Top photo: MBA President Christopher A. Kenney (left) presents TCM founder Angela M. Ordoñez, associate justice for the Barnstable Probate and Family Court, with a special award in recognition of her dedication to the program.
Second from top: Boston TCM program participants.
Third from top: Worcester TCM program participants.
Fourth from top: Speakers at the Tiered Community Mentoring 10th Anniversary Celebration included (from left): MBA Director of Community & Public Services Elizabeth O'Neil, Hon. Angela M. Ordoñez, Past TCM Mentor and Boston TCM Committee Member Richard Gedeon, Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins, TCM Graduate and Boston TCM Committee Member Loren Forbes, MBA President Christopher A. Kenney and Worcester TCM Program Chair Geoffrey E. Spofford.
Fifth from top: Keynote speaker Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins (left photo) speaks to program participants. Richard Gedeon (right photo), a 10-year participant in the Boston program, talks about his experiences as a TCM mentor.
Bottom photo: Geoffrey E. Spofford (left photo), who chairs the Worcester TCM program, speaks about the program's impact. TCM graduate Loren Forbes (right photo), describes his path to becoming a lawyer.
The Massachusetts Bar Association celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Tiered Community Mentoring Program at an April 23 gathering of current and past participants at the John Adams Courthouse in Boston. The event featured remarks by several instrumental figures in the history of the program, which creates mentoring networks composed of established attorneys and legal job seekers at the high school, undergraduate and law school levels.
As part of his opening address, MBA President Christopher A. Kenney noted that TCM has flourished because it offers a shared and continuous learning experience for students at all stages of education. “This program works because it provides links in a chain, or rungs on a ladder,” following the logical progression from secondary to college education and legal study to legal employment, Kenney said.
Attorney Richard Gedeon, a 10-year mentor in the Boston program, later echoed Kenney’s comments in saying that TCM has rightly avoided using a “trickle-down” approach to mentoring and instead treats each participant as a partner in the learning process. Gedeon added that all 30 of his mentees have shaped his development as a person and a practitioner, and that he has particularly enjoyed serving as a professional role model for aspiring lawyers of color.
After announcing that the program will soon receive its second American Bar Association award for diversity and inclusion, Kenney presented a special recognition to TCM founder Angela M. Ordoñez, associate justice for the Barnstable Probate and Family Court. Kenney praised Ordoñez as a visionary, self-made leader who was raised by a Colombian immigrant and taught herself English by the age of 4, fueling her desire to create similar opportunities for students interested in legal careers.
Ordoñez recalled how she first introduced the TCM concept to MBA leaders more than 12 years ago, with the idea that college and law students would act as both mentors and mentees. Since then, Ordoñez said TCM has maintained its success – and more recently expanded to Worcester – because of the continued support from MBA presidents and Chief Legal Counsel and Chief Operating Officer Martin W. Healy.
Ordoñez specifically acknowledged MBA Past Presidents and mentors Robert. W. Harnais and Hon. Valerie A. Yarashus, as well as MBA staff member and former TCM participant Robert P. Jackson III. In addition, Ordoñez joined all other speakers in recognizing the tireless work of MBA Director of Community and Public Services Elizabeth A. O’Neil, without whom TCM “would have been a one-year program.”
After recounting a few notable highlights from the first decade of TCM, Ordoñez closed by reiterating the “pay-it-forward” mantra she has emphasized to students throughout her time as program chair.
“For those of you who have gotten something out of this program, I urge you, when you can, at some point in your life, to take the opportunity to help someone else,” she said.
Ordoñez then turned over the program to keynote speaker Rachael Rollins, who recently became the first woman elected district attorney of Suffolk County and the first woman of color to ever serve as a Massachusetts district attorney.
Rollins said she has greatly benefited from the guidance of several mentors during her legal career, and encouraged those in similar leadership positions to always remember “how important your words and time are.” According to Rollins, she has gained firsthand insight into the importance of mentors during her early days in the DA’s Office, where she frequently meets with criminal defendants from underprivileged backgrounds marked by limited parental support.
As a woman who defied long odds and numerous detractors to run a winning campaign, Rollins also offered six tips for students and alumni to consider as they advance in their careers: Be grateful; be deliberate; ignore the noise; know your worth; always do what’s right, not what is easy; and understand that failure happens.
“What makes people exceptional is not the failure, but how quickly do you learn from the failure and how quickly do you pick yourself up and keep moving,” Rollins said.
The program also included inspirational words from TCM graduate Loren Forbes, who overcame considerable adversity to realize his dream of becoming a lawyer. In particular, Forbes described how he persevered through an overwhelming first few weeks of law school, and how he passed his second attempt at the bar exam shortly after losing his mother.
In addition, attorney Geoffrey E. Spofford, who chairs the newly established Worcester program, discussed how TCM has quickly gained strong traction among students and legal professionals in the central part of the state.
Following the speaking portion of the event, attendees enjoyed a reception in the court atrium.
Click here for event photos, by Eric Haynes.