The Teresa Daw Internship

About ARCH’s Teresa Daw Student Internship

ARCH Disability Law Centre is a specialty legal aid clinic that practices exclusively in disability rights law. The Board of Directors of ARCH is proud to announce the launch of the Teresa Daw Student Internship, made possible by the Teresa Daw Legacy Fund.  This fund was generously bequeathed to ARCH by our past Board President, Teresa Daw. 

The Teresa Daw Student Internship will create opportunities for Indigenous (First Nations, Metis, Inuit) law students to explore issues that directly affect their communities by funding a two (2) or three (3) month placement at ARCH Disability Law Centre. Learn more about the Internship below.

Purpose

The Teresa Daw Student Internship creates a biennial opportunity for one (1) Ontario Indigenous (First Nations, Metis, Inuit) law student to earn a paid two (2) or three (3) month internship with ARCH Disability Law Centre. This internship seeks to support law students with the mentorship of ARCH and its diverse partners to explore and work through timely legal and disability related issues that are of utmost importance to the student and their Indigenous community. 

Background 

Indigenous persons with disabilities are disproportionately marginalized. The prevalence of disability within Indigenous communities is twice the national average in Canada.

In its first Concluding Observations of Canada’s Report on its implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities acknowledged the extreme marginalization of Indigenous communities in Canada and the lack of access to social supports, employment, health services and education.

In 2017, ARCH struck a committee which is now called the Moving Together Toward Supporting Reconciliation Committee, consisting of ARCH Board members, and Indigenous community leaders. This Committee has been the driving force in the development of this Internship. ARCH acknowledges that many Indigenous people understand disabilities as gifts and abilities.

ARCH continues to support and participate in projects and outreach that advance reconciliation and build capacity with communities. ARCH was a proud partner of the award winning exhibit, “Into the Light: Eugenics and Education in Southern Ontario”, which explored and examined the dark hidden histories of eugenics-based education and its devastating legacy on First Nations and persons with disabilities. ARCH also supported the recently launched online education platform called, “Into the Light: Living Histories of Oppression and Education in Ontario”, which can be accessed using this link: https://intothelight.ca/

ARCH is fully committed to listening to, building relationships and working with Indigenous communities on the journey to Reconciliation.

About Teresa Daw

Teresa Daw was a tireless and passionate leader and advocate. Among her many passions was the desire to create meaningful experiential learning opportunities for students from marginalized communities and she was a fierce advocate and an ally of Indigenous communities across Ontario. Prior to her passing in 2018, Teresa Daw worked locally, nationally and internationally to advance social justice and inclusion for marginalized and under-represented groups for over thirty years.  Highlights of Teresa’s involvements include five years as Co-Chair of the Persons Living with disAbilities Committee of the Federal NDP where she was responsible for crafting the party’s policy on the rights of persons with disabilities. As a founding board member of the Mount Community Centre in Peterborough, Ontario, Teresa advocated for the development of accessible, inclusive and dignified housing. As a founding board member of the Peterborough Poverty Reduction Network, Teresa initiated an outreach project to improve access to the Registered Disability Savings Plan and secured financial resources for an RDSP Endowment Fund to assist people with low incomes to contribute to their RDSPs. Teresa also managed and supported international relief and development projects, primarily in Africa. Teresa valued community development and education as needed agents for systemic change in achieving social justice for persons with disabilities and other marginilized communities.

ARCH is so grateful for Teresa’s unparalleled generosity and commitment to our work and to the many diverse communities that we serve.

About ARCH

ARCH is dedicated to defending and advancing the equality rights, entitlements, fundamental freedoms and inclusion of persons with disabilities in Ontario. In order to carry out its mandate, ARCH provides a range of legal services directly to persons with disabilities in Ontario, including Summary Advice and Referral services. ARCH also represents persons with disabilities and disability organizations in precedent setting cases at various provincial and federal tribunals and courts, including: the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario; the Canadian Human Rights Commission; the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal; the Canadian Transportation Agency; the Superior Court of Justice; the Court of Appeal for Ontario; the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal; and the Supreme Court of Canada. 

ARCH has an extensive law reform practice, working on a variety of initiatives related to advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. ARCH provides public legal education to disability communities, and conducts community development projects to support our law reform work.

ARCH has extensive experience in providing experiential learning opportunities for law students within a disability rights legal practice. ARCH and Osgoode Hall Law School pioneered the innovative and first of of its kind, Disability Law Intensive, in 2013. The DLI program offers second and third year law students a unique opportunity to develop their legal skills while learning about disability rights issues as they intersect with many areas of law, including human rights law, through both a policy and law reform rotation and a test case litigation and direct client services rotation throughout the academic year.

ARCH is primarily funded by Legal Aid Ontario. More information about our work is available on our website: www.archdisabilitylaw.ca

Project Goals

The internship will be awarded to the student who meets the goals and requirements set out as part of the internship, and demonstrates a strong commitment to social justice and in particular, to an important issue in their community that raises legal concerns to be addressed.

The Goals of the Project are as follows:

• To create a meaningful experiential learning opportunity with concrete outcomes for Indigenous students that honours the memory and legacy of Teresa Daw;

• To provide and facilitate a safe learning environment for Indigenous law students to self-direct legal research that is important to them and their communities;

• To foster relationship building, mentorship opportunities, and mutual learning;

• To increase ARCH’s capacity to better serve Indigenous Peoples across Ontario;

• To create opportunities for examining comparative legal systems responses, and to continue ARCH’s work in better understanding the intersections between Indigenous, western, and international legal systems;

• To strengthen relationships between ARCH and Indigenous communities;

• To assist Indigenous students to pursue careers in law and disability related fields; and

• To provide direction and mentorship in areas of substantive law within ARCH’s areas of legal practice, including but not limited to, an opportunity to explore the legal intersections between western law and UN treaties such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and declarations such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Eligibility and Timeline  

ARCH seeks students who exemplify Teresa Daw’s unwavering commitment to advancing inclusion and social justice by demonstrating a passionate interest in supporting their communities and seeking positive change.  

To be eligible for the Teresa Daw Internship, participants must:

• Identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Metis, or Inuit) living in Canada;
• be enrolled in a law school in Ontario; and
• fulfill the application requirements as set out below.

This internship will begin in 2025 and will be offered every other year thereafter, unless funding allows for increased frequency.

Overview of Recruitment and Selection Process

Indigenous students with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply. A recruitment strategy will be developed which will place emphasis on building relationships and strengthening partnerships in efforts for broad outreach across communities in Ontario.  

A Selection Committee, comprised of Indigenous community members and ARCH Board and staff, will be struck. Other partners of ARCH may be included as deemed appropriate. The Committee will review each application within a set timeframe. The person awarded the internship will be notified within a set timeframe.  

Feedback will be welcome regarding every stage of this process from applicants and community members and partners. In addition, any feedback requested by students regarding their application and/or interview performance will be provided as requested.

About the Application Process

Those interested will be asked to submit a written or video essay which:

1. Introduces themselves;
2. Demonstrates an interest/studies/community engagement around law and disability issues;
3. Details an important issue particular to Indigenous communities;
4. Demonstrates ways they will research the identified issue and consider some solutions;
5. Includes contact information and references; and
6. Includes a preliminary project work plan that accompanies the essay. 

Selected applicants will be invited to an interview offered through accessible virtual platforms.

Depending upon circumstances and where the student resides, participation is expected to take place remotely.

To apply for the Teresa Daw Internship program, complete the form below