Alexa Shabecoff

Alexa has had a lifelong commitment to social justice. She started her professional career with 9 years in legal services, one year as a paralegal in the Appalachian region of Kentucky and 8 years as a lawyer for legal services programs in Missouri and Massachusetts. As a legal services lawyer, she specialized in housing law, particularly representing families with Section 8 vouchers or living in public housing. Alexa then ran an office at Harvard Law School (HLS) that helped law students and alumni learn about and land public services careers. She ran educational programs, managed a staff, pushed for policy changes and resources for public service both at HLS and nationally and, most importantly, counseled hundreds of students and alumni. Alexa also created and ran the Public Service Venture Fund which funded law students and alumni to work at nonprofits or government agencies that could not afford them and also provided seed funding to start new nonprofits. Most recently, Alexa launched and ran Supporting Neighborhood Opportunity in Massachusetts (SNO Mass), a housing mobility program, at Metro Housing Boston, a Connect partner organization. Alexa lives in the Roslindale neighborhood of Boston with her husband and two rescue dogs; she has two grown up kids who live in the Boston area. In her spare time, Alexa likes to bike ride, cook and is learning how to grow a plot in a community garden.