CLINIC
Training Future Lawyers
Housed at Harvard Law School, our clinic immerses current law students in the Institute’s work while training them to be thoughtful leaders and impactful lawyers in the fight to end mass incarceration. Embedded within the Institute’s lawyering teams, students learn to act effectively and responsibly within organizer-led campaigns. Weekly readings and vibrant class discussions situate that learning in a broader context, helping students understand how community-led movements can and should best be supported.
ORGANIZING WORKSHOP
Teaching Organizing to Lawyers
IEMI’s approach to lawyering is grounded in the necessity of working alongside community organizers. We believe true anti-carceral lawyering can only be done by understanding what organizers do and how they do it.
For this reason, we kick off our law school clinic with a novel approach to teaching law students: an immersive, multi-day workshop on community organizing, led by renowned organizer Marshall Ganz and facilitated by global leaders in the practice from the Leading Change Network. Through this workshop, law students learn the fundamentals of community organizing while also learning to narrate their own stories of self and purpose. This rich, personal and interconnected experience provides the foundation to launch into a semester – or more – of creative building.
CONFERENCES & CONVENINGS
Catalyzing Changemakers
The Institute is engaged in ongoing conversations, idea-generation and collaboration with people across the country. From workshops on collective defense, to interdisciplinary conferences exploring ways to block carceral infrastructure, to events with leading thinkers and doers across the country, we leverage our unique convening power to spark bold decarceral ideas.