Congratulations to Ali Shafi, the recipient of the 2023 Massachusetts Bar Association Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Fellowship!
Launched as a pilot last year by the MBA’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee (DEIC) — and continuing in 2024 — the MBA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Fellowship provides a scholarship opportunity to one student who has accepted an unpaid summer internship at a Massachusetts nonprofit providing civil legal services. The MBA DEI Fellowship is part of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation’s Legal Intern Fellowship Program.
Each year, the DEIC will seek an annual law firm donor to support a portion of the fellowship. This past year, Todd & Weld LLP was the law firm donor and provided a summer mentorship to Shafi through its own DEI Committee. We’re grateful that Todd & Weld will again serve as the law firm donor in 2024.
Ingrid Martin, partner and DEI chair at Todd & Weld, stated: “It was an honor to support Ali in his commitment to public service, and Todd & Weld is proud of him for continuing on with CPCS. He is a gifted young student attorney, and we are confident he will be an excellent criminal defense attorney and a valuable member of the Massachusetts legal community.”
Shafi, a third-year J.D. candidate at Boston College Law School, specializes in immigration and detention law, and hopes to use his legal skills in litigation and movement advocacy. This past summer, Shafi completed his public interest law internship at Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts (PLS).
Shafi graduated summa cum laude from American University’s Honors Program with a bachelor’s degree in international relations and Spanish studies. During his first summer at law school, he worked at the Military Commissions Defense Organization representing one of the five alleged co-conspirators of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. In this experience, he learned the values of the legal system and gained a work ethic to keep up with fast-paced and complicated cases. With legal writing, research and public speaking skills, Shafi is an experienced and passionate advocate who takes initiative in his projects.
“One of the greatest joys of my work with the MBF has been participating on the Legal Intern Fellowship Program Committee and learning about the talented law students who choose to dedicate their careers to public interest law,” said MBF President Angela C. McConney, who served as chair of the program from 2016-2021. “We were so impressed by Ali’s previous work and his internship at PLS, and we look forward to his bright future.”
In his own words …
“I am honored to have been a fellow of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation. This fellowship not only allowed me the financial stability to pursue my passions as a prisoners' rights attorney at Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts but has also provided me with a network of attorneys who care about my success and push me toward my goals.
“As part of my fellowship, I was paired with a mentor from Todd & Weld. My assigned mentor, attorney Shayla Mombeleur, has been a constant support system and compass as I have navigated my first steps in the legal profession. By being invited to MBF, MBA and Todd & Weld events, and meetings with the movers and shakers in this field, I have met many attorneys who care about my growth.
“Under the guidance of the MBA and the experiences I had as a fellow, I will be taking my next steps as a public defense attorney, at the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) in Massachusetts. I am excited about the opportunity to keep pursuing my dream of providing legal services to criminal defendants and incarcerated people. I am grateful that the MBA and Todd & Weld have been a part of my journey and will continue to support me as I give back to the people of this state.” –
Ali Shafi
About the MBA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Fellowship
A significant barrier for BIPOC law students is the inability to accept an unpaid opportunity. Students who accept these unpaid internships must either find their own scholarship funding or have substantial financial support. As a result, many BIPOC candidates decline offers for unpaid internships, which ultimately affects their ability to gain necessary professional development skills. The Massachusetts Bar Association Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee is committed to addressing this inequity by creating the MBA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Fellowship. The purpose of the fellowship is to grant a scholarship opportunity that provides a stipend to one student who has accepted an unpaid internship for the summer. Open to all, the fellowship is intended to support efforts to reduce racial disparities in the legal profession in Massachusetts.
Applications for the Massachusetts Bar Foundation’s Legal Intern Fellowship Program, which includes the MBA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fellowship, are now available online at
www.massbarfoundation.org/lifp. Applications are due March 8, 2024.