Applying for Project Fellowship Sponsorship

Applying to potential host organization postings is generally straightforward and very similar to submitting a job application, usually including a cover letter, resume, writing sample, list of references, and sometimes a transcript.

Most organizations will ask that you submit a project idea. Even if they do not, we strongly recommend that you include something. Generally, you don't need a fully fleshed out proposal. You aren’t necessarily trying to sell the project itself; you are demonstrating that you are knowledgeable and passionate about this issue, that you can discuss the related problems in a compelling way, and that you have creative ideas about how to address it. 

---

Sponsorship Application Cover Letters

Unless they ask for a specific format, you can use a standard cover letter format, adding one or two paragraphs discussing your ideas. Because you are adding additional information, it is fine for your letter to go to two pages. For each idea that you include, be sure to identify and describe the underlying problem that your project would seek to address, not just the proposed work of the project. The more you connect the problem to the real people who are impacted by it, the more compelling it will be.

COVER LETTER SAMPLE 1 - Criminal Justice Reform

I am writing to apply for sponsorship from [ORG] for public interest project-based fellowships following my graduation next year from New York University School of Law, where I am currently a Root-Tilden-Kern Public Interest Scholar. My conversations with you and other staff members at [ORG] have confirmed that commitment to dismantling systemic oppression by working in collaboration with impacted communities aligns with my own values. Moreover, my experience with both civil rights litigation and advocacy within the criminal legal system will allow me to make a unique contribution to trial litigation program.

My commitment to civil rights work grew out of my lived experience as a first-generation/low-income college student. Recognizing that the support and knowledge-sharing I received from mentors and peers was integral to my navigation of college and career opportunities, I sought to expand educational access for other students like me who lacked similar resources. While working with lower-income young adults through internships at education nonprofits, I came to more fully grasp the interconnectedness between academic success and issues like housing insecurity and criminal legal system involvement. Examining the benefits and limitations of direct services work in remedying these systemic problems sparked my interest in alternative methods of achieving structural change, including legal advocacy. Consequently, after graduating from college, I took on a role as a paralegal at [ORG], a civil rights law firm. In addition to housing discrimination and disability rights matters, several of my assignments focused on police accountability. In one of my most memorable cases, a lawsuit representing Black Lives Matter protesters in DC who had been kettled by law enforcement officers, I interviewed plaintiffs, drafted portions of the complaint, and conducted supplementary research for briefs.

Throughout law school, I have continued to advocate for those caught in the clutches of the carceral system. Over my past two years as a volunteer and coordinator for the NYU Parole Advocacy Project, I have assisted incarcerated individuals as they prepare to go before the parole board and engaged in advocacy campaigns with local parole justice community organizations. My experience with the Project has not only deepened my understanding of the prison-industrial complex but also demonstrated to me the importance of centering the needs and decisions of system-impacted individuals in both movement work and the representation process. My summer internships have similarly reflected my passion for advocacy at the intersection of civil rights and the criminal legal system and have also enabled me to hone the skills I need to continue pursuing this work in the future. For example, in my current internship at [ORG], I have had the opportunity to assist on matters at various stages of the litigation process, from investigating a prospective client's case to preparing for a federal trial.

This fall, I plan on applying to the Skadden, Equal Justice Works, and Justice Catalyst fellowship programs, all of which have deadlines beginning in September 2023. Though I am still in the early stages of planning my fellowship project, I have developed two potential project ideas. The first focuses on challenging the collection and use of biometric data by law enforcement agencies in Illinois. This idea stems from my interest in police surveillance technology (a topic I have explored as a research assistant for Professor [XXX] and builds on 's existing work opposing the Chicago Police Department's (CPD) use of ShotSpotter. Though Illinois's Biometric Information Protection Act imposes strict guidelines for private companies' collection and storage of biometric data, the law does not apply ot public agencies like police departments, thereby allowing such agencies to obtain and misuse biometric data without external accountability or oversight. This practice is especially problematic given the flaws in software used to analyze biometric data—most notably, the significant errors facial recognition algorithms make when processing photographs of Black people and other people of color. My project would involve bringing a lawsuit on behalf of an individual who was wrongfully arrested after being misidentified based on a faulty biometric data analysis. The suit would allege that such an arrest violated the individual’s rights under the Fourth Amendment. As part of this project, I would submit Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to law enforcement agencies like the CPD to shine a light on their protocols around the collection and use of biometric data in arrests and investigations, including how they test and evaluate the accuracy of the software they use to analyze such data. Additionally, my project would involve a public education campaign about the lack of transparency around biometric data collection and use by law enforcement and the prejudice embedded into the algorithms that drive the technology processing this data.

