LegallyBlack® Partners with the Institute for Intellectual Property & Social Justice to Expand IP Education for Students

The collaboration will bring more intellectual property workshops and learning opportunities to students in underserved communities.

(October 9, 2026) LegallyBlack®, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making intellectual property education accessible, today announced a partnership with the Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice (IIPSJ), the organization that has helped define the field of IP and social justice for more than two decades. Together, the two organizations will work to bring IP education to more students and expand LegallyBlack®'s impact in communities across the country.

With IIPSJ's support, LegallyBlack® will grow its workshop programming, including upcoming sessions presented in collaboration with IIPSJ. The partnership centers on a shared commitment to promoting social justice throughout the intellectual property ecosystem, with a focus on community IP education, public policy and awareness, and the use of intellectual property as a tool for technological, cultural and socio-economic advancement. It pairs IIPSJ's scholarship and policy advocacy with LegallyBlack®'s educational programming and community reach.

Areas of collaboration include IP awareness, training and proficiency initiatives for K-12 students, higher education, and community and professional audiences; public conferences, roundtables and publications; and programs that expand participation in IP entrepreneurship and legal practice.

The partnership builds on LegallyBlack®'s growing reach. During its 2025–2026 programming year, the organization hosted 16 workshops and reached more than 300 students across Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, Massachusetts, California and Florida.

“Every student deserves to know that their ideas have value and that the law can protect them. LegallyBlack® is honored and humbled to partner with the Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice. There is great alignment between our two organizations, and as the Institute continues to carry out its mission through scholarship and policy advocacy, we are proud to continue our educational programming and advance IP literacy for marginalized communities. It is a special thing to see two DC-founded organizations come together in support of one another’s work. For more than twenty years, the Institute has shaped the field of IP and social justice, and as a younger organization, LegallyBlack® is grateful to grow under the guidance of Professor Mtima and the Institute’s esteemed board. We look forward to championing the Institute’s work as they champion ours.”

Valerie Cambronne, Founder and Executive Director of LegallyBlack®

“The opportunity to partner with LegallyBlack® not only enhances IIPSJ’s work to educate and empower the public to participate in the IP ecosystem,” said Lateef Mtima, “it provides us with the privilege of collaborating with the visionary founders of LegallyBlack®, Valerie Cambronne and Kiara Ortiz, who are implementing the Houstonian tradition of lawyers as social engineers in the field of IP legal practice. In devising a framework for the delivery of K-12 and other community-centered IP education, with particular emphasis on underserved communities, attorneys Cambronne and Ortiz are ensuring the promise of the IP system: to harvest the talent of every American toward the benefit of every citizen, community, and geographic region of our nation.”

Lateef Mtima, Founder and Director, Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice