Alumni of the Clinical and Pro Bono Programs receive Public Service Venture Fund “seed grants”

Via HLS News

Two recent Harvard Law School graduates, Shannon Erwin ’10 and Alana Greer ’11, have been selected as recipients of grants from the Public Service Venture Fund, a unique program that awards up to $1 million each year to help graduating Harvard Law students and recent graduates obtain their ideal jobs in public service.

…Erwin and Greer were chosen based on their vision for how to approach a public service problem or help a particular community. Erwin will work with the Muslim Justice League to combat policies that marginalize Muslims and Greer will work with Community Justice Project to empower young people of color. Read more…

Clinical and Pro Bono Programs Pave the Way 

While students at Harvard Law School, these two inspiring women participated in the Clinical and Pro Bono Programs. Shannon Erwin worked with the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic and the Human Rights Program, while Alana Greer worked with Harvard Defenders.

Here is what Shannon had to say about her experience in the Clinical and Pro Bono Programs.

Shannon Erwin, HLS J.D. ’10

“HLS Clinical Programs exposed me to a range of legal tools to promote human rights and global justice, and they also evidence HLS’s high prioritization of public service by its students and alumni. Without the investments that HLS Clinics and the PSVF represent, I likely would not be able to pursue this project.

The Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic exposed me to some of the many rewards of working for people seeking protection of their human rights. For example, an asylum applicant for whom I worked had escaped her country after being pressured to become an informant against university student activists. Being entrusted with her story helped me appreciate what a privilege it is to work with and for political dissidents in need of protection. Similarly, the Muslim Justice League will provide free representation to those at risk of political persecution locally — specifically, individuals approached for FBI interviews who may be at risk of coercion to become informants or of pretextual prosecutions.

In the Human Rights Program, I was fortunate to work with Professor Ahmad Amara on the development of a manual to assist Middle Eastern NGOs to access international channels for human rights accountability. That experience helped me to think more creatively about the range of advocacy tools to combat human rights abuses which are not only available to foreign organizations but also domestically.  MJL will also make use of such tools, and we view protection of Muslims’ civil rights in Greater Boston as inextricably linked with universal struggles for human rights and global justice.”