Student Associates Program
Even a single pebble dropped into the water creates ripples that travel far and wide. The Student Associates Program is an opportunity for the Justice Initiative Foundation to create those ripples of change by journeying alongside students from across the board. It’s designed to bring the best of both worlds together; to harness the potential, energy, innovation and creativity of the young minds, along with the rich experience and wisdom of those who have been making the journey as professionals, as people who have lived the consequences of their own conflicts with the law and several others. The Justice Initiative Foundation believes that together we will be able to make this journey into spaces such as homes, neighbourhoods, communities, classrooms, workspaces, in fact anywhere and everywhere we find opportunities to create circles of change.
What Inspired Us
The team at the Justice Initiative has been associated with students in our own individual spheres of work, either as interns whom we had mentored or students we had taught or even in informal interactions with the student community.
While we never failed to appreciate their enthusiasm and vigor, most often we also came away with clear disconnect that the students displayed with ground realities within the very spaces where they were going to be professionally engaged. One may argue that an orientation of that nature is likely to come when they graduate and are employed. That is precisely where we miss the mark. There is a compelling need to expand classrooms to where the action takes place, day after day; there is a need to challenge learnings within structures alongside the very realities that they will soon need to address. A rich blend of theory, exposure to the ground realities, healthy dialogue centered around perspectives and approaches, all the while nudging them to explore newer horizons in their minds and in their actions will create a lasting impact on them both on their person and as professionals.
What We Would Like To Do
The Justice Initiative Foundation seeks to engage students across disciplines but students who are interested in engaging with issues related to justice. The program will essentially:
- Orient the students to the justice space.
- Provide for opportunities to engage them in dialogues, discussions on various issues of justice.
- Allow for meaningful engagement in our projects in capacities that would suit their interests and their availability.
- Design initiatives alongside the Justice Initiative Team, within spaces they can access – their homes, neighbourhoods, communities, classrooms, any and every space where such engagements are possible.
- Enable a platform for the student community to deliberate, debate and find a way forward to deal with issues related the nuances and complexities of engaging in the justice space.
The Justice Initiative team seeks to learn alongside the students while being engaged in mentoring and being available for them all along the journey.
How We Choose To Do It
- Students can apply to be an Associate by writing to us along with their resume.
- An orientation by the Justice Initiative team will be the starting point to explore various possibilities of engagement with the student.
- The Team and the Associate will collectively design the engagement – the nature of the engagement, the timelines, mutual accountabilities, challenges they foresee, etc.
- The collaboration will be reviewed and if need be, revised to bring out the best among both.