January 7th, 2019
Happy New Year! We thought we would kick off the new year with a bang and introduce you to the two newest legal aid innovators on the OneJustice team! Joining us at the end of last year are Meryl Friedman, Senior Program Manager and Tatum Burnett, Program Associate! Meryl is joining our Northern California Pro Bono Justice team and will be working on bringing about major innovations to our Justice Bus Model while Tatum is joining our Healthy Nonprofits team, supporting the team in everything from the Executive Fellowship to our new Organizational Change Accelerators. Please join us in welcoming Meryl and Tatum!
As we do with all new folks, we asked them to answer these four questions:
- What drew you to OneJustice’s vision, mission, and strategies?
- Tell us a bit about your position at OneJustice and what you hope to achieve?
- What was your path in coming to OneJustice?
- And please tell us something about yourself that not everyone might know.
Meryl Friedman, Senior Program Manager
I am inspired by OneJustice’s needs-based approach to impact. OneJustice is committed to not only providing services, access, and support for those seeking justice, it also adapts and innovates to deliver the most useful and thoughtful change. I am thrilled to be part of such a passionate and strategic team working tirelessly to close the justice gap.
As a Senior Program Manager, I will work with the Pro Bono Justice team to lead, iterate and expand our programs. I will work with clients, legal aid organizations, and pro bono partners through direct legal clinics, collaborations, and consulting services.
For the past few years, I worked as a nonprofit consultant in New York at Cause Strategy Partners. With a particular focus on nonprofit governance and operations, I led our board matching program, BoardLead, in Chicago and San Francisco. Often, nonprofits need more engaged and diverse board members who are aware of governance responsibilities. We tried to fill that gap. Before that role, I worked at the New Media Advocacy Project and the American Jewish World Service.
I received my Masters in Nonprofit Management from NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service. I focused on Social Innovation, Impact and Investment to better understand how the nonprofit sector can harness change and human-centered design to strengthen methods and outcomes. My capstone project was a business plan to launch a campus-based tech tool to support survivors of sexual assault as they navigated justice and healing services. I received my Bachelor of Arts from Haverford College in Political Science and Peace and Conflict Studies.
I love to walk my two dogs while listening to audiobooks. Before leaving NYC, I walked (nearly) every street in Manhattan below 140th street.
Tatum Burnett, Program Associate 
I was drawn to OneJustice because of its dedication to support and empower California’s legal aid sector through innovative, holistic and justice oriented methods. I am especially passionate about OneJustice’s mission to increase legal access and to prioritize the protections, and rights of underserved and marginalized communities within California.
As a Program Associate with OneJustice’s Healthy Nonprofits Program, I will work on projects that embolden California’s legal aid nonprofits, such as the Executive Fellowship Program, the Organizational Change Accelerators, and the Capacity Building Academy. By contributing to these projects which aim to strengthen and support California’s most essential legal aid organizations, I hope we will make a positive difference in the causes they are working towards and the lives of those they serve.
Prior to joining the OneJustice team I developed my interest in the legal system and empowering disenfranchised communities by working with the Office of Victim’s Services within the New London Superior Court in Connecticut. I also had the opportunity to intern with a local criminal post-conviction law firm, working on capital and habeas corpus cases of indigent clients serving on death row or life without the possibility of parole. Additionally I have volunteered and worked with community organizations locally and abroad on matters regarding dependency and family law, youth mentorship, environmental activism and disability education. I earned my BA from Connecticut College in Government as well as Gender, Sexuality and Intersectionality Studies, where my studies focused on implicit biases within the legal system.
I love to hike with my dogs in Redwood Regional Park in Oakland, watch the same TV shows over and over again with my friends, bake berry galettes, and see live music.