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Priya A. Lane Appointed Director of LCCR’s Economic Justice Project
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice (LCCR) announced the appointment of Priya A. Lane as its Director of the Belin Economic Justice Project. She will oversee the organization’s work providing free business legal support to small minority-owned businesses across Massachusetts. The Belin Economic Justice Project (EJP) works with pro bono attorneys from Boston’s leading law firms to provide free legal assistance to entrepreneurs who are starting or expanding small businesses in disadvantaged communities, including communities of color, low-income communities, and immigrant communities. EJP conducts workshops and legal clinics, provides one-on-one legal consultations, and matches business owners with pro bono attorneys for individual representation.
“I am honored to work at an organization that does so much for minority and immigrant communities,” said Lane. “Coming from an immigrant family, I know firsthand the impact that economic empowerment can have. EJP has the ability to change neighborhoods and make dreams come true. ”
Since its inception in 2001, EJP has assisted over 4000 entrepreneurs. Almost half of the entrepreneurs served are women. EJP has held workshops and clinics in more than 35 communities across Greater Boston – including Chinatown, Chelsea, East Boston, Mattapan, Jamaica Plain, Dorchester, Roxbury, Lowell, and Lawrence – focusing on issues such as business planning, entity formation, contracts, leases, and access to capital.
“Priya brings tremendous talent, passion, and creativity to our small business portfolio,” said LCCR’s Executive Director Iván Espinoza-Madrigal. “At a time when economic empowerment is desperately needed across Massachusetts, Priya will deepen and expand our work on behalf of small businesses fueling the development and growth of our Commonwealth.”
Lane is a 2013 graduate of Northeastern University School of Law. She has been working as a Staff Attorney with LCCR since then on a wide range of civil rights matters, including education, employment, housing, and police misconduct. In her new position, Lane will continue to work with the communities that LCCR serves. During LCCR’s Fall 2015 “Create Your Own Job” Seminar at Roxbury Community College, Lane advised small business owners on numerous legal issues their businesses face. Concurrently, she reorganized LCCR’sintake process for small businesses.
“I am excited to build on EJP’s past successes,” said Lane. “For 2016, I am already planning new EJP programming and resources, starting with a new legal workshop series for minority and immigrant entrepreneurs in East Boston.”
Lane will work closely with LCCR’s Equal Justice Works Fellow, sponsored by Latham & Watkins, Alexa Marin who is currently spearheading a project geared towards assisting small businesses in East Boston.
For more information on the Belin Economic Justice Project click here.
To submit a small business intake click here.
The Bay State Banner featured Lane’s appointment.
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