The second idea, inspired by my work around parole justice in New York and Illinois, would challenge Illinois’s criminal-background-check requirement for applicants to nursing homes and other long-term assisted living facilities. Since 2014, approximately 17,000 adults aged 50 or older have transitioned out of Illinois state prisons, with thousands more expected to be released in the coming years. Many of these elders, along with numerous younger individuals with disabilities, will require supportive housing upon their release. Unfortunately, current state law allows nursing homes and similar care facilities to reject applicants simply because they have a criminal conviction, effectively preventing many formerly incarcerated elderly and disabled people from accessing supportive housing. Since those applying for clemency and medical release are often encouraged to highlight their reentry plans in their applications, uncertainty over placement eligibility in facilities can hinder individuals’ chances of gaining their freedom. What’s more, because Black and brown people are incarcerated at rates disproportionate to their share of Illinois’s total population, the exclusion of formerly incarcerated people from accessible housing facilities has a disparate impact on members of marginalized communities. To that end, I propose bringing a lawsuit under the Fair Housing Act alleging that nursing homes and assisted living facilities have unlawfully engaged in discrimination against people of color with criminal backgrounds. In preparing to file the case, I would first connect with elders and people with disabilities who are currently or formerly incarcerated to learn more about the specific challenges they have faced while seeking housing post-release. I would then investigate both the formal policies and informal practices of various housing providers with respect to the admission of individuals with criminal backgrounds through testing and records-gathering.

In addition to the ideas that I have outlined, I am excited to learn more about any project ideas the team at [ORG] has been considering. I very much appreciate you taking the time to consider my application for sponsorship, and I look forward to discussing my qualifications and ideas with you further.

Sincerely,

COVER LETTER SAMPLE 2 - Disability Justice

I am a rising third year law student at New York University School of Law, and I am writing to apply for a post-graduate fellowship position with [ORG]. 

I am deeply committed to serving low-income people with mental illness. My passion for mental health issues stems in part from personal relationships; my uncle, who is schizophrenic, was formerly homeless, and my close family friend is both mentally and physically disabled. I was inspired to attend law school by my mother, who from a young age served as a mother to her intellectually disabled older brother despite great personal hardship.

Through volunteering and internships, I have advocated on behalf of people with mental illness in many contexts, including homelessness prevention; public assistance and disability benefits; Veterans Administration law; and access to prison health care. This past year, as Chair of the NYU Mental Health Law Association, I organized panels and started an interdisciplinary discussion group for law students and psychiatry residents. One of my most moving experiences, during my internship last summer at the Urban Justice Center Mental Health Project, was to conduct weekly interviews with inmates about their mental health discharge planning in the New York City jail system. My conversations with these highly vulnerable men, women, and youth reinforced my desire to help others achieve stability and well-being.

In addition to my experience in mental health-related advocacy, I have sought out opportunities to gain general public interest legal skills. Before law school, I was an advocate at [ORG], where I worked with clients at risk of foreclosure; throughout law school, I have continued to volunteer with low-income consumers as a Board Member of the NYU Debtors’ Rights Project. I also have a background in immigration law, having served as the ‘Immigrant Access to Health Care Expert’ in the NYU Medical-Legal Advocacy Clinic and as a spring semester intern at the Immigrant Defense Project in Manhattan. This summer, I will gain litigation skills and training in California law as an intern in the Public Counsel Impact Litigation Unit. Finally, I look forward to developing familiarity with family law in the coming year, when I will represent low-income parents as a participant in the NYU Family Defense Clinic.  Throughout my internships, I have worked in Spanish with Spanish-speaking clients. I would be excited to bring all of my public interest skills to the table in developing a project for [ORG].

