Genevieve L. Richardson

Genevieve Richardson, Executive Director

Over 25 years of experience in civil legal services, addressing poverty and expanding equal access to justice.

I am deeply humbled and proud to be the Executive Director of Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal).

I went to law school to help individuals living / surviving in poverty and to address the legal and societal barriers that perpetuate poverty, deny people basic needs, and limit opportunities to live stable lives and pursue their full potential. I have been able to do that at BayLegal.

I have spent my legal career learning from, standing with, helping and protecting the legal rights of community members who are living / surviving in poverty. I can imagine no better place to do this than BayLegal where I have held a range of positions culminating in becoming Executive Director.

I joined BayLegal in 2001, straight out of law school and just after becoming a member of the CA State Bar. I started as a temporary attorney covering for a colleague’s parental leave, coordinating and running domestic violence restraining order clinics in Contra Costa County. In this role, I helped survivors take an initial legal step towards telling their story and getting legal protection for themselves and their children. Building on that experience, I became a staff attorney, handling a wide range of family and immigration law matters for low-income survivors. Facing vast unmet needs as the only attorney providing free family law help to survivors, I partnered with the Contra Costa Bar Association to recruit, train and mentor volunteer attorneys.

In 2005, I became BayLegal’s first Director of Pro Bono, building partnerships with over 40 law firms and corporations and engaging a wide range of civic minded individuals to expand services throughout the Bay Area. These friends and partners remain critical to our work and success as a non-profit law firm.

In 2014, I became Managing Attorney of Contra Costa, Marin and Napa counties, where I supported a team of staff attorneys and advocates across a wide range of legal practices, including addressing legal barriers to “reentering society” after incarceration and tackling the root causes of homelessness, food and housing insecurity. As Managing Attorney I also helped oversee the merger of Legal Aid of Napa Valley into BayLegal, integrating a new team of attorneys and advocates and leveraging our regional firm to increase services in Napa County.

On International Women’s Day in 2018, I was given the opportunity to bring together my prior experience to support a powerful expert team of advocates across the Bay Area who provide high-quality, impactful legal services, and ensure that BayLegal remains a strong anti-poverty social justice law firm for our clients and community.

 

Edukasyon: University of Colorado, Boulder, School of Law, J.D. 2000; University of Colorado, Boulder, B.A. 1997, Philosophy: Law and Society magna cum laude

Pagpasok sa Bar: California, US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, US District Court, Northern District of California

Mga lathalain: Divided Societies: Northern Ireland’s religious struggles and the racial struggles in the United States