Exciting Leadership Changes at NLADA
Today, we are excited to announce two new members of the NLADA leadership team. Radhika Singh was recently promoted to the role of Vice-President of Civil Legal Services and Strategic Policy Initiatives after previously serving as Chief of Civil Legal Services at NLADA. Alison Bloomquist will be joining NLADA on November 29 as Vice-President of Strategic Alliances and Innovation.
"I am thrilled to announce these two amazing leaders as a part of my new leadership team," said April Frazier Camara, NLADA President and CEO. "As NLADA embarks on a new chapter, it will take our collective power to advance the goals of racial equity and equal access in America. My goal is for NLADA to become an anti-racist organization. This new leadership team will play a central role in achieving this goal and will model the way for other organizations."
Radhika Singh leads NLADA's civil legal services and policy divisions. She represents the civil legal aid community in advocacy and education efforts in national conversations and with government entities, advocating for federal policies to integrate civil legal aid into cross-sector collaborations that serve low-income and vulnerable populations and advance federal objectives. Her focus is both on civil legal aid's substantive work and increasing resources to support legal assistance. She has served on various national task forces, including the American Bar Association Task Force on Legal Needs Arising out of the 2020 Pandemic and the Legal Services Corporation's Opioid Task Force. Currently, She serves on the advisory board for LSC's Evictions Study and the ABA's Task Force on Eviction, Housing Stability, and Equity. She previously worked in engagement and advocacy at Equal Justice Works and as a staff attorney at the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, focusing on constitutional and civil rights litigation and advocacy. Radhika received her B.A. from American University and her J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.
Alison Bloomquist will lead NLADA's programming and innovation work. She has been a committed public defender for nearly 20 years. Alison has served the last six years as the Director of Training and Education for the Connecticut Public Defender Service. Through her alliances with defenders and leaders from across the country, she launched several new programs like Dialogues for Change, an intensive multi-week anti-racism course, and Defender Lab, a week-long trial skills program where new and experienced defenders can test and try on innovative approaches to litigation. Before moving to Connecticut, Alison served for over ten years as a staff public defender in greater Boston, and two years as Attorney-in-Charge of the Norfolk Superior Court office at the Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services. She has tried numerous felony cases to verdict across eastern Massachusetts and Connecticut and has appeared before the Massachusetts Appeals Court. She is a published author on trial skills and is faculty at the National Criminal Defense College. Alison is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law and Boston University. She currently lives in West Hartford with her wife, three children, and their silver lab Cooper.
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The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), founded in 1911, is America’s oldest and largest nonprofit association devoted to excellence in the delivery of legal services to those who cannot afford counsel. NLADA has pioneered access to justice at the national, state and local levels, playing a leadership role in the creation of public defender systems and other important institutions from The Sentencing Project to the Legal Services Corporation. A leader in the development of national standards for civil legal aid and public defense, NLADA also provides advocacy, training and technical assistance for equal justice advocates across the country.