Public Service Champion Sonia Laird Keynotes at 2009 National Black Pre-Law Conference
The National Black Pre-Law Conference and Law Fair, the nation’s premier information-sharing and networking empowerment event designed specifically for aspiring Black lawyers, has announced public service champion Sonia Laird, J.D., M.B.A. will serve as one of the featured keynote speakers at this year’s event.
Ms. Laird earned her master's in business administration in 2004 from Nyack Graduate School of Business where she was the 2004 Leading Scholar and the only student to graduate from the M.B.A. program with a 4.0 GPA. In law school, Ms. Laird was repeatedly on the Dean's List and graduated cum laude from the University of St. Thomas School of Law. Ms. Laird has dedicated her life to public service and has over thirteen years of experience being an advocate for underrepresented populations. With a public service career that ranges from positions as a caseworker, supervisor and staff development coordinator at the New York Human Resources Administration, the nation's largest municipal social services agency, Ms. Laird has been engaged in working towards the advancement of our nation's most underprivileged groups.
Before law school, Ms. Laird worked as an operations analyst in the Wall Street area. Her expertise in social services, disenfranchised populations, organizational analysis, cultural competency and diversity has made her a sought after national speaker and consultant.
While in law school, Ms. Laird founded two nonprofit organizations, the National Public Awareness Agency and the Lawyers' Council on Social Justice. Additionally, she is the principal of the Newell Publishing Group, and Real Life 101, an organizational development enterprise. She has appeared or been featured in the National Jurist and St. Thomas Lawyer magazines, as well as on CBS Weekend News. She is currently involved in a national survey and book on domestic violence and is opening a men's shelter in Kentucky dedicated to helping men on the fringes of society work towards attaining and sustaining economic self-sufficiency.
Meet Ms. Laird and be inspired by her ongoing work and powerful message at the Fifth Annual National Black Pre-Law Admissions & Preparation Conference and Law Fair 2009, which will be held on Friday, November 6, 2009 and Saturday, November 7, 2009 at the University of Houston-Downtown in Houston, Texas. For more information regarding the event, please visit the official conference website at www.BlackPreLaw.com.