Though I am in the early planning stages, I can share three of my fellowship project ideas. I developed my first idea, a holistic autism project, in response to the impending 2013 revision of the definition of autism in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which will eliminate Asperger’s disorder and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and may affect access to autism-related services. My proposal is also a response to recent statistics revealing grave disparities in access to autism care in California. According to the Los Angeles Times, the California Department of Developmental Services spends an average of $11,723 per white child with autism between the ages of 3 and 6 – a critical age for treatment – while it spends only $7,634 per Latino child with autism and just $6,593 per black child. The recent surge in autism cases in the United States is well-documented; in California, about 45% of all new disability cases accepted by DDS are for autism. To assist autistic Los Angeles residents and their families, I would like to create a holistic general practice, focusing on access to autism therapy and health care, appropriate in-home or out-of-home living environments for adults, transitions from child to adult services, and employment assistance.

My second proposal reflects my passion for consumer protection law. From personal experience working with clients at risk of foreclosure and burdened with consumer debt, I believe that mental illnesses, such as anxiety disorders and bipolar disorder, can lead to crippling consumer debt, which in turn can have a devastating impact on mental health. In addition, people with mental illness, including the elderly, can be targeted by predatory lenders or easily intimidated by debt collectors. My proposal is a project to assist people with mental illness who face credit card debt, medical debt, harassment by predatory debt collectors, and other consumer legal issues. If this project is a good fit for [ORG] clients, I would also be willing to consider working with clients at risk of foreclosure or creating a meaningful foreclosure referral system.

My third proposal, based on my experience in the NYU Medical-Legal Advocacy Clinic, is to build a medical-legal partnership between [ORG] and a Los Angeles hospital to address the legal needs of psychiatric patients, either in a psychiatric hospital or a psychiatric ward. Through research and networking with attorneys working in medical-legal partnerships around the country, I have learned a great deal about the benefits of providing legal services in a medical setting; these include forging relationships with a client’s treating medical team and addressing the ‘social determinants of health’ through law. I would be willing to collaborate with or learn from the existing medical-legal partnerships in Los Angeles: the SHIELDS partnership with Public Counsel, the partnership through Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles (NLSLA), and the partnership through the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA).

Of course, I am willing to modify the ideas above or suggest others I have considered.  Above all, I am flexible and excited to learn more about the organizational needs of [ORG] and the issues facing your clients. Thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to meeting you.

Sincerely,

COVER LETTER SAMPLE 3 - Family Defense

I am a rising third-year student at New York University School of Law and current intern at Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem. I write to express my strong interest in the Fall 20## Project-Based Fellowship with the Collateral Consequences Team at NDS. My experience with NDS’s Civil Defense Team so far this summer confirmed my dedication to fighting against unjust civil consequences faced by systems-impacted families. For that reason, I would be thrilled to join NDS as a legal fellow next fall and continue to advance NDS’ mission of providing holistic defense to Harlem families.

I am particularly excited to partner with NDS for this fellowship because of the organization’s dedication to a community-based model of public defense. By engaging in community outreach and supporting clients through the ramifications of their cases, I appreciate how NDS puts low-income residents of Harlem first and meets clients where they are. It is of the utmost importance to me to partner with an organization that cultivates a supportive presence in the neighborhoods that it serves. From taking calls on the community hotline and learning about the process of prioritizing new clients this summer, it is evident to me that NDS cares for its communities.

I am deeply committed to serving low-income families, particularly those facing the collateral and cyclical consequences of contact with punitive legal systems. Through my work at the Women’s Prison Association, I witnessed how New York’s lack of supportive reentry housing and the glaring absence of assistance in navigating benefits and employment impeded our clients’ efforts to attain family stability in the aftermath of their involvement with the criminal legal system. This experience fueled my motivation to pursue a law degree to strengthen my ability to advocate for vulnerable families.

