Pro Se Collaborative

On November 11, 2025, the Bernstein Institute’s Justice Power project partnered with the Pro Se Collaborative to host Self-Representation as Resistance: Legal Empowerment in the New York City Area. The Pro Se Collaborative is a decentralized network of immigrant rights organizations based in the tristate area. The Collaborative is co-led by South Brooklyn Sanctuary and The Ark at CBST.

The convening brought together more than 125 community members, organizers and attorneys from across the region to strengthen collective responses to escalating attacks on immigrant communities. It served as a critical space for coordination, political education, and cross-regional collaboration at a moment of escalating attacks on immigrant communities. Participants examined how organizations supporting self-representation are responding to the current administration’s enforcement agenda through innovative and community-rooted strategies, including pro se legal clinics, mutual aid infrastructure, accompaniment programs, and neighborhood-based rapid response efforts.

Through sessions including Community Organizing in the Era of Mass Detention, Self-Representation Initiatives in the New York City Area, and Cross-Regional Learnings in Self-Representation, the convening elevated emerging models of legal empowerment and reinforced the growing movement for community-driven access to justice. The event strengthened networks among organizers and legal advocates while creating opportunities to share tools, lessons, and strategies across regions.

Speakers included representatives from Mi Tlalli, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Lighthouse Equality Advocacy Project, Co-Counsel NYC, The Ark at CBST, South Brooklyn Sanctuary, Beyond Legal Aid, ÓRALE, OCAD, and the Acacia Center for Justice.