Page 17 - BusinessWest September 30, 2024

Tools to Grow
Conference Brings Together Library, Lawyers for Civil Rights
BY JOSEPH BEDNAR
[email protected]
Roz Freeman recognizes and values the connection between civil rights and economic justice, which is why she’s gratified by the work being done by BizGrow, an arm of Massachu-
setts-based Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR).
LCR was born during the Civil Rights era, said Freeman, entre-
preneurship manager for Lawyers for Civil Rights, noting that it sprung from the broader, national movement known as the Law- yers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “We work through the law to fight for justice. We have a team of litigators who litigate civil rights in collaboration with law firms that are doing pro bono work to support these cases.”
LCR was created in 1968 (more on that later), but about 20 years ago, it established BizGrow, which provides free legal assis- tance, business support, and technical assistance to minority, immigrant, and women business owners, aiming to ensure they encounter fewer obstacles and more opportunities. Assistance can come in many areas, including starting a business, growing an enterprise, shifting ownership, managing transactional issues, or any other challenge small businesses are faced with.
Now, LCR has launched a new partnership with Springfield City Library aimed at transforming the support landscape for small-business owners and entrepreneurs in and around the city. The collaboration will kick off with the free BizGrow Conference on Thursday, Oct. 10 from noon to 4 p.m. at the library, located at 220 State St.
At the BizGrow Conference, modeled after a similar annual event in Boston, current and aspiring small-business owners will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with volunteer attorneys
for free legal advice, connect with local and state organizations that provide essential resources and support to small businesses, and network with other local business owners. Dozens of business owners and entrepreneurs, pro bono attorneys, and providers of business technical assistance are expected to attend.
“We are thrilled to deepen our connections to Springfield and offer this valuable event to the small-business community,” said Priya Lane, BizGrow director at Lawyers for Civil Rights. “Free legal support and business networking are crucial tools to help close the opportunity gap and fuel the small businesses that are the engines of our Commonwealth.”
Birth of a Notion
LCR traces its national roots back to June 1963, when Presi- dent John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy met with 250 leading American lawyers at the White House to discuss the role lawyers could and should play in the deepening civil-rights crisis.
The nation recently had been shaken by television and news accounts of police-led violence against peaceful demonstrations led by Martin Luther King Jr., and by the spectacle of U.S. Army inter- vention to enforce court orders requiring the University of Alabama to admit Black students against a defiant Gov. George Wallace.
The Kennedy brothers made an appeal to the lawyers to mobi- lize the voice and work of the legal profession to support the strug- gle for civil rights in the nation. Locally, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Assoc. was formed
“We work through the law to fight for justice. We have a team of litigators who litigate civil rights in collaboration with law firms that are doing pro bono work to support these cases.”
ROZ FREEMAN
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