PROJECT SELF

Summer Employment for High School Juniors

In Santa Ana, CALIFORNIA

Project SELF (Summer Employment with Law Firms) is a paid eight-week summer internship that was initiated in 1995  with the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA) and the Orange County Chapter of Association of Legal Administrators (OC-ALA) to give youth an opportunity to explore professional careers within the legal community.  Project SELF places interns in Orange County law firms and law related businesses that will introduce the students to a positive professional working experience which enhances the knowledge, experience and self-esteem of these deserving students. 

Project SELF targets low-income, minority students from the city of Santa Ana that are entering their senior year of high school. These students have an urgent need for youth development services, which Project SELF provides.  Santa Ana has the highest unemployment rate and the lowest per capita income in the County.  With the highest crime rate as well, Santa Ana residents are victims to 27% of all crime in Orange County. The school district in Santa Ana has the third highest drop out rate of any district in Orange County.

We have found that Project SELF helps our target population by reducing their risk of juvenile delinquency and providing positive life and career options. The Project SELF opportunity is so important because youth need exposure to professional career fields, such as the legal community. Because of their socio-economic conditions and cultural limitations, most of these students cannot achieve this exposure without our assistance. They desperately need adult role models and mentors, and they need to know it is possible to go on to college and establish a successful career. Project SELF addresses these needs by providing youth with positive alternatives for spending their summers, access to professional and career environments they have never been exposed to, and positive mentors to help them with goal setting and college preparation. 

Since its inception, 510 students have completed the program and many of them have gone on to receive college degrees and work in the legal industry. Through Project SELF, law firms and lawyers are making a big impact in the lives of Santa Ana youth.

For more information about Project SELF, contact Nancy Garcia, Associate Director at (714) 480-1925 ext. 108 or via email at ngarcia@ocbarfoundation.org.