MLAC Staff
Heather Catherwood - Program Assistant
Heather joined MLAC in August 2007. As Program Assistant, she supports the Executive Director and the Director of the Equal Justice Coalition. She is responsible for coordinating law school participation at Walk to the Hill, the annual event of the Equal Justice Coalition.
Prior to working at MLAC, Heather served as the Massachusetts Promise Fellow at America’s Youth Teenage Unemployment Reduction Network (MY TURN, Inc.) in Brockton.
Heather received her bachelor’s degree in biology and psychology from Brandeis University in 2006. She lives in her hometown of Mansfield.
Beth Chandler - Deputy Director
Beth Chandler joined MLAC as Deputy Director in November 2005. Her responsibilities include managing MLAC’s human resources needs, coordinating the annual Legislative briefing event for state legislators and aides, developing MLAC’s grant application and grant reporting forms and overseeing MLAC’s strategic planning process and quarterly reports.
Prior to joining MLAC, Beth spent seven years with NeighborWorks America as manager of national business development.
Beth received an MBA from Columbia Business School and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard - Radcliffe College. She lives in Roslindale with her partner, Jill Seaman, son Elias and two terriers—Georgia Belle and Dunkin’.
Mary Doyon - Fiscal Director
Mary joined MLAC in September 2001 as Fiscal Director. In this capacity, she is accountable for directing all aspects of fiscal policy, financial management and planning for MLAC. She also coordinates all HR functions and employee benefits and provides technical assistance to recipient program Fiscal staff.
Prior to joining MLAC, Mary spent 14 years as director of business services for North River Collaborative, a special education collaborative serving eight public school districts in Southeastern Massachusetts. During that time, she also served as director of the Summer Youth Work Experience Program.
Mary is a member of the Non-Profit Financial Managers Group. She received a master’s degree in education / education management from Cambridge College and a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Northeastern University.
Danielle Hines - Operations Manager
Dani joined MLAC in August 1999 as the executive assistant to the executive director and secretary to the MLAC board of directors. In July 2004, she became operations manager while continuing to serve as board secretary. Dani ensures all office functions are running smoothly. She also is responsible for the board mailings, meetings logistics and meetings.
Previously, Dani worked for the Massachusetts House of Representatives, first with Rep. Shirley Owens-Hicks and later with Rep. Harold Lane. She attended Alabama State University. A Dorchester native, Dani lives in Stoughton with her husband and two daughters.
Position Vacant - Communications Assistant
Walter (Freddy) Matute - Bookkeeper
Freddy Matute joined MLAC as its Bookkeeper in November 2003. In this role, he supports the Fiscal Director by maintaining accurate and timely financial records for the organization, processing accounts payable and payroll, providing support to Loan Forgiveness Program administrators, and more.
Freddy also works part-time for Centro Presente Inc. in Cambridge, a grassroots non-profit organization that advocates for the rights of the Latin American immigrant community of Massachusetts.
Before joining MLAC, Freddy worked full time at Centro Presente, serving as a paralegal in the Legal Immigration Department and the Administrative Department. He previously worked for the Consulate of El Salvador in Boston. He has completed college courses in business administration and is bilingual in Spanish and English.
Brianne S. Miers - Communications Director
Brianne joined MLAC in February 2008. As Communications Director, she is responsible for planning and implementing strategic communications activities to raise the public profile of civil legal aid in Massachusetts- including branding, media relations, publications, and electronic communications. She also provides support to MLAC’s programs on their communications and fundraising efforts to enhance their visibility among key local audiences.
Brianne relocated to Boston from Washington, DC, where she most recently served as Manager, Marketing & Communications, for the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She also worked for World Wildlife Fund in DC and Clarus Public Relations in Denver, CO.
She received a master’s degree in public administration (with a concentration in non-profit management) from The George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in public relations and political science from Syracuse University. Originally from New Jersey, Brianne lives in South Boston.
G. Anthony Morse - Program Assistant to the Client Council
Anthony joined MLAC at the start of 2008 as the first Program Assistant to the Client Council. Anthony’s job is to help the Client Council fulfill its mission to educate and help client representatives to empower themselves to be an effective voice in decision-making concerning the delivery of legal services to low-income people in Massachusetts.
Anthony was born and raised in Harvard. At the age of 16 he did his first internship with Congressman Martin T. Meehan’s office in Lowell. Anthony attended Northeastern University where he participated in the University’s cooperative education program and earned a bachelor's degree in political science. His co-ops brought him to the Mass. Department of Telecomm and Energy Consumer Division and Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s office in Washington, DC.
Anthony is avid about politics and history. He currently volunteers with MassVOTE , a non-profit dedicated to increasing voter turnout. Being raised a typical New Englander, he is an avid Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, and Celtics fan.
Lonnie A. Powers has served as Executive Director of MLAC since it was established in 1983. He has more than 35 years of policy and legal experience at the state and national levels, having devoted nearly 30 years to establishing, building, sustaining, and revitalizing legal aid organizations.
In his role as MLAC's Executive Director, Lonnie's primary responsibilities include increasing funding for civil legal aid; enhancing partnerships with the bar, the legislature, the judiciary, and the public; and strengthening legal aid programs across the Commonwealth.
He serves on the American Bar Association Task Force on Access to Civil Justice, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Committee on Pro Bono and is active in the American, Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations. He directed the Massachusetts Legal Needs Survey (2003), a comprehensive survey of the legal needs of the poor in Massachusetts.
