initiative designed to train aspiring lawyers of African descent in areas of law and the legal profession where such lawyers are grossly underrepresented: international law, public policy, and conflict resolution. The objective of this initiative includes facilitating the following program principles when addressing global issues (e.g., social justice, economic development) that disproportionately impact the African diaspora:
- Solidarity
- Capacity Building
- Collaboration
- Solutions
- Application of Solutions
Established in honor of international civil rights leaders, political theorists, and dignitaries Marcus Garvey and Kwame Nkrumah, this fellowship provides a comprehensive “experiential learning laboratory” for program participants. Specifically, fellows receive professional development experience through legal internships and capstone projects designed to advance solutions that address targeted legal, social, economic, and/or public policy issues within the following regions: Africa, the Caribbean, and the U.S
Areas of Concentration
Areas of Concentration: this fellowship provides training and development in the following areas of law:
- Civil & Human Rights
- International Trade & Development
- Public Policy
- Conflict & Dispute Resolution
Program Eligibility
To qualify for this program, applicants must be matriculated students and/or members of the following accredited legal, graduate, or professional education programs or membership organizations:
- U.S. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)
- Continental African Colleges and Universities
- Caribbean Colleges and Universities
- U.S. students that are current members of a Diaspora-based professional organization (e.g. Black Law Students Association (BLSA) | National Bar Association | Urban League |Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) | National Black MBA Association | NAACP
Fellowship Components
Fellowship Components: over the course of the fellowship, fellows engage in three major programmatic components:
- Legal Boot Camp (training seminars),
- Field Placement Assignments (legal internships & capstone projects), Policy & Diplomacy.
- Legal Boot Camp (training seminars): prior to and in preparation of their internships and/or capstone projects (“Field Placement Assignments”), fellows complete an intense legal boot camp that synthesizes training in international law, public policy, and conflict resolution. The faculty for these training seminars include lawyers and subject matter experts from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and the U.S. Field
- Placement Assignments (legal internships & capstone projects): after completing the Legal Boot Camp, fellows receive professional development experience through field placement assignments with program partners
- Policy & Diplomacy: at the conclusion of the program, fellows share their field placement findings and engage in solutions based dialogue and communication with government officials, policymakers, as well as the diplomatic, civil society, legal and business communities
