Project Overview
America’s legal profession is 80% white and male, a lack of diversity due in part to the daunting cost of licensing: the vast majority of law students take out an average of $100,000 in loan debt. At the same time, people of color face significant barriers to accessing legal careers that serve their communities: while law student enrollment increases annually, the number of law students of color declines. Taking a boldly unconventional approach to legal education, Esq. Apprentice responds by using California’s existing legal apprenticeship program to create a formal, no-cost pipeline for non-traditional law students to gain entry into and reimagine the legal profession. Once a widely used career pathway—but now available in just four states—legal apprenticeship allows people to become fully licensed attorneys through part-time study in a lawyer’s office or a judge’s chambers, without amassing crippling debt. By offering support through the apprenticeship process, and pairing low-income youth with lawyer-mentors who strengthen their social capital, Esq. Apprentice aims to empower community-minded attorneys who can in turn shape a more equitable and culturally responsive legal practice.
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Meet our other 2017 awardees
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Western North Carolina
Connecting cultural heritage, youth retention, and economic revival, The Industrial Commons helps small to mid-size manufacturers convert to worker-ownership.
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Washington, D.C. and San Diego, CA
Seeking to restore imperiled coral reefs, Coral Vita is leveraging for-profit tools to build a network of high-tech coral farms.
![](https://jmkfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/innovation-prize-RISINGTIDES-300x154.jpg)
Washington, D.C.
Rising Tides brings expertise on climate adaptation and cultural heritage directly to vulnerable communities to save America’s histories, traditions, and cultures.
![](https://jmkfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/innovation-prize-NOAB-300x154.jpg)
Neighborhood Opportunity and Accountability Board (NOAB)
California
A neighborhood-led model for youth justice seeks to re-route resources spent on locking youth up, and instead invest in young people and their communities.
![](https://jmkfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/innovation-prize-ASAP-300x154.jpg)
Swapna Reddy &Elizabeth Willis
Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP)
New York
ASAP offers a model for “lawyering in a crisis” by crowdsourcing short-term volunteers to provide rapid legal services to asylum-seeking families.
![](https://jmkfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/innovation-prize-CALIFORNIAHARVESTERS-300x154.jpg)
California
Through the nation’s first farm labor trust, immigrant farmworkers are reaping the benefits of worker-ownership while strengthening America’s food economy.
![](https://jmkfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/innovation-prize-JOLT-300x154.jpg)
Texas
Jolt is pioneering a Latino youth-led movement across Texas to fight for stronger immigrant protections and rewrite the immigration narrative.
![](https://jmkfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/innovation-prize-HOOULUPACIFIC-300x154.jpg)
Ho‘oulu Pacific
Hawaii
Ho‘oulu Pacific’s win-win model of “distributed agriculture” provides income for household farmers and healthy, affordable food for Hawaiians.