President's Message
Dear Fellow Alumni:
I am Lindsay Breedlove and I am honored to serve as President of the Harvard Law School Association of Greater Philadelphia. I would like to extend my deepest thanks and appreciation to my predecessor, Bill McSwain, for his extraordinary leadership, dedication, and commitment during his tenure as HLSA of Greater Philadelphia President. I would also like to thank Alan Promer, who stepped down as Vice President earlier this year, for his years of incredible service to our organization. And I would be remiss not to express gratitude for the leadership of our current Officers of the HLSA of Greater Philadelphia—Bill McSwain (now Vice President), Rick Coe (Treasurer), Brian Kint (Secretary), and Ross MacConnell (Public Interest Chair).
One-hundred and thirty years ago, 400 alumni came together in Cambridge and founded the HLSA “to advance the cause of legal education, to promote the interest and increase the usefulness of the Harvard Law School, and to promote mutual acquaintance and good fellowship among all members of the Association.” Today, the HLSA consists of over 38,000 members and more than 40 location-based Clubs and Shared Interest Groups. Each Club and Shared Interest Group works with its membership to provide a platform to bring together incredibly thoughtful and insightful people who have the benefit of a profound education that has fundamentally shaped our lives. Each platform strives to serve the goals that individual Clubs and Shared Interest Groups find meaningful, whether they be friendship, networking, mentoring, engaging with each other about important issues, giving back to HLS, and/or giving back to the community more generally.
Over the past several years, the HLSA of Greater Philadelphia has served its membership in three primary ways: We have held annual meetings at which leaders in the Philadelphia legal community share their experiences. We have hosted quarterly happy hours that provide opportunities for friendship and networking. And, with your generous support, we have funded the Summer Public Interest Fellowship, which each summer brings HLS students to Philadelphia to work with the incredible public interest organizations in our city.
Although our traditional programs and activities have met success, we have not reached all alumni in our area or provided the breadth of experiences that would be meaningful to our diverse membership. We can and should do more to ensure that all area alumni—no matter their current jobs or goals—feel welcome and well served by our organization. We are looking for members to step up to jointly spearhead more and different social events, educational events, membership initiatives, and mentoring programs. If you have ideas about events or would like to participate in our organization’s forthcoming strategic planning process, we welcome your input. We are a volunteer organization, and can do more for each other if more of us are willing to dedicate a few hours a year to making our organization stronger.
I am a true believer in the incredibly enriching experiences that being a member of the HLSA of Greater Philadelphia can bring, and I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as your President.
Warmest regards,
Lindsay Breedlove, HLS 2009