Committee & Senior Management

Committee & Senior Management

In 1983, the Massachusetts Legislature established CPCS to unify public defender services statewide.

Today, CPCS is guided by a team of accomplished legal practitioners and passionate advocates, all committed to meeting the evolving legal needs of communities across the Commonwealth.

Meet the Committee

This 15-member body is appointed by the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The Committee oversees the provision of legal representation to indigent people in criminal cases, civil cases, and administrative hearings where a right to counsel exists.

Members contribute diverse expertise in law and public service to shape their work. 

Mia Alvarado
(Secretary)

Committee Member

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David Apfel
(Vice Chair)

Committee Member

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The Hon. Carol S. Ball (Retired)

Committee Member

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Miriam Conrad

Committee Member

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Lael Elizabeth
Hiam Chester, JD

Committee Member

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Jack Cinquegrana

Committee Member

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Colby Dillon

Committee Member

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Antoinette “Toni” Hall

Committee Member

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Martin W. Healy

Committee Member

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James C. Kennedy, Esquire

Committee Member

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Jennifer McKinnon (Chair)

Committee Member

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Georgia Petropoulos

Committee Member

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Lon Povich

Committee Member

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Eric Tennen

Committee Member

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Honorable W. Paul White

Committee Member

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Meet the Senior Management Team

These leaders are responsible for the agency’s administrative, fiscal, human resources, operational, and communications responsibilities – providing strategic direction and vision for each Division and the entire organization.

To connect with the senior management team or a specific individual, visit the directory.

Anthony J. Benedetti

 Chief Counsel

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Jon E. Bartelson

Chief Information 
Officer

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Dulcineia (“Duci”) Goncalves

Deputy Chief Counsel

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Lisa M. Hewitt

General Counsel

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Sandra DeBow-Huang

Chief Human Resources Officer

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John Lozada

Equity and Inclusion Director

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Kevin Lucchetti

Chief Financial Officer

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Daniel Mahoney

Chief Financial OfficerDeputy Chief Counsel, Children and Family Law Division (CAFL)

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Bob McGovern

Communications Director

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Tere Ramos

Chief of Administration and Operations

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Laura Sanford

Deputy Chief Counsel, Mental Health Litigation Division

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Holly T. Smith

Deputy Chief Counsel of the Private Counsel Division

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Arnie Lucinda Stewart

(She/her/they)
Deputy Chief Counsel, Public Defender Division

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View the Directory

Find contact information for each Division, unit, and its staff in our easy-to-use directory.

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Mia Alvarado (Secretary)

has been the Executive Directory of Roxbury Youthworks, Inc since 2008.  She is responsible for a $3.5M annual budget, a 40 member staff and manages all of the agency’s contracts with the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Youth Services and the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance ensuring that adequate funds are available to permit the agency to carry out its work.

A Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker, Mia has worked extensively in the field of child welfare and juvenile justice.  Prior to her current position, Mia was a Special Assistant to the DCF Commissioner’s Office and Chief of Staff to former DSS Commissioner Harry Spence.

Mia has a Master of Social Work from Salem State College and a Bachelor of Science in Education from Wheelock College

David Apfel (Vice Chair)

is a partner in Goodwin’s Complex Business Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department.  Mr. Apfel is a former federal prosecutor who specializes in white collar criminal defense, SEC and other government investigations, internal corporate investigations, and bet-the-company civil business litigation.  He is also the founder and chair of the firm’s Gaming & Gambling practice, and the founder and co-chair of the firm’s Cannabis practice. He has been regularly recognized by Chambers USA as a leading white collar criminal defense attorney, and he is perennially recognized in The Best Lawyers in America and as a “Super Lawyer” by Boston Magazine.  He is a trial lawyer who represents corporations and individuals in an array of criminal and civil cases, ranging from Medicaid fraud to first degree murder, and insider trading to multi-billion-dollar mortgage-backed securities litigation.  He is also a trusted adviser to gaming and gambling companies, and to investors, banks, and others involved or considering involvement in state-legalized cannabis markets.  Mr. Apfel also has an active pro bono practice in which he represents indigents in federal criminal cases and state murder prosecutions.

The Hon. Carol S. Ball (Retired)

(Retired) was an associate justice of the Suffolk County Superior Court in Massachusetts.  She was appointed to the bench by former Governor Bill Weld in 1996.  She retired in 2015.  She received a bachelor’s degree from Smith College in 1973.  She went on to complete a J.D. at Northeastern University School of Law in 1976.  After law school, she began her legal career as a law clerk to the justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court.  Then, in 1977, she joined the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office, where she worked as an assistant district attorney for several years.  In 1985, she left the public arena to enter private practice, where she tried civil cases as well as represented criminal defendants until joining the judiciary in 1995.  She also taught trial advocacy as an instructor at Northeastern University School of Law, Boston University School of Law, and Harvard Law School.  She is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers.  Her other memberships included the Women’s Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association, and the Boston Bar Association.

