Job o’ the Day: Street Vendor Project Legal Fellow with the Urban Justice Center in NYC
by Ashley Matthews, PSJD Fellow
The Urban Justice Center’s Street Vendor Project focuses on protecting the rights of the largest group of small business owners in New York City: the 10,000+ retailers that struggle to make ends meet by selling everything from hot dogs to books on the streets of the Big Apple. Most street vendors are recent immigrants and people of color who are vulnerable to discrimination despite being hardworking entrepreneurs.
The Street Vendor Project is on the front lines to change the NYC system of oppression and provide access to legal services for street vendors. Want to join them? Read on to see their job description from PSJD.org:
The Street Vendor Project (SVP) of the Urban Justice Center announces the opportunity to apply for sponsorship for post-graduate legal fellowships starting in the fall of 2014 (applications due fall 2013). SVP seeks rising third-year law students and recent law graduates currently in clerkships or with clerkships beginning in the fall to sponsor for public interest law fellowships offered by the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, Equal Justice Works, Kirkland & Ellis New York City Public Service Fellowship Program, Arthur Liman Public Interest Program, and other similar programs that provide funding to new attorneys seeking to design projects to meet unmet legal needs, all within the supervision of an established public interest organization.
SVP is a grassroots project that seeks to advance economic opportunity, social justice, and civil rights for the thousands of people who sell food and merchandise on the streets and sidewalks of New York City. Vendors have a proud history in NYC that stretches back over 200 years. We provide a range of legal and advocacy services – representing vendors at administrative and criminal hearings, providing legal training for vendors to educate them about their rights and responsibilities, and filing lawsuits on behalf of vendors when their rights have been denied. SVP also works to build vendor leaders and an entire community that can make its voice heard before police precincts, community boards, and other policymakers. For more information, visit www.streetvendor.org.
Interested applicants should send a resume and cover letter briefly describing their interest in being considered for sponsorship. Applicants should have a basic familiarity with the fellowship opportunities available and the requirements of each. Please note: this is not a job posting. General application materials will not be considered. Email the requested documents to svp@urbanjustice.org. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.
To see the full job description, log in to PSJD.org!