The Illinois Bar Foundation (IBF), the charitable arm of the Illinois State Bar Association, has awarded its inaugural Post Graduate Legal Fellowship Program grants to three 2014 law school graduates.

Post graduate legal fellowships were awarded this summer to Alexis Simmons, Northern Illinois University College of Law; Juan Mejia, University of Illinois College of Law; and Emily Vaughan, Loyola University Chicago School of Law. The fellowships will provide clinical support for three law school legal clinics.

The foundation launched its Post Graduate Legal Fellowship Program to fund public interest jobs for recent law graduates, according to James Lestikow, IBF president. The foundation will award $25,000 to each of the three fellowships. The law schools will each contribute a stipend to help fund the positions.

“There is a growing need for more public interest lawyers to serve the underrepresented members of our community,” said David M. Anderson, IBF executive director. “The fellowship program was created to provide on-the-job training for new lawyers while simultaneously helping to fill the gap in legal aid services. We are extremely pleased to partner with these three top law schools on this inaugural fellowship program.”