“We who believe in freedom cannot rest.” – Ella Baker

The demand for human rights and social justice lawyering will not, alas, retreat any time soon, and so CCR is dedicated to helping ensure that there is an ample supply of well-trained movement lawyers in future generations. Since our inception, we have believed that training the next generation also reflects our larger commitment to the movements we serve.

Since 1987, the Center has run the Ella Baker Summer Internship Program, a training program named after the pioneering civil rights activist, which provides intensive experience working on CCR cases for first- and second-year law students.

More recently we expanded our training efforts with the creation of the Bertha Justice Institute. The BJI supports law students and young lawyers through training programs, conferences, networking and infrastructure-building. The BJI also sponsors four fellowship positions at CCR, offering four recent graduates an intense two-year immersion in our civil and human rights law practice. The program is funded by the Bertha Foundation.

In addition to training programs at CCR, the Center invests in future generations of social justice and human rights lawyers and activists through the active participation of so many of our staff in legal, academic and activist conferences throughout the year. We also sponsor continuing legal education (CLE) programs.