Legal Services For Prisoners With Children (LPSC)
About LSPC: LSPC organizes communities impacted by the criminal justice system and advocates for the release of incarcerated people, to restore human and civil rights, and to reunify families and communities. We build public awareness of structural racism in policing, the courts and prison system and we advance racial and gender justice in all our work. Our strategies include legal support, trainings, advocacy, public education, grassroots mobilization, and developing community partnerships.
What is the Elder Freeman Memorial Policy Fellowship?
The Ronald “Elder” Freeman Memorial Policy Fellowship is a pilot project of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. Ronald “Elder” Freeman was a legendary revolutionary pillar in the Bay Area, a lifelong Freedom Fighter in the Black Liberation Struggle and an original member of the Southern California chapter of the Black Panther Party.
We are looking for two (2) formerly incarcerated people to join our office for an intensive 12-month fellowship program to learn grassroots organizing, legislative and administrative advocacy, and other strategies to run local and state campaigns with the goal of elevating the leadership of formerly incarcerated people in criminal justice reform. The work is based in San Francisco, with some travel possible.
| Policy Fellows Will… |
- Work with coalitions and legislative offices to draft bill language and move up to three bills through the legislative process.
- Monitor state legislative bills, write support and opposition letters, and engage in other advocacy as needed.
- Advocate for releasing incarcerated people, reunifying families, and restoring human and civil rights through storytelling, public speaking, and social media campaigning.
- Engage with and empower their communities through grassroots organizing.
- Build and maintain relationships with supportive state and local policyholders.
- Advance the right and responsibility of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people to speak and be heard, transform lives and communities, and fully participate in all aspects of society.
- Develop a critical understanding of the root causes of mass incarceration.
- Use the skills they gain to advocate for the empowerment and enfranchisement of all formerly incarcerated people.
- Develop critical skills and experience necessary for a full-time position as an organizer or criminal justice advocate.
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What is the time commitment?
Each fellow commits to a full-time organizer’s schedule (at least 40 hours per week) for 12 months of intensive training, beginning January 2017.
What is the compensation?
Compensation is $18 per hour, paid every two weeks. Benefits include medical, vision and dental insurance, 2 weeks paid vacation, and 5 paid sick days.
Who should apply?
Anyone who has been incarcerated, who wants to be part of a pilot project to help shape the structure of a Fellowship Program run by and for formerly incarcerated people, and who meets the following requirements:
- A passion to be empowered and to empower others through political engagement.
- A commitment to ending the mass criminalization and incarceration of black and brown bodies.
- A commitment to ending state violence perpetrated against black, brown, and poor communities.
- A commitment to abstaining from and challenging gender violence in any form.
- A desire to learn.
- A desire to work collaboratively with groups and individuals from different communities, backgrounds, and professions (from organizers to attorneys to politicians).
- A willingness to commit to periodically reading and discussing dense political materials.
- A willingness to commit to crafting multiple persuasive letters and written works during the course of the fellowship.
- Mastery of, or willingness to master, Microsoft Word, Google Documents, Gmail, Facebook, Twitter (and other internet and computer tools).
How to apply:
**If you need assistance with your application, please reach out to us at endria@prisonerswithchildren.org or (415) 255-7036. We would love to make your application possible!**
If you are interested in applying, please provide:
A resume,- A cover letter explaining your interest in and qualification for the fellowship, and
- A short (2 pages or fewer) personal statement describing either (1) a specific public or institutional policy that has impacted you, your family, or your community or (2) your vision of how you would end mass incarceration through policy.
Email application materials to Endria Richardson at endria@prisonerswithchildren.org with “Policy Fellowship Application” in the subject line.
A resume,