Lonnie began his legal career in his native Arkansas, first with the Attorney General's Office and later with Legal Services of Arkansas, where he served as Executive Director. He earned both his bachelor's degree and JD from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and is admitted to practice in Arkansas, Missouri and Massachusetts. He lives in Newton with his wife, Nancy Israel, and daughters Amanda and Jessica.
Donna Southwell - Director of Policy Analysis
Donna joined MLAC in 1995 as Communications Manager. She soon became Communications Director and remained in that position until 2006, when she became director of Director of Policy Analysis. As Communications Director, she served as editor of the Legal Services Reporter.
As Director of Policy Analysis, Donna is responsible for overseeing all MLAC research and data analysis as well as developing policy for three MLAC projects: the Battered Women’s Legal Assistance Project; the Disability Benefits Project; and the Medicare Advocacy Project. She also manages MLAC’s Publications Clearinghouse program, which provides financial support for the development of community legal education materials and the Web site MassLegalHelp.org.
Donna received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from The George Washington University. Her varied career path includes stints as: a computer programmer for the U.S. General Accounting Office in the days of punch cards; a dress designer/shop owner; a machinist at General Electric; a machine shop teacher at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School; and a writer and editor of the Massachusetts Human Services Coalition’s publication State House Watch.
Donna was born and raised in the Panama Canal Zone. She lives in Cambridge with her husband, Dave Kern, and has three grown children. She is working on improving her Spanish.
Patricia Swansey - Program Director
Pat joined MLAC in 1996 as Program Director, responsible for monitoring MLAC’s grantees and serving as MLAC’s liaison for the Battered Women’s Legal Assistance Project; the Disability Benefits Project; and the Medicare Advocacy Project. Pat also manages the Bart Gordon Fellowship which encourages careers in legal services and provides civil legal services to low-income communities who may have difficulty accessing the justice system due to linguistic, racial, cultural or disability barriers.
Pat staffs the Massachusetts Legal Services Client Council, an MLAC technical assistance project designed to provide training and support to client board members statewide at MLAC- and LSC-funded programs. Pat also is responsible for the Racial Justice Fellowship, an initiative begun in 2006 which focuses on racial justice advocacy to reduce poverty among communities of color in Massachusetts.
Pat received her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Grinnell College, studied at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, and received a master’s degree in management from Brandeis University. Her career path includes service in Massachusetts’ state government as Legislative Aide for the Legislative Black Caucus, Deputy Director for the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, Program Officer for the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Program Officer for the Urban Initiative Fund at the Massachusetts Community Development Finance Corporation.
Pat was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She lives in Boston and is a single parent with two grown sons. She enjoys gardening, playwriting and travel.
Diversity Coalition
Joyce Allen-Beckford - Director
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Joyce Allen-Beckford joined MLAC as Director the Diversity Coalition in February 2007. She works to create a representative and collaborative atmosphere within legal services that enables the programs to provide accessible and culturally competent services to clients of all backgrounds.
She came to MLAC from Buckingham Browne & Nichols School where she was the assistant director of multicultural services for five years.
Joyce received a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from the Sawyer Business School at Suffolk University and a master’s degree in education from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.
She has been a resident of Boston for 33 years and values leisure time with close friends and family.
Andy Garcia - Associate Director
Andy joined MLAC in March, 2007 as the Associate Director of the Diversity Coalition. Working with Director Joyce Allen-Beckford, Andy helped coordinate and facilitate two series of diversity trainings for the entire staff of Massachusetts Legal Services, including the most recent series: Let’s Get REAL About Disability. The Diversity Coalition is currently addressing recruitment and retention issues, and plans are underway for additional events and trainings.
Andy received his bachelor’s degree in psychology and women’s studies from Cornell University, making him the first male in the university’s history to complete a women’s studies major. His work in the field of diversity began at Cornell, where he co-facilitated Connections, an innovative series of anti-oppression trainings. Since then, he has worked for the National Youth Advocacy Coalition in Washington, DC, identifying and implementing model HIV prevention programs for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth and young men of color; the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs at the University of New Hampshire; and as Program Director of BAGLY, the Boston Alliance of GLBT Youth. He is a trained HIV test counselor, an aspiring fiction writer, and loves to cook, garden, and travel.
Andy was born and raised in northeastern New Jersey before moving to Miami to attend high school. His father is Cuban and his mother is Irish, which in part explains his love for the television show I Love Lucy. He currently lives in Newburyport in a 350-year-old house restored by his partner.
Equal Justice Coalition
Patricia E. Comfort - Director
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Pattye joined MLAC as the EJC Director in 2002. The EJC is a collaboration among MLAC, the Boston Bar Association and the Massachusetts Bar Association. Pattye is responsible for coordinating the state-wide advocacy on behalf of legislative funding for civil legal aid.
Before joining MLAC, Pattye spent nine years as an assistant counsel to the National Association of State Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs). Prior to law school, she worked as a community organizer with public housing tenants in Boston and Lowell; as assistant director of Save the Harbor, Save the Bay in Boston; and as an anti-nuclear weapons lobbyist in Washington, DC.
Pattye received her bachelor’s degree from Boston College and her JD from Northeastern University School of Law.
She grew up 10 miles from Boston and makes no apologies for her wicked accent.