Each Fellow spends a semester of study at Columbia Law School in New York City. The academic and cultural resources of Columbia Law School and the New York metropolitan area will provide the Fellows opportunities to advance their proposed public interest law projects and will add new dimensions to their past and future work in the field.

Fellows will participate in academic conferences and study tours to further their professional development and refine their public interest projects, leading to the advancement of public interest law in their home countries. The chance for these young lawyers to study in New York will benefit the academic community as much as it will benefit them personally, as the Fellows will contribute greatly to the scholarly exchange that takes place between students, faculty and the larger community at Columbia Law School.

Following their experience in New York, some of the Fellows will partake in a two-month study visit to Central Europe, where they will be based at PILI's office in Budapest, Hungary. While in Budapest, Fellows will gain further insights into the configuration of NGOs operating in post-Soviet Europe, engaging firsthand with the obstacles civil society groups face in this part of the world.

At the end of the fellowship period, the Fellows will return to their home countries with the aim of implementing the project developed during their time in the U.S. and Europe. 

Ultimately, this new generation of public interest lawyers will lead in strengthening human rights advancements around the world. They will provide PILI the opportunity to establish rewarding relationships for future collaboration with organizations in an increasing number of countries.

For more information about the PILI Fellowship program, click here.

The 2008-2009 class of PILI Fellows is:

Chen Dong
Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
Urumqi Legal Aid Center
Project: Legal aid development in China

Kolawole Ogunbiyi
Lagos, Nigeria
Civil Liberties Organization
Project: Community service as an alternative to imprisonment

Rabin Subedi 
Kathmandu, Nepal
Water and Energy User's Federation of Nepal
Project: Human rights and water-related development rights in Nepal

Magdalena Ustaborowicz
Lodz, Poland
University of Lodz Legal Clinic
Project: Developing clinical legal education

Ye Xiaoqin
Wuhan, Hubei, China
Women's Rights, Center for Protection of Rights of Disadvantaged Citizens
Project: Women's rights and anti-discrimination; access to justice in transitional countries

Sawsan Zaher
Haifa, Israel
Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel
Project: Researching indirect discrimination