I have focused my work throughout law school on supporting low-income families. At Queens Legal Services, I represented a client appealing a finding of neglect in a State Central Registry hearing. Our client was managing her own health problems and difficulties securing employment, and was struggling to care for her four grandchildren who had recently been separated from their mother due to allegations of domestic violence in the home. Rather than providing this family with home assistance or placing them in a larger, more stable apartment, child welfare services chided our client for enlisting the help of nearby relatives, baselessly assuming Black male family members to be predatory and casting unfair skepticism over our client’s parenting methods. The underlying racism and paternalism of this system assigns blame to families of color rather than focusing on the deficit of institutional assistance provided to these families, perpetuating generational poverty and trauma.

My time at Brooklyn Defender Services’ Family Defense Practice deepened my understanding of the ways that the state punishes poor families. Working on multiple cases involving allegations of “messy” homes, poor housing conditions, or “failure to thrive,” showed me not only the web of challenges facing indigent families, but also that what families really need to succeed is stable, affordable housing and ongoing legal advocacy.

Many challenges faced by low-income families stem from civil legal issues: whether they were facing separation due to unsafe exposed wires in their home or struggling to reach a caseworker regarding their benefits to pay timely rent, parents risk losing their children due to systemic issues of poverty far beyond their control. I wanted to continue working at legal organizations sensitive to these systemic concerns and committed to combatting poverty, which is why I pursued internships with the Legal Aid Society’s Housing Justice Unit and with NDS’s Housing Defense Team. In both these experiences, I have found that my skill set – communicating empathetically with clients, coordinating multiple aspects of a case simultaneously, and researching new legal issues – along with my passion for protecting tenants’ rights have naturally led me to pursue a career as a civil defense attorney.

At The Legal Aid Society, I took the lead in an affirmative action in which our client sued his landlord for extensive repairs. I learned that the client’s family, in addition to living with rampant mold in their home, also lived under the constant threat of a child protective services report from a retaliatory landlord. The multiple injustices committed against this family demonstrated to me the need for quality civil defense to ensure this family was provided with every avenue possible to receive assistance and to protect their rights as both tenants and parents. I chose to work at NDS this summer to develop my litigation and advocacy skills further in an organization whose mission is providing holistic defense. At NDS, I have employed the client communication and trial advocacy skills I gained at The Legal Aid Society through assisting with intake, leading client calls, participating in court appearances, and drafting motions.

I am particularly interested in developing a fellowship proposal focused on securing stability through civil legal services for low-income families with open child welfare cases or who may be at risk of re-entering the child welfare system. Even for families who remain united, child welfare investigations are deeply traumatic and destabilizing experiences for both parents and children. As families manage the emotional turmoil of possible separation and of increased surveillance, they also may struggle to preserve steadiness in the wake of consequences triggered by the initiation of their case. For example, a parent temporarily separated from their children may experience a reduction in their benefits, which in turn may lead to a loss of stable housing. Without stable housing, a parent may have a much harder time retaining custody over their children.

My proposed project would create wrap-around civil defense support to address these civil legal service gaps, focusing on employment assistance, advocacy for safe housing conditions, discrimination against families in housing, and representation regarding benefits. I would also like to serve families at greater risk of re- involvement with the child welfare system, such as pregnant mothers previously separated from other children, to expand the reach of this position beyond the current capacity to serve only clients with open cases and keep more families securely outside of the child welfare system. I am above all most excited to develop a project that will best serve the unmet legal needs of NDS clients.

My internships in both civil legal services and family defense allowed me to develop important client interaction, trial advocacy, research and writing skills, as well as a deeper understanding of the intersectional issues confronting indigent families. Through speaking with clients about expectations prior to court appearances, participating in intake with new clients, and regularly updating clients on their cases, I honed my client communication skills. I strengthened my trial advocacy skills by conducting direct examinations of witnesses in administrative hearings and at housing court, in addition to preparing witnesses and organizing evidence. I also developed important research and writing skills in both procedural and substantive topics: I have conducted legal research on topics pertinent to civil proceedings, such as procedural defects in service of process, and have also drafted research memos on substantive legal issues, including the unconstitutionality of overly restrictive policies governing parental visitation.

