On February 25, 2021, Philadelphia City Councilmember Helen Gym introduced a resolution “honoring and commending Jennifer R. Clarke for her 15-year tenure as the Executive Director of the Public Interest Law Center and her strategic, pioneering, and transformative work to expand access to justice that has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people […]
January 19, 2021—Today, following a nationwide search, the board of the directors of the Public Interest Law Center announced that Brenda L. Marrero will lead the organization as its next executive director. Marrero comes to the Law Center having spent her career as a public interest lawyer. After representing clients as a staff attorney in […]
On October 1, 2020, we held a virtual celebration of everyone who makes it possible for us to Advance Justice Together. The event featured inspiring stories from our work and performances from some of Philadelphia’s most exciting artists, including Amos Lee and BalletX. We honored our clients taking on gun violence in Philadelphia and the […]
On Friday, December 4, our Executive Director Jennifer Clarke was honored with the 2020 Bending the ARC Award from the Public Interest Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association, recognizing her 14 years of leadership and service to the Law Center, helping the organization achieve tremendously impactful victories for equal justice and civil rights. Each year, […]
Jennifer Clarke, executive director of the Public Interest Law Center, has announced that she plans to step down at the end of 2020, after a 14-year tenure marked by landmark litigation achievements, expansion and increased diversity of the board and staff, and enhanced financial stability for the 50-year-old organization.
The Public Interest Law Center is sad to share that Thomas K. Gilhool, our former Chief Counsel and an inspiration throughout our history, died on August 22, 2020 at the age of 81. Tom helped bring about generational advances in the rights of people with disabilities nationwide, leading the first case establishing the right to […]
Today, full of pain, anger and sorrow, we mourn the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and all those who are victims of the violence of a racist system. They should be with us today. We watch in admiration demonstrators who put themselves on the line to make us face the reality of […]
COVID-19 has highlighted and exacerbated stark disparities within communities across the country. Our mission is to help people who face discrimination and poverty assert their right to access fundamental resources like housing, employment, education and more. We have continued this work during the present crisis. All Law Center staff continue to work remotely, supporting our […]
We were sad to learn of the passing of Bob Smith, a lifelong supporter of service to the community and social justice who served as a voter plaintiff in our successful 2018 challenge to partisan gerrymandering. Bob died on April 4, 2020 in Wilkes-Barre at the age of 75. Bob played a pivotal role in […]
The Law Center is excited to welcome two new members to our Board of Directors, Zakia Elliott and Shauna Itri. Both were elected at our March 2020 Board of Directors meeting. Zakia Elliott is a Program Manager at Philly Climate Works, a coalition of labor and environmental groups working to build a safe climate future […]
