The Board

The 2009 Board of Directors
Casselle Smith - President
Jennifer Sansom - Executive Director
Lauren Seffel - Vice President for Practice Standards
Laura Kleinman - Vice President for Membership
Stephen Quinlan - Secretary/Treasurer
Susan Reagan - Training Director
Julia Hildreth - Intake Director
Laura Openshaw - Outreach Director
Megan Tosner - Research & Technology Director
Marcus Hedrick - Communications Director

Casselle A.E. Smith - President
Greensboro, NC
Casselle was born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina.  As an undergraduate at Howard University she majored in Sociology and Administration of Justice and minored in Theatre.  Upon graduation from Howard, she was awarded a fellowship by the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, where she worked as a criminal defense investigator.  After law school, she plans to move back to North Carolina and help the state's education and poverty policy.

Jennifer Sansom - Executive Director
Westhampton, MA
Jen was raised in Westhampton, MA , and graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 2007, where she majored in English and Political Science.  Jen plans to work at Ropes & Gray LLP in Boston this summer, and hopes to remain in Boston after graduation.

Lauren Seffel – Vice President of Practice Standards
Gaithersburg, MD
Lauren grew up in Gaithersburg, MD. As an undergrad at Washington University in St. Louis, she studied English and Anthropology and spent a year at Keble College, University of Oxford. This summer she will be working at Legal Momentum, focusing on employment discrimination and domestic violence. After law school, she hopes to continue to advocacy work on women's rights and gender issues.

Laura Kleinman – Vice President of Membership
Indianapolis, IN
Laura is from Indianapolis, and went to undergrad at Wash U in St. Louis. She is studying public interest law with the hopes of embarking on a career in policymaking, litigating, and teaching concerning issues of poverty and violence. This summer, she will be working in New York City for New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.

Stephen J. Quinlan – Secretary and Treasurer
Arlington, MA
Stephen is an enthusiastic member of the Board of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau in his second year of studies.  He comes to law school after serving in the Peace Corps in El Salvador.  His plans this summer are to continue working in the public interest at the Department of Justice Antitrust Division in Washington DC.

Julia Hildreth – Intake Director

Guilford, NH

Julia grew up in New Hampshire and attended Dartmouth College.  After graduating, she taught 7th grade English in the South Bronx for two years with Teach For America.  Now that she is in law school, her goal is to pursue a legal services career dealing in juvenile justice. 


Susan Reagan – Training Director

Glenview, IL

Susan grew up in Wyckoff, NJ and Glenview, IL before attending Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.  After college, Susan spent three years as a teacher with the Teach for America program at Morton Street Middle School in Newark, NJ.  She will spend this summer working for Debevoise & Plimpton in New York City.

Laura Openshaw – Outreach Director
Hampden, ME
Laura grew up in Maine and attended Harvard College, graduating in 2005 with a degree in linguistics and a citation in Mandarin Chinese. Before attending law school, she worked as a paralegal for two years in Princeton, New Jersey, where she assisted with employment and civil rights cases as well as some commercial litigation. This summer she will be working in the Housing Unit of Greater Boston Legal Services, and she plans to work in legal services in the Boston area after graduation, with a special interest in serving Boston's Haitian community.

Megan Tosner – Research & Technology Director

Wantagh, NY

Megan graduated from Fordham University with degrees in English and American Studies.  During undergrad, she volunteered as VP of the Peer Educators and worked with the Upward Bound Program helping student pursue higher education.  Last summer, Megan interned at the Queens DA's Office in the Special Victims Bureau.  This summer she will work at Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher and Flom in New York.


Marcus Hedrick – Communications Director

Wichita, KS

Marcus is an Iraq veteran and a graduate of Wichita State University. He is dedicated to public service and would like to work in civil rights or legal services after law school.