Within Pro Bono Net, I’m embedded in the New York Programs where I am the program manager for a few initiatives including the Crime Victims Legal Help and LawHelp NY programs. I came to the legal nonprofit space later in life after spending much of my career as a law librarian. What motivates you to be active in this work?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. A book I’m currently browsing reveals that we only have 4,000 weeks on this earth if we make it to 80, or as the author writes: “the average human lifespan is absurdly, terrifyingly, insultingly short.” This makes us rethink our relationship with time. Currently, there are legal regulatory sandboxes around the country looking to increase access to justice by removing barriers to getting legal advice through much needed regulatory reform, but that will take time. And everywhere we turn there are rollbacks to civil rights and human rights. Heroic political and policy efforts to fight these initiatives abound, but while those battles are being waged, many people will suffer and are suffering. Finding ways to help communities who are suffering right now is what motivates me. As essayist Marilynne Robinson writes, “the spirit of the times is one of joyless urgency,” an urgency I feel more with each passing year, although I do make time and space for joy. How can technology help crime victims, advocates and legal professionals?
Technology can give people agency, at scale. There aren’t enough legal professionals and advocates to help all who are experiencing problems that have legal solutions, and there never will be. Many turn to self-help solutions, usually by searching online for information about their problem. Advocates do the same when looking for information and tools to help their clients. The massive number of users who accessed the Victim Compensation Online Claim Application Guide after it was launched in late 2021 is an example of this. Another example with over 900,000 documents created in 2021 is LawHelp Interactive which offers free online legal forms that empower individuals without legal counsel to create legal documents on their own, some of which are available on the New York Crime Victims Legal Help website. But while we build and user-test and scale technologies, we must be aware of the digital divide in the United States. During the recent Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Innovations in Technology conference, it was revealed that of adults with annual incomes of less than $30,000: 43% don’t have home broadband services, 41% don’t have a desktop or laptop computer, 24% don’t own a smartphone. In Minnesota efforts are underway to meet these communities where they are with Legal Kiosks installed around the state. Proximity matters, as Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, often says, so that no one feels excluded, no one feels ignored, no one feels disfavored. What lessons have you learned from your work?
A recent lesson is also from the LSC conference. Sociologist Rebecca Sandefur, talking about program evaluation, said that we need to reframe what success is. It would go something like this: I tried something I thought would work, and gathered information about the effort and this is what I found. In other words, part of the success is the learning. The “move fast and break things” mantra in the tech startup world has the backing of massive venture capital and IPO cash infusion which doesn’t exist in the nonprofit sector where funds are limited and “learning” as a success metric will probably not get you additional dollars. That has to change. Another is more a glorious acknowledgement than a lesson, and that is the collaboration and learning from each other’s experience in the justice sector. I’ve reached out to program managers and directors all over the country to discuss projects and the generosity of these tireless justice workers never ceases to amaze me. So, don’t reinvent the wheel – and the mistakes and frustrations that go with it – reach out to your colleagues far and near. Who or what inspires you?
In the past I would identify one or two heroes of mine, but now I find new inspirations every day from articles and books, podcasts, Twitter, at work, at school, among my friends, project partners; inspiration is everywhere. “ Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life” is one of the books that inspired me a few years ago. It’s about applying design-thinking principles to your life. A liberating takeaway was that there are multiple great designs for your life no matter how old you are and at my stage in life, that meant a lot. It led me back to school on a part-time basis to pursue graduate studies to explore how I can apply research methods and analysis to the work I do along with emerging and innovative approaches to leadership and organizational behavior. There’s so much good work being done with this right now and I’m excited about the ongoing efforts to identify how we can better serve communities in need. I share this to inspire others that it’s never too late to pursue your dreams, to design your life. It’s a challenge, but a gratifying one. The beautiful thing about coming to this realization later in life is that you have a firmer grasp on what you want to accomplish and where you want to concentrate your learning and efforts. Fair warning: you will have less unstructured time, but I’m pretty sure a regret at the end of one’s life will never be “I wish I spent more time watching Netflix.” Conversely, the older you get, the fewer weeks you have left, the more you realize that you never want to stop doing the work in the service and agency of others, the work that gives your life purpose and meaning and fulfillment, and in order to do that you have to start preparing now for that path, even if it means going back to school, changing careers, or narrowing your focus.
I’ll conclude with a quote from the remarkable Amanda Gorman: “There is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it; if only we’re brave enough to be it.”