About Us
BPDA aims to improve the quality of defense provided to low-income communities across the United States by creating and maintaining a national network of skilled Black public defenders who identify with and are committed to the populations that they serve.
About the Fellowship
BPDA is dedicated to creating a pipeline. We define public defenders and not just attorneys, but also paralegals, social workers, mitigation specialists, investigators, client advocates, and policy advocates. The BPDA Community Engagement Fellowship is a paid 8 to 10 week summer program designed to connect students passionate about advancing community defense with public defender offices. Fellows play a vital role during this summer internship in fostering connections between the public defender’s office and the communities they serve, contributing to trust-building and meaningful outreach efforts.
The program provides hands-on experience that address systemic inequities in the legal system while empowering fellows to achieve their educational and professional aspirations. Fellows will design and implement impactful projects or programs aimed at expanding the office’s community outreach efforts. Examples include Know Your Rights training, expungement clinics, and community conversations on public safety. This fellowship is open to ALL undergraduate and graduate students interested in pursuing careers across all areas of public defense, emphasizing the importance of holistic community collaboration.
- The 2025 host sites include:
- Brooklyn Defender Services (Brooklyn, NY)
- Contra Costa Public Defender (Martinez, CA)
- Cuyahoga County Office of the Public Defender (Cleveland, OH)
- Defender Association of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)
- The Legal Aid Society (New York, NY)
- Montgomery County Public Defender’s Office (Dayton, OH)
- Virginia Indigent Defense Commission (Statewide)
Student applications for the 2025 Fellowship Class are now closed.
Stay tuned for updates on the 2026 application process!
