The Law and Organizing Academy (LOA) is The Action Lab's annual leadership development program for law students, offered in partnership with NYU Law's Initiative for Community Power. Now in its fourth year, the academy brings together emerging legal advocates from across New York to explore how legal practice can strengthen organizing, support social movements, and advance racial and economic justice.
Through a multi-session learning experience held across New York City and beyond, participants engage with organizers, movement leaders, legal practitioners, and scholars to deepen their understanding of power, democracy, and collective action. The curriculum explores organizing strategy, law and political economy, racial capitalism, the role of the state and civil society, and the history of grassroots movements that have shaped social change.
Rather than treating law as an isolated profession, the Law and Organizing Academy challenges participants to consider how legal work can be rooted in community leadership, accountable to organized movements, and aligned with long-term efforts to build collective power. Through case studies, interactive discussions, and direct engagement with real-world campaigns, participants gain practical skills and political grounding that can shape their future careers.
The academy reflects the growing understanding that meaningful and lasting change depends on strong partnerships between organizers, advocates, legal professionals, and community leaders. By investing in the next generation of movement lawyers, LOA helps build the legal and organizing infrastructure necessary to support transformative change across New York and beyond.
Each year, the Law and Organizing Academy creates space for participants to learn, build lasting relationships, and reimagine how the law can serve justice, strengthen democracy, and expand community power.
Interested in joining a future cohort, partnering with the program, or supporting this work? Contact us at info@actionlabny.org to learn more about the Law and Organizing Academy and other leadership development opportunities at The Action Lab.
