I am pleased to host a guest post from co-presidents of the Boston College Law School Women’s Law Center, Liz Dwyer and Stacey Kourtis.

The Women’s Law Center aims to impact both its student members and the entire BC Law community by providing networking opportunities with women in the legal community, maintaining strong ties with women alumni for mentorship, and by providing a forum for discussion about women’s issues at BC Law and beyond. For us, the WLC has served as a supportive and engaging group here at BC Law. We’re proud to be members of the Women’s Law Center where we have both had the opportunity to meet wonderful women at BC Law, alumnae, and faculty.

Every year, the Women’s Law Center at BC Law  chooses one alumna who has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to advancing an area of the legal profession and recognizes her as the WLC’s Woman of the Year. This year, the Women’s Law Center nomination committee chose to present the 10^th Annual Woman of the Year Award to Josephine McNeil ’87.

Josephine has been a trailblazer in our local Newton community, founding and later serving as Executive Director of CAN-DO, a community-based nonprofit that focuses on building and managing low-income housing in Newton for individuals and families who were formerly homeless, who are survivors of domestic violence, or have a developmental disability. The organization has developed nearly 50 units of affordable housing in the city, the vast majority of which must remain affordable under the deed structure. CAN-DO takes a holistic approach to housing, helping residents build self-sufficiency by providing job training programs, childcare, and other services. Last year, Josephine retired from CAN-DO after eighteen years. Prior to CAN-DO, Josephine was a real estate associate at Brown Rudnick Freed and Gesmer, and managed her own firm that focused on affordable housing and economic development.

Josephine is a powerful example of a lawyer taking the initiative to address the problem of homelessness in our community, not only from a legal perspective, but also from a true understanding of what individuals and families need to succeed in affordable housing. We are honored to add Woman of the Year to Josephine’s long list of awards recognizing her commitment to public service.

We hope you’ll join us on April 17 to honor Josephine at our 10th Annual Woman of the Year Celebration.