Mid-Shore Pro Bono’s Board of Directors have recently announced Sandy Brown is stepping down after serving as the nonprofit legal assistance organization’s longest standing Executive Director for the last 13 years.

“Every organization’s natural evolution is for the first generation to give way to the second,” said Brown. “After months of thought and introspection, I feel it is time for me to make this move and allow the energy and vision of MSPB’s next Executive Director to carry the organization.”

“Sandy has been a highly effective and steadfast leader for more than 13 years and has been central to the organization’s growth,” said Mid-Shore Pro Bono Board of Director President Tim Abeska. “She is continuing her role through December to help identify and onboard the incoming Executive Director.”

Brown earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English language and literature from the University of New York at Binghamton, and has spent most of her career in leadership and sales roles. She says her greatest achievements at Mid-Shore Pro Bono include expanding the organization’s reach on the Eastern Shore, and leading the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brown says the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has created a greater demand for pro bono legal services on the Eastern Shore, citing MSPB assisted more than 3,000 people in 2020 with legal issues ranging from landlord-tenant disputes to personal bankruptcy.

MSPB and a network of lawyers provide free or reduced-fee legal services for those who need help, and are committed to ensuring equal access to legal assistance for people in the local communities.

“With less than 1% of practicing Maryland attorneys living on the Eastern Shore, access to legal services is critical,” says Brown.

“Serving the local community is the central tenet of our mission,” said Abeska. “The persistence of COVID on the Eastern Shore has created more hardships for more people. We’re here to help with legal assistance for all matters, while we seek our new Executive Director.”

“Every member and client of MSPB has encouraged and inspired me, and our staff, to do the most for those with the most need, and often the least opportunity,” Brown commented. “I am forever grateful for, and proud of Mid-Shore Pro Bono’s tireless staff and the resilient communities we work with.”

Mid-Shore Pro Bono was established in 2005 by local judges and lawyers to create a local agency dedicated to helping the Mid-Shore’s low-income residents obtain access to legal assistance. Now MSPB serves residents of the Eastern Shore with offices in Easton, Chestertown, and Salisbury, and a mission to ensure equal access to legal assistance in local communities, with more at midshoreprobono.org.