This week at the International Legal Foundation, Monday and Tuesday were dedicated to the whole team catching up on the various conferences we had been a part of the week before. While the interns and I were at the UNDP Annual Meeting on the Rule of Law and Human Rights, my boss Leah and the ILF's Executive Director were in Vienna for the UN's Conference on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ). Much of the early week was spent sharing recaps from sessions at each of these conferences, connections made, and relevant updates for the ILF.
The rest of my week was split between two important tasks: composite writing and building a partnership list. On a day-to-day basis, my normal day begins with going into the office and greeting the team. Shortly after I arrive, I have a meeting with my direct boss, Leah, and my fellow Laidlaw scholar, Samuel. These meetings generally cover progress updates and important information about upcoming events and tasks. I then work on my assignments for the day, collaborating with Samuel. That said, as the ILF is constantly engaged in meetings with international bodies, the UN, and other conference settings, this schedule is rarely strictly adhered to. For example, in my last weeks at the ILF I will be attending UN conferences -- more to come on that! But before I get into it ---- here is our new office dog, Huckleberry!
This week, I made significant progress on projects I have been working on since Week 1. Primarily, I finished the composite stories, a hugely important deliverable not only for the ILF's work, but for my own LIA goal of using my platform to convey the stories of impacted communities as truthfully as possible. Composite stories are the agglomerated constructions of true ILF clients, which can be publicly shared as evidence of the ILF's work. In many ILF jurisdictions, especially Palestine, Afghanistan, and Myanmar, maintaining client anonymity is essential to long-term safety. However, without sharing the stories and outcomes of ILF defendants, the ILF's funding sources are unable to see the work being done. This tension around funding is especially acute for American NGOs right now, particularly those supporting international projects, as USAID cuts have resulted in the significant defunding of many services and programs. The ILF has therefore been pushed to find alternative funding sources in order to continue providing the essential legal aid that it does. But protecting client anonymity and producing compelling deliverables creates a paradox -- and this is where I come in.
Starting with Tunisia, I read through nearly 100 documented case stories of children aided by the ILF in order to identify common themes and patterns. I then coded each of the major themes and identified subthemes within them, coding those as well, in an attempt to capture the most holistic and striking characteristics of the cases. Finally, I composed five composite stories, adopting pseudonyms and centering one major theme alongside several subtheme elements. This method accomplishes multiple things: it allows me to create content true to many of the lived experiences of wrongfully criminalized individuals in Tunisia, while also producing composite accounts that protect anonymity and can be transformed into reports, fundraising campaigns, and media stories. It also gave me room to be creative -- something I strive for in every work environment I enter.
In the same spirit of securing fundraising to offset the impacts of USAID cuts, my other primary task this week was composing a comprehensive partnership list aimed at securing outside funding through pro bono departments at AmLaw 100 firms. This involved researching the pro bono priorities of major firms, as well as the pressures those departments have faced, given the Trump administration's strong-arming provisions. I then selected partners and directors whose work aligned with the ILF's mission and for whom a connection might be appealing. This work is essential because, as I have said, funding the ILF is the key to making its mission of providing legal aid to all people, regardless of country of origin and socioeconomic status, a reality.
Now for the fun stuff. This week was a blast -- from a Knicks championship win, to catching a performance of the mobile unit of Shakespeare in the Park (As You Like It is now my favorite Shakespeare play), to finally trying a new restaurant in the Village with a friend I had been dying to visit.
(As You Like It!)
All of it is a reminder of how lucky I am to be in NYC, a city whose appeal transcends any single discipline -- and I can say that even as a Celtics fan.