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Are you an agent of change? Whether you are interested in gender rights, education reform, reducing inequality, improving labor conditions, or disability and inclusion issues in the workplace, the ILR School will provide a foundation to understand these and other social justice issues. ILR students not only explore these and other social justice topics, but also learn leadership and conflict resolution skills required to address them in communities, companies, and countries throughout the world.

Outside of the classroom, our students directly impact social and political issues on and off campus by leading organizations like Cornell Amnesty International , the Women’s Caucus, and the Cornell Organization for Labor Action.

ILR Social Justice Stories

Simon Boehme ’14

As a tech entrepreneur and mediator, Simon Boehme ‘14 has founded and advised multiple legal tech companies, along with writing and teaching online dispute resolution for the past 10 years.
Simon Boehme ’14
Simon Boehme ’14

Laurie Ann Atienza ’11

Laurie Ann Atienza ’11 has been able to live her values, thanks to a career that allows her to fight for working people.
Laurie Ann Atienza ’11
Laurie Ann Atienza ’11

Angelica Allen-McMillan ’91

Learn about one ILRie’s path to public education leadership.
Angelica Allen-McMillan ’91
Angelica Allen-McMillan ’91

Liel Sterling ’21

ILR is preparing a generation of leaders to take on difficult questions and enact legal and policy change, according to ILR senior Liel Sterling.
Liel Sterling
Liel Sterling ’21

Ben Francis-Fallon ’01

Ben Francis-Fallon ’01 takes the lessons he learned at ILR and applies them to educating the next generation as a history professor at Western Carolina University.
Ben Francis-Fallon ’01
Ben Francis-Fallon ’01

Daniel James II ’22

The creator and host of “Black Voices on the Hill,’“ featuring the stories and experiences of Black Cornell community members, says ILR “has been, by far, one of the best decisions I ever made."
Daniel James II ’22
Daniel James II ’22