BDPA is excited to announce that we have the ability to support eight (8) offices to align their organization’s internal policies, practices, and capabilities with the interest and needs of their communities! Eight public defenders from eight different offices will be selected to participate in our anti-racism training program. We will be teaching the defenders (at no cost to the offices!) how to recognize and discuss implicit bias, utilize social science in defense strategies, and how to address racism within our community. 

Our anti-racism training program involves an intense curriculum that consists of four, multiple-day training sessions.  Participants will also engage in a three-day “Train the Trainer” program that will result in a certificate from Kris Henning, Professor of Law and Director of Georgetown’s Juvenile Justice Clinic, where she teaches participants how to litigate race in the courtroom. Additionally, the defenders will participate in sessions such as:

• Identifying Bias
• Challenging Racial Bias
• Motivating Others to Challenge Racial Bias
• Facilitating Conversations About Race

Each participant will conclude their anti-racism training with support from BPDA to create an anti-racism training curriculum for their own office, to address the needs of their unique staff and community. This cohort will be able to lean on each other for support and collaboration by soliciting and sharing guidance on each other’s curriculum development, observations, and obstacles that they face in their offices. 

Our only requirements are our application, a commitment to attending to all training sessions, and a statement of support from your Executive Director/Chief.  At this time, these tentative training sessions have not been scheduled to allow an opportunity to coordinate with the schedules of our participants. For convenience, we will incorporate both in-person and virtual training.

Our communities need and deserve legal representation that is not just sympathetic to racism and oppression, but meaningfully informed by and fighting against it. We hope that you apply! The deadline is Friday, April 14, 2023.

If you have any questions, please email programs@blackdefender.org.