Initiatives

The African Legal Fellows Program selects African lawyers to work at New York law firms and corporate legal departments for up to a year and gain international experience and contacts in commercial and pro bono practice. The Program since 2002 has sought to overcome the legacy of apartheid in South Africa by supporting lawyers from traditionally-disadvantaged backgrounds and since 2015 has sought to strengthen pro bono practice in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, as well as other African countries.  The South African Legal Fellows Network, 48 alumni of the Program, help to select South African fellows, and law firms in Kenya, Nigeria, and other countries nominate their own lawyers for consideration.

The Women in the Profession Program promotes improved opportunities and conditions for women lawyers and uses the practice of law to enhance the status of women in general and ensure women equal protection under the law.

The Council devises short and long-term, multinational strategies of engagement with civil society and government to tackle systemic challenges to rule of law, democratic governance, and fundamental rights.

Galvanizing a culture of pro bono practice, in Latin America and around the world, is the Vance Center’s founding and central endeavor. We spearheaded the Pro Bono Declaration of the Americas, a formal commitment to pro bono work, now with more than 540 law firm and other signatories from 21 countries representing more than 10,000 lawyers and a minimum of 200,000 annual hours of pro bono service. In 2011, the Vance Center and Fundación Pro Bono Chile led the creation of the Pro Bono Network of the Americas to provide mutual support for the now 19 network members.