Twenty-five years ago, I was sitting at my desk at a law firm, surrounded by commercial documents, wondering to myself, “What am I doing with my life?” The telephone rang. An executive recruiter was on the telephone, pursuing a familiar ploy. “Do you know anyone who might be interested in heading a non-profit organization?” “What does it do?” I asked. His response: “Poverty law.” My response: “Yes! Me!” Soon thereafter, I bade farewell to the world of commerce and became executive director of Volunteers of Legal Service.
I came to the job knowing little about legal services for the poor. I had had extensive experience with non-profit organizations, but in different fields, both as a staff member and a volunteer. As staff, I served as executive secretary of Citizens Union working on civic reform issues and at the International Institute for Environmental Affairs, where I participated in planning events for the United Nations 1972 Stockholm Conference, the first world gathering on environmental issues. As a volunteer, I served as chairman of the Correctional Association of New York which has the statutory mandate to visit and report on conditions in New York state prisons, and for13 years I was the Wednesday night driver for the Coalition for the Homeless food van.
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