Fellowship Experiences (Past Years)

2018

India Annamanthadoo
Donner Fellow
Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) for the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS)

My Donner Fellowship allowed me to work with the Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) for the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS).  The CSM is the largest international platform for civil society organizations working towards achieving the eradication of food insecurity and malnutrition. As a Donner Fellow with the CSM, I helped to author a report assessing national implementation and violations of the right to food around the globe, which will be presented at the CFS in Rome this October.

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2017

Benjamin Miller
Donner Fellow
Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO)

The Donner Fellowship allowed me to spend my summer working at Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO), a specialty legal aid clinic that publishes legal information and delivers legal education programming. As a Donner Fellow I led the development of a new section of their nonprofit law site, which answers common legal questions about starting and running a nonprofit in Ontario. I developed the site by systematically collecting, reviewing, and curating existing resources from government, non-profit, and private bar sources.

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2016

Caroline Garel-Jones
Donner Fellow
Justice for Children & Youth (JFCY)

The Donner Fellowship allowed me to spend my summer working at Justice for Children & Youth (JFCY), a specialty legal aid clinic and children’s rights organization. As a Donner Fellow, I was able to participate in all aspects of JFCY’s legal work including: representing low-income child and youth clients on a wide variety of legal matters, producing public legal education materials, and engaging in test case litigation on child and youth rights issues. I assisted with interventions at the Ontario Superior Court and Court of Appeal on issues including children’s rights in parental custody proceedings, and youth privacy rights under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

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2015

Jainita Gajjar
Donner Fellow
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

During my summer at CAMH, I was involved in both civil litigation and legal research. On the civil litigation side, I assisted in the preparation of hearings before the Consent and Capacity Board and drafted appellate documents, including motion materials and facta for the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and Court of Appeal. On the legal research side, I was involved in an initiative to develop a pilot project on a new clinical practice at CAMH ... The Donner Fellowship not only provided me with the opportunity to enhance my practical legal skills, but also allowed me to gain in-depth exposure to and experience in health law.

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2014

Chloe Boubalos
Donner Fellow
Law Society of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

Through an initiative called the Access to Knowledge Project, Boubalos is connecting with stakeholders across the territory, making the legal system more accessible and user-friendly to all of its residents.

"The justice system is very alienating for a lot of people who live here, because it's so removed from their day to day lives," she says. "The only courthouse in Nunavut is right here in Iqaluit. So the judge, counsel and witnesses will fly into a community and set up court in a gym or whatever kind of space they can get their hands on."

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2013

Philip Chan
Donner Fellow
Industrial Accident Victims Group of Ontario

The Donner Fellowship allowed me to work with the Industrial Accident Victims Group of Ontario, a community legal clinic that undertakes representation, community education and law reform in the area of workers' compensation. I undertook essential legal and historical research for a s. 15 Charter age-discrimination challenge to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act. It has been rewarding to work on a project with systemic implications for older injured workers, a particularly vulnerable group, and I look forward to continuing my involvement during the school year.

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2012

Emilie Lahaie
Callwood Fellow
John Howard Society

The Callwood Fellowship gave me the opportunity to work with The John Howard Society of Toronto, an organization that assists men who have been in conflict with the law. My role with the Native Inmate Liaison Officer Program included assisting with programming for Aboriginal men incarcerated at the Metro West Detention Center. To say experiencing the realities of incarceration and the struggles our clients face upon release to find housing, a job and fight addictions was eye-opening would be an understatement. I did not truly understand the incredible challenges those with a criminal record face on a daily basis. I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to contribute my work to this amazing organization.

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Emilie Lahaie (left) at the John Howard Society