Yale College Grads Create Fund for Criminal Justice Reform at Yale Law School
Yale College alumni Jennifer Millstone ’00 B.A. and David Millstone ’99 B.A. care deeply about criminal justice reform as lawyers and as philanthropists.
The Millstones have long supported the work of several important criminal justice organizations, including the Bard Prison Initiative, the Equal Justice Initiative, the Innocence Project, the Policing Project at NYU School of Law, and the Fortune Society, where Jennifer Millstone serves on the board.
But they wanted to do more, so they began conversations with Dean Heather K. Gerken to discuss how they might support the innovative work of Yale Law School’s criminal justice clinics and centers as part of their larger commitment to Yale University.
The Millstone Fund for Criminal Justice Reform advances all criminal justice reform activities at the Law School, including clinics where students tackle issues ranging from mass incarceration, juvenile justice, public defense, and impact litigation. The gift also established an endowment to support three key pillars to launch students and recent graduates as they take on the challenges of reshaping the criminal justice landscape: a summer fellowship, a post-graduate fellowship, and loan repayment assistance.
“Now more than ever, we need to support young people who are looking to bring their talents to the public sector, and especially those who are passionate about reforming our criminal justice system,” said Jennifer and David Millstone. “As proud Yale alumni, we have long admired Yale’s commitment to making the world a more equitable place, and nowhere is this more evident than in the Law School’s innovative approach to criminal justice reform. We’re excited to help them continue to build on their transformative work.”
Dean Heather K. Gerken said, “We are incredibly grateful to Jennifer and David Millstone for their generous gift to advance criminal justice reform. The Millstone Fund for Criminal Justice Reform will strengthen cutting-edge legal work happening at Yale Law School while ensuring our students and graduates have a pathway to launching careers in this vital field.”
This year, the Millstone gift is supporting The Criminal Justice Advocacy Clinic, which is led by Professors Miriam Gohara, Marisol Orihuela ’08, and Fiona Doherty ’99, and Yale Law School’s Summer Public Interest Fellowships in criminal justice reform.
