With a commitment to building the next generation of human rights advocates, the Masiyiwa-Bernstein Fellowship provides two exceptional NYU Law graduates with an opportunity to spend one year working with an innovative human rights organization. The fellows are placed in partner organizations that engage in: (1) legal empowerment / community-driven justice; (2) protecting the rule of law and defend dissent; and/or (3) NYU institutes and centers that promote human rights.
Fellows are paid a competitive salary of $60,000 with benefits. The Bernstein Institute supports fellows throughout the year with fellow-centered events, mentoring and consultations with staff, and inclusion in a supportive community of human rights advocates.
2025-2026 placements are at Human Rights First and RFK for Human Rights.
Visit our How To Apply page to learn more about the about the organizations and the application process. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis through January 31, 2025.
Our 2024-2025 fellows are working with Beyond Legal Aid and The Clooney Foundation for Justice.
2023-2024 Fellows:
Hailey Corkery
Hailey Corkery (she/her) is the Masiyiwa-Bernstein Fellow with the International Advocacy and Litigation Team at RFK Human Rights. She holds a J.D. from NYU School of Law. During law school, she was an International Law and Human Rights Fellow at National Foundation for India, a legal intern at EarthRights International, a student researcher with the NYU-Yale American Indian Sovereignty Project, a Staff Editor and Colloquium Editor the Review of Law and Social Change, and a Critical Legal Empowerment Symposium Fellow at the Bernstein Institute for Human Rights. She also worked to address social injustices resulting from the climate emergency as a student advocate in NYU Law's Earth Rights Advocacy Clinic. Prior to law school, she received a B.A. in Sociology and Feminist and Gender Studies from Colorado College.
Cecely Richard-Carvajal
Cecely is a fellow at the Center for Business Human Rights based at NYU Stern's School of Business. Cecely holds an L.L.M. degree in International Legal Studies from NYU School of Law, where she specialized in international human rights law. During her LLM, Cecely worked as a Human Rights Scholar at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice and a Graduate Editor for the NYU Journal of International Law and Politics. She also completed an internship in the Rule of Law Unit in the Executive Office of the Secretary General at the United Nations.
Cecely has extensive research experience in the human rights space, providing research support to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, working as a secondee at the legal action NGO, Reprieve, and completing a distance internship at Advocates for Human Rights. This experience positions her well to assist the Center in their work preparing reports on the most pressing issues at the intersection of business and human rights.
Cecely is a solicitor qualified in England and Wales and, before pursuing her LLM, she worked as an Associate in Clifford Chance's Project, Energy and Infrastructure team in Paris, advising lenders and sponsors on project financings internationally. Cecely speaks Spanish, French, Russian and English and holds an MA from Cambridge University in Modern and Medieval Languages.
Read Reflections from Masiyiwa-Bernstein Fellows
