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Rise Up, Inc

Advise Civil Rights Accelerator Participants

Help everyday people past their first law to help their community

Posted November 8, 2023

Work & Deliverables

Join us in making legislative history! Rise Justice Labs is a first of its kind civil rights accelerator. Our mission is to help everyday people pass their first law. We have passed more than 80 laws across the country, and we are teaching others to do the same. We dismantle systemic barriers in the legislative process by giving everyday people a blueprint to access democracy.

We deliver on our mission through an intensive 12-week training program (November 13, 2023 to February 16, 2024) that includes seed funding, skills workshops, 1:1 coaching, guest lectures, access to professional services, and a network of Congressional and State legislators.

We are seeking short-term pro bono legal support to effectively equip program participants. Primary activities would likely include:

- Supporting ongoing research to help participants determine which rights already exist and where there are opportunities to strengthen the law (potential bill sponsors want to know that proposed legislation is not duplicating or creating conflict among existing laws and definitions);
- Reviewing and editing draft legislation;
- Giving feedback on memos to legislative and governors' offices;
- Answering questions about filing for 501(c)(3)/501(c)(4) status, if relevant.

We are currently looking for volunteer support on the following issue campaigns:

1. "The Amazon Pledge": A campaign to pass a United Nations General Assembly resolution to preserve the Amazon Rainforest. (Spanish language skills a plus.)
2. "Choose Your Path": A California state-level campaign that aims to end the practice of forced marriage.
3. "Universal Justice for All": A campaign to pass a United Nations General Assembly resolution to empower refugees to secure access to justice and accountability against their countries of origin for crimes against humanity.
4. "The Adjacent Project": A Utah state-level campaign to end the practice of stealthing, the removing one's condom during sex without the knowledge and consent of one's partner.
5. A Tennessee state-level campaign to expand access to broadband internet for low-income families.

Please indicate which of the above campaigns above (#1-5) you would be interested in supporting. After an initial placement call, volunteers will be introduced with team members to learn more about their current stage of campaign development and their legal needs. From then, We the Action volunteers will coordinate directly with their designated team. While the accelerator program formally ends on February 16, volunteers may decide if they’d like to continue supporting a team going forward.

This project is complete!

This project has been completed thanks to the efforts of our volunteers.

Visit the Project Directory to check out other projects that still need your help!

Additional Information

  • Time Commitment: 6-10 hours
  • Training Provided: No
  • Site-Preference: Remote
  • Open to Law Students: Yes
  • Bar License(s) required: Any Bar License
  • Required Languages: None
  • Required Legal Expertise: None
  • Mentoring Provided: No
  • Supervision Provided: Yes
Rise Up, Inc

Rise, a national nonprofit, was founded by Amanda Nguyen, a sexual assault survivor, in November 2014 to pen her own civil rights into existence along with the 25 million rape survivors in the United States. Rise started by passing the federal Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights unanimously through Congress and later signed into law by President Obama. Rise’s immediate goal is to scale up a social movement to pass their Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights - in all 50 states. Rise trains volunteers to pen their own rights into existence, giving them the tools and resources necessary to engage with state legislators with the ultimate goal of passing a bill in their home state.

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