Public Interest Retreat Connects Students With Alums Who Are Making A Difference

Yale Law School graduates with impressive public interest credentials shared their insights and experiences with current Yale Law School students at a Public Interest Retreat November 10 at the Amistad Academy in New Haven. 

Organized by the Office of Student Affairs and the Career Development Office, the retreat provided students considering public interest work the opportunity to learn from and ask questions of three alums who have launched successful public interest initiatives:  Jessica Sager ’99, co-founder and executive director of All Our Kin; McGregor Smyth ’99, founder and director of the Bronx Defenders Reentry Resource Center; and Dacia Toll ’99, co-founder and director of Achievement First and the Amistad Academy.

The three discussed their career paths and current work, explaining how the work they began at Yale Law School helped them develop the key leadership skills needed to launch public interest initiatives.

On a more practical level, they talked about fundraising, setting personal agendas, and identifying the resources and contacts for putting together project proposals.

Sharon Brooks ’00, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, says the retreat is just one of a number of Law School initiatives designed to introduce students to careers in public interest.

“We look forward to working with our students to help craft additional ways to explore public interest initiatives, both while they are here at the Law School and as they begin their legal careers,” said Brooks.