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."