At its first fund-raising event on Monday night at the Rubin Museum of Art, the Young Professionals Committee of the Innocence Project raised more than $40,000 for the Exoneree Fund, which provides financial assistance to men and women who have won their freedom after being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.

The Young Professionals Committee of the Innocence Project formed last year as a formal outlet for the large number of young people who already have a passion for the organization. Many of them have worked on the cases of the exonerated as college and law students, such as Zoe Tananbaum, who worked there the summer before completing her senior thesis at Harvard on the death penalty. She is now the group’s co-chairwoman.

“It’s about giving people a second chance in life. It isn’t just a legal issue, it’s a human rights issue,” Ms. Tananbaum, 28, said.

Others have heard stories of the exonerees and been blown away. “When I hear someone has been in prison for 22 years, I think of all the things I’ve gotten to do in that time: all the friendships, school, travel, education,” a Yale graduate who works for Vogue’s advertising department, Lily Oliver, said.

Exoneree David Shephard has never looked back since winning his freedom after 11 years wrongfully imprisoned

The day he returned home, he had cheesecake and a Slurpee, and reunited with his son, LeMarr, who was 4 months old when his father went to prison and is now 23.

Mr. Shephard has formed the Northeast Council of the Wrongfully Convicted, in part to lobby for the rights of exonerees, who in most states receive less assistance at the time of their release from prison than convicts who actually committed the crimes for which they served time.

Some young professionals find ways to help aside from giving money: Ian Dumain, an associate at Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, is helping Mr. Shephard secure 501(c)(3) status for his organization.

As the young professionals mingled with exonerees, it was clear there was a natural, if at times bittersweet, affinity between them: One law student, Jessica Smith, offered to tell an exoneree who was in prison for 22 years, Alan Newton, what it’s really like to be in law school. Mr. Newton is planning to take the LSATs this winter.

“I was practicing law the whole time I was in prison,” Mr. Newton said. “It’s in my blood, it’s a natural progression.”

The event featured a performance by Jesse Malin, deejaying by the lead singer of the Dirty Pearls, Tommy London, and a reflection from a co-founder and co-director of the Innocence Project, Barry Scheck.

“I’m so grateful to be here with these young professionals. I don’t qualify anymore,” Mr. Scheck said. “But I’m looking out and I see all this tremendous energy, intelligence, and life. This is the future.”

agordon@nysun.com