Today was my last official day of work at the Center for Legal Aid Education (née Legal Aid University), where I’ve been employed since 2003 or so. (The exact start date is hazy because the organization started out as a project, incorporating independently in Jan 2006). While I officially left Mass Law Reform Institute last October to become a fellow at the Berkman Center, I hadn’t yet said goodbye because CLAE shares space with MLRI.
Working on the Website Project at MLRI was an astonishingly good opportunity for someone had just graduated law school in 2002 with a technological bent and an interest in the public good — even more so considering that the dot-com bust had wiped out so many other similar options. (Ironically, I found the job reading a paper copy of the Boston Globe’s help wanted section). Helping found LAU/CLAE — launched with a grant awarded only months after I started at MLRI — was an even sweeter serendipity. I had fallen in love with online instructional design in my last year of school while taking a course at Harvard’s Ed School, but chances of my ever using what I’d learned were slim until that Technology Initiative Grant arrived.
I’m excited to be moving on to the next phase of my career, but I’m also glad to be leaving at a moment when, I believe, CLAE is about to hit a major positive inflection point. Things are looking good for the Center for Legal Aid Education (news of a new Big Deal will be on the site soon), and I hope to remain involved with its future success.
