WASHINGTON- The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law announced that Javon Davis, a third-year student at Boston College Law School, has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 George N. Lindsay Fellowship. This highly regarded fellowship program offers recent law school graduates an opportunity to advance their knowledge and skills through an immersive experience in racial justice litigation and advocacy, working alongside experienced attorneys at the Lawyers’ Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C.
“Since 1963, the Lawyers’ Committee has played a crucial role in the fight for racial justice, inside and outside the courts. For over 20 years of that time, the George N. Lindsay Fellowship has contributed to that fight by training the next generation of civil rights lawyers,” said Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “Having served as an intern at the Lawyers’ Committee a quarter century ago, I recognize the importance of investing in emerging talent and creating a pipeline for future leaders in the fight for racial justice. We look forward to working with Javon to further develop his already formidable skills as a future leader in this critical work.”
Davis was selected after a rigorous selection process that included 70 applicants. During his fellowship he will work with attorneys and advocates in the organization’s Voting Rights Project, a team at the forefront of the struggle to protect and defend the right to vote. Through coordinated litigation, voter protection programs, policy advocacy and public education, the Lawyers’ Committee Voting Rights Project champions access to democracy for Black people and other communities of color.
“As we face an ongoing assault on voting rights, we need the best and the brightest fighting to defend and restore the democracy many once took for granted. History tells us this will be a long fight that extends across generations. That’s why the Lindsay Fellowship is so important, allowing recipients the space to learn and grow as they prepare to address future threats, even as they work alongside our team to address today’s challenges. We are thrilled to welcome Javon to our team,” said Marcia Johnson and Ezra Rosenberg, co-director of the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee.
“I am humbled and excited to join the talented team at the Lawyers’ Committee at this pivotal moment in our nation’s history,” said Javon Davis, “With threats to civil rights emerging in state legislatures and within the judiciary, I am looking forward to working against those forces with attorneys who have been at the forefront of these legal battles for decades. I cannot think of a better place to start my career as a civil rights attorney than with this historic organization and to help advance its mission of protecting and strengthening the rights Black people and other people of color.”
The Lindsay Fellowship is named in honor of the late George N. Lindsay, a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, who was a bar leader on civil and human rights issues and a recipient of the Lawyers’ Committee’s Whitney North Seymour award. Over the nearly twenty-five-year history of the program, Lindsay fellows have made invaluable contributions to the organization’s work and the movement for racial justice overall. Past fellows have often remained on staff at the organization, and many have gone on to make their mark as leaders in non-profit organizations, state and federal government, and grassroots advocacy.
View a list of the previous fellows.
For more information about the Lindsay Fellowship and other Lawyers’ Committee fellowship programs and opportunities, please contact press@lawyerscommittee.org.
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About the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to mobilize the nation’s leading lawyers as agents for change in the Civil Rights Movement. Today, the Lawyers’ Committee uses legal advocacy to achieve racial justice, fighting inside and outside the courts to ensure that Black people and other people of color have the voice, opportunity, and power to make the promises of our democracy real. For more information, please visit https://lawyerscommittee.org/
