Susan Anderson

Susan Anderson’s commitment to access to justice is longstanding: She began her career as a legal services staff attorney, and after leaving legal services for state government, continued to support efforts to ensure access to justice by joining the efforts of the Massachusetts Bar, and by supporting not-for-profit organizations that promote equality.

Most recently, Susan served as a consultant to the Office of the State Treasurer, where she managed and conducted administrative hearings for the State Board of Retirement. Prior to that, Susan served as General Counsel of the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, a cabinet-level agency that administers a comprehensive system of state- and federally-funded programs and services for elderly and disabled individuals. Before joining Elder Affairs, Susan served the Commissioner of Insurance as Senior Counsel and Chief Hearing Officer, directing a group that issued regulatory decisions on statewide insurance rates, including health and workers’ compensation insurance, with amounts in controversy each year exceeding one billion dollars.

Susan is currently a member of the MBA Civil Rights and Social Justice Section Council, has twice served as chair of the MBA Access to Justice Section Council, and is a past-chair of the MBA Health Law Section Council and Public Law Section Council. In 2014 she was honored by the MBA with its Volunteer Service Award. Susan has also served as a member of the Steering Committee of the BBA Delivery of Legal Services Section, as a member of the Elder Law Advisory Committee of the Women’s Bar Foundation, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Women’s Bar Association.

A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Boston University School of Law, and the Harvard Kennedy School, Susan has been active in alumni affairs, and was a founding director of the Harvard Kennedy School New England Alumni Association. Through the Community Action Partners, a joint project of alumni of the Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School, Susan has advised not-for-profit healthcare and human services organizations on marketing, governance, and strategic planning.

Susan currently serves on the Advisory Committee of MissionSAFE: A New Beginning, a NFP youth development program in Dorchester that works with highly-at-risk youth. She also serves on the Advisory Committee of CodeSquad, a NFP that seeks to diversify the tech industry by training adults from Boston’s low-income neighborhoods to become full-stack software developers, and to find full-time software jobs.  She also served as a Senior Access to Justice Fellow in 2016 – 2017, working with the Medical Legal Partnership Boston to refine metrics related to the collateral impact of the provision of legal advice.

For her Access to Justice Fellowship, Susan will work with Veterans Legal Services (VLS), which helps Massachusetts Veterans overcome adversity by providing free legal services the honors their service, promotes well-being, and responds to their distinctive needs. Susan will work with VLS staff to assess the public value generated by its work, and the potential to use risk-based metrics to quantify that value.