Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund 2016 Summer Undergraduate Internship Opportunities
The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), founded in 1974, protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans through litigation, legal advocacy, and community education. For more information about AALDEF, please visit our website at www.aaldef.org.
Summer interns attend weekly brown bag lectures on a range of public interest legal topics along with interns from other legal defense funds and civil rights groups. The summer program is ten (10) weeks, beginning approximately June 6 through August 12, 2016. The position is unpaid. However, in previous years many AALDEF interns have been successful at securing independent funding and work-study funds may also be available. Academic credit can be arranged.
- Community Health Care Initiative Intern: community education and outreach in the areas of immigration, government benefits, language rights, and health care access.
- Educational Equity Intern: Responsibilities include community outreach and presentations with Asian American youth groups, public education policy research, assistance with client intakes and general support for projects on educational equity, juvenile justice, affirmative action, student free-speech and police surveillance, and anti-Asian harassment.
- Housing & Environmental Justice Project Intern: Responsibilities include community outreach and research on land use, community planning, and anti-displacement issues.
- Office Assistant: Responsibilities include data entry, organizing press clippings, answering phones, doing mailings, assisting with fundraising and other events, and performing general clerical duties. Other responsibilities include providing support for community education and outreach projects and acting as an interpreter/translator. Computer experience with databases, graphics and web programs is helpful.
- Voting Rights Intern: research and fact development under the Voting Rights Act and Equal Protection Clause challenging anti-Asian voter discrimination, advocacy on bilingual ballots, produce reports and organize public forums; assist in organizing legal trainings; conduct voter registration drives.
Requirements: Candidates must be detail-oriented and possess strong writing skills. Spoken and written knowledge of Korean, Bangla, Chinese, or another Asian language is a plus. Qualified applicants should indicate which internship they are applying for and send a resume and cover letter by Monday, February 8, 2016 to:
Summer Undergraduate Intern Search
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
99 Hudson Street, 12th floor, New York, New York 10013
fax: 212.966.4303 or email: [email protected]
For more information, contact Jennifer Weng at 212-966-5932, ext. 212 or [email protected].
AUSTIN SO – CATALYST SPOTLIGHT
AUSTIN SO – CATALYST SPOTLIGHT
Our very own In-Hounse Counsel Committee Co-Chair Austin So has been profiled by the Council of Urban Professionals in their Catalyst Spotlight. Austin’s commitment to diversity and inclusion has made us all proud. You can read more about what Austin has to say by clicking the link in the title.
Among other things, he shares his practical advice for young people who want their careers to make an impact:
Network constantly in all directions – up, down, sideways, in and out. And find a way to help someone else in some small way, every day.
Austin also shared that same advice when recently spoke at AABANY’s Getting-on-Track: Networking for Lawyers panel. To read more of Austin’s candid advice, check out the highlight for that event here.
If you’re looking for more of what Austin has done in general – talks, awards, articles – visit our blog.
New York State Office of Court Administration, Advisory Committee on Court Interpreters and Language Access Seeks Comment on Language Access Card
The New York State Office of Court Administration, Advisory Committee led by Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks, seeks to find ways to serve more effectively the pro se and Limited English Proficiency (LEP) litigant community.
The New York State courts provide interpreters for approximately 110 different languages for LEP litigants who have limited resources. Of those 110 languages, the seven most recurring are Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Haitian Creole, Korean, and Polish.
In December 2015, the NYS courts started circulating a new public information tool. It is a Language Access Card that concisely explains the services that are available. As a part of the rollout, the NYS courts have prepared the cards in the seven most recurring languages, including Spanish.
We would be interested in any feedback you have on the cards, including likes, dislikes, and suggested improvements. We are also interested in your views and suggestions regarding the services provided by the NYS courts to the LEP litigant community.
Please send your comments to the Chair of the Advisory Committee, Jeffrey Winn at [email protected]. To review the card Click here.
Appealing a social security decision? Check out Social Security’s improved online appeal process.
Social Security listened to customer feedback and made the online appeals process even better. Now, people who disagree with our disability decision can complete their appeal using our improved online appeals process.
More than 90,000 people use our online appeals application each month. We’ve certainly come a long way since introducing the online appeal option in September 2007. Throughout the nation, applicants, their representatives, third parties, groups, and organizations use the online appeal process to request review of disability decisions.
Responding to feedback from our employees and the public, the new online appeals process is easier to use and improves the speed and quality of our disability and non-disability decisions. People can now submit both the appeal form and the medical report in just one online session and electronically submit supporting documents with the appeal request. The screen messages are clear and concise, the navigation has been improved, and we’ve beefed up our on-screen help. Additionally, users who live outside of the United States are now able to file appeals online.
As a reminder, representatives who request, and are eligible for, direct fee payments must electronically file reconsiderations or request for hearings on medically denied Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability or blindness claims.
The next time you need to file an appeal, be sure to complete it online at www.socialsecurity.gov/disabilityssi/appeal.html.
The above information has been provided by the Social Security Administration. Thank you to the Metropolitan Black Bar Association for sharing.
Special Insider Offer for George Takei’s Allegiance on Broadway
The insider discount from the producers of Allegiance has been extended until February 7th. This Broadway musical, inspired by the childhood experiences of star and AALDEF friend George Takei, closes on February 14th. Allegiance, also starring Tony Award-winner Lea Salonga and Telly Leung, tells the story of a Japanese American family incarcerated in camps during World War II as they struggle to define patriotism in the face of hatred. Their story is very relevant today, as our nation’s policies on immigration and refugees have become a heated topic of debate.
Look for tickets at TelechargeOffers.com, or call 212-947-8844 and use the code ALBWFAN109.
Thank you AALDEF for sharing this announcement with us. Take advantage of this insider discount – the show closes on February 14th!
Pan Asian Repertory – www.panasianrep.org
Pan Asian Repertory – www.panasianrep.org
A DREAM OF RED PAVILIONS Opening Night
Date: Thursday, January 28, 2016
Time: 7:30pm
Location: Clurman Theatre at Theatre Row (410 W. 42nd St)
CLICK HERE to purchase tickets.
Click on the link in the title for more information.