It would be an honor to both utilize and build upon the skills and knowledge I have developed in these areas to continue fighting with and for families facing separation at Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem. I cannot think of a better way to embark upon my legal career. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

---

Separate Project Proposals

A few organizations – particularly some of the larger impact organizations, such as NAACP LDF – may ask you to submit a separate project proposal along with a standard cover letter. If they don't set out specific guidelines for you to follow, you should focus on fleshing out your compelling description of the problem, and include some more specific ideas about the strategies that you would use to address it (e.g., direct representation, impact litigation, FOIL requests, policy advocacy, KYR presentations, etc.). If there are specific claims that you would like to make, be sure to discuss them specifically. 

PROJECT PROPOSAL SAMPLE 1 - Homeless Rights

Family homelessness continues to plague record numbers of New Yorkers at a time when there are a declining number of affordable housing options in the City. To make matters worse, the City continues to deny shelter to eligible families, leaving them with no choice but to sleep in parks, on trains, or other unsafe situations. I propose a project in which I would advocate on behalf of homeless families in order to enforce their right to shelter in New York City. I would use a variety of techniques to address the needs of this vulnerable community and enforce their rights.

First, I would represent families at conferences and fair hearings. When families submit an application for shelter and are denied, they are given four hours to appear for a conference with a Department of Homeless Services (DHS) lawyer in order to contest the determination. Currently, Legal Aid’s Homeless Rights Project does not have the resources to represent families at these conferences. As a fellow, I would provide such representation by assisting families in gathering available evidence to demonstrate why their application should be granted. I would also represent families at their State “fair hearings,” an administrative remedy available to families after they have been denied shelter by DHS. I would focus my efforts on assisting applicants who are victims of domestic violence, face language barriers, are under the age of 21, and or present as LGBT, as these groups are most likely to be illegally denied shelter. 

The Homeless Rights Project lawyers have noticed an increase recently in the number of families who are being given incorrect information from PATH workers about their rights and the shelter application process. In order to combat this problem, I would develop and distribute informational materials outside the PATH office to ensure families receive accurate and helpful information. 

Lastly, I would work with families who have special medical needs. There are families applying for shelter that cannot stay at the PATH office long enough to apply due to physical and mental health needs, as well as families currently in shelter whose disabilities are not accommodated as required by law. Many families are unaware of their right to medical accommodations, so I could work to develop informational materials for these families as well as advocating directly on their behalf.

PROJECT PROPOSAL SAMPLE 2 - Consumer Protections

The ongoing consumer debt and foreclosure crises have had an outsize impact on low-income New Yorkers. Faced with mounting debts and harassment from bill collectors, many turn to fraudulent debt settlement companies for help, only to end up further in the hole. When creditors garnish a paycheck or freeze a bank account, a poor family can find itself on the brink of catastrophe. For many of these debtors, bankruptcy can provide a much-needed clean slate and relief from harassment and anxiety. Unfortunately, there is little help available for low-income debtors seeking assistance with a bankruptcy filing, and pro se bankruptcy filings often result in failure.

There are only two programs in New York City dedicated to providing free bankruptcy assistance to low-income debtors. The waiting lists to get assistance from these projects are months long, but many debtors literally can’t afford to delay filing. Both projects are limited in their capacity to represent petitioners, and neither is able to advise debtors seeking Chapter 13 protection. While the existing projects in the city have helped many debtors and have a high rate of success, the need remains greater than ever.

As a fellow at MFJ Legal Services, I will work with MFJ’s existing Consumer Rights project to build a program aimed at helping New York’s working poor obtain debt relief through bankruptcy filings. The project will assist with pro se petitions, but will also provide direct representation in as many cases as possible. While Chapter 7 will likely be the proper type of filing for many clients, my fellowship project will also advise debtors seeking Chapter 13 protection in order to save their home from foreclosure. Finally, the project will work with community groups and other legal service providers to offer accurate information about bankruptcy filing and help debtors avoid fraudulent debt settlement operations.

Since beginning law school, I have worked on a variety of consumer rights and debt-related issues, always with the goal of providing direct assistance to low-income New Yorkers. I have helped defendants in collection lawsuits, advised debtors who have been defrauded by debt settlement companies, and assisted homeowners trying to prevent foreclosure. Building a bankruptcy project at MFJ presents a challenging but promising opportunity to continue my work towards economic justice for all New Yorkers. I look forward to working with MFJ to achieve this goal.