“For 60 years, the Conservation Law Foundation has tackled environmental challenges across New England to promote clean air and water, preserve natural resources, and strive for environmental justice in our communities.”
– Jon Mishara, 2025-2026 Access to Justice Fellow
Community-based service has always been a part of attorney Jon Mishara’s life, so when Lawyers Clearinghouse Executive Director Susan Gedrick asked if he wanted to participate in the Access to Justice Fellows Program, it seemed like a natural fit.
This was not Jon’s first interaction with Lawyers Clearinghouse. During his time as a Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer for the commercial property insurance company FM—where he spent a total of 27 years—he formed the company’s first in-house pro bono program, which led him to Lawyers Clearinghouse in 2014.
Jon said Lawyers Clearinghouse was instrumental in the establishment of the program and in connecting FM’s in-house attorneys with people seeking pro bono legal services, a practice that continues to this day. With this more-than-decade-long connection to the organization and a desire to pursue more public-facing service, Jon’s retirement at the end of 2024 allowed him to further expand his involvement with the Clearinghouse by becoming an Access to Justice Fellow.
Through the Fellows Program, Jon was connected with the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), a New England-based environmental advocacy group. “What drew me to Conservation Law Foundation is that, as part of the environmental justice program, they have a public transportation group that works on public transit priorities and mitigating the effects of climate change,” Jon said.
Jon said his passion lies in public transit climate mitigation, which involves increasing public transit access and reliability to remove vehicles from clogged roadways and reduce carbon emissions. He called himself a “public transit nerd,” always taking different forms of public transportation throughout his life. “When I was a kid growing up around Boston,” Jon said, “my friends and I would take buses, trains, and every other form of public transit to get around, and so it has been a passion of mine for some time.”
As a Fellow with CLF, Jon works within the organization’s Environmental Justice transportation group, focusing on a range of advocacy efforts aimed at expanding and improving transit access in Massachusetts. His group’s efforts include the advancement of the Allston Multimodal Project—a MassDOT project that will redesign the I-90 viaduct in Allston and create a new transit hub—advocacy around connecting the MBTA Blue and Red lines at the Charles Street station near MGH, and the electrification of the MBTA commuter rail system.
Though he has been with CLF for less than six months, Jon said he immediately became invested in the organization’s mission. For Jon, his Fellowship has become a way to continue his interest in pro bono and public-facing legal services, all while exploring sustainable transportation, a niche that has always fascinated him.
The Access to Justice Fellows Program enables senior lawyers and retired judges to partner with nonprofit organizations, courts, and other public service entities to increase equal justice for all. Interested in becoming a Fellow or hosting one at your organization? Learn more.
