The Volunteer Lawyers Project board of directors has unanimously chosen
Sheila Hubbard to become VLP's next executive director, effective Feb.1.
Ms. Hubbard takes over
from long-term executive director, Meg Connolly, who is retiring after 24
years. The Volunteer Lawyers Project, created by the Boston Bar
Association and funded by the federal Legal Services Corp., supports and trains
private practice lawyers who provide free advice to low-income people facing
civil legal problems, such as eviction, unemployment and foreclosure.
A graduate of Yale and a resident
of Boston since she graduated from Harvard Law School, Ms. Hubbard began her
professional career with the state Department of Social Services as a homeless
specialist. From there she went to work as a policy analyst for Mayor
Raymond Flynn, and later served as Boston's director of the Minority and Women
Business Enterprise Office. She quickly built the infrastructure to carry
out the mandate that 15 percent of city contracts be awarded to minority-owned
businesses and 5 percent to women-owned
businesses.
Ms. Hubbard was also involved in the formation of what is now the Boston Lawyers
Group, an organization of large Boston law firms and corporations that strives
to hire and retain minority lawyers throughout the city.
Ms. Hubbard went from City Hall
to the Statehouse, where she worked on Governor William F. Weld's legal
staff. Gov. Weld then appointed her the head of the Massachusetts Parole
Board, where, for seven years, she supervised 240 employees responsible for
5,000 parolees and managed a $13.1 million budget.
Ms. Hubbard later served as the
associate director of the Office of Public Interest Advising at Harvard Law
School, working with law students and alumni who wanted to pursue pubic interest
and legal service careers. In 2008, as senior program director for the
Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Ala., she worked on issues of race and
poverty, parole and probation, and juvenile
justice.
"We are very
excited to have Sheila Hubbard as our new executive director," said VLP Board
Chairman Kathleen McGrath. "Sheila brings significant leadership
experience, a deep understanding of the needs of our clients, and a passion to
make a difference in their lives."
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Any questions, please contact Kathy McGrath at
617-574-5848.