Miriam Conrad

recently retired from her position as the Federal Public Defender for the Districts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. She joined the office in 1992 as an Assistant Federal Public Defender, representing indigent clients at trial and on appeal. She served as head of the office from 2005 until her retirement in March 2022. She now is a member of the CJA panel for the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, accepting appointments to represent indigent defendants in federal district court. She began her career in criminal defense as a trial lawyer at the Committee for Public Counsel Services, after clerking for Hon. Rya W. Zobel in the federal district court for Massachusetts. She is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. She graduated from Northwestern University and Harvard Law School.

Lael Elizabeth Hiam Chester, JD

is the Director of the Emerging Adult Justice Project at the Columbia University Justice Lab. A graduate of Barnard College and Harvard Law School, she worked as the Albert Martin Sacks Clinical Fellow at the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard and then was an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. For 12 years, she served as Executive Director of Citizens for Juvenile Justice (CfJJ), a statewide non-profit dedicated to improving the juvenile justice system.  She then served as a Research Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management, where she focused her research on emerging adults (ages 18 – 25) and has continued this work at Columbia University’s Justice Lab since 2017. In addition to conducting cutting-edge research and supporting states with systemic reform, she organizes the Emerging Adult Justice Learning Community, a first-of-its-kind, carefully orchestrated collaborative learning environment that brings together researchers, practitioners, policy makers and advocates from around the country to increase learning and policy innovation in this new field.

Jack Cinquegrana

is a nationally recognized trial lawyer and bar leader, with over 30 years of experience in public service, government enforcement defense, and litigation. As head of Choate’s Government Enforcement practice for two decades, Jack has represented scores of companies and their officers in DOJ investigations and prosecutions, SEC and private securities fraud litigation, False Claims Act litigation, and high stakes internal investigations.  Jack is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has served as Special Counsel to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, President of the Boston Bar Association, and a member of the Massachusetts Sentencing Commission. He is a former Assistant United States Attorney and Chief Trial Counsel in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.  In 2017 he was selected as a Fellow in Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative.  Jack teaches Federal White Collar practice at New England Law/Boston; serves as a member and former Chair of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the governing board of Massachusetts’ public defender agency; and is a Director of the Pine Street Inn, New England’s largest organization serving homeless men and women.

Colby Dillon

is Senior Policy Advisor and Counsel to Senate President Karen E. Spilka. She is the chief advisor to the Senate President on the policy areas of criminal legal system reform, civil rights, health care, mental and behavioral health, public health, and human services. Prior to joining the Senate President’s policy team in 2019, Colby was a supervising attorney in the criminal defense practice at The Bronx Defenders, where she supervised teams of criminal defense attorneys of various experience levels. As a public defender, Colby zealously represented thousands of clients charged with misdemeanors and felonies from arraignment through trial or disposition and tried dozens of cases to verdict. She also served as a co-organizer and faculty member of Defenders’ Academy, a week-long trial skills program for public and private defense attorneys of all skill levels across the country. Colby is a member of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, the Massachusetts Black Women Attorneys, and the Women’s Bar Association. Colby holds a J.D. from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and received her B.A. in Political Science and Child Development from Tufts University.

Antoinette “Toni” Hall

has been an attorney for nearly 30 years and through her law firm, A.L. Hall & Associates, has advocated for marginalized and underserved populations in culturally diverse, low-income communities.   She has provided private bar panel advocacy services in criminal, civil, and administrative proceedings in the Superior, District, Probate, and Housing courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, along with Federal Bankruptcy, Appellate, and Immigration Courts.

During the 2020 pandemic housing crisis, Attorney Hall helped establish Chelsea Legal Services, a nonprofit community legal center that helps maintain housing for renters in Chelsea.  She also served on the Board of Directors for the Lena Park Community Development Corporation, a group that has impacted thousands of children, youth, and families as a critical service provider of quality affordable housing and effective human services.

Attorney Hall was recognized with the Liacos Award in 2015.

Martin W. Healy

is the Chief Legal Counsel and Chief Operating Officer of the Massachusetts Bar Association.  He was appointed as a National Uniform Law Commissioner for Massachusetts by Gov. Deval L. Patrick.  Mr. Healy was honored with Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s 2014 Lawyer of the Year award for his work in making attorney-conducted voir dire a reality in Massachusetts.  He actively serves as a volunteer juvenile law attorney with the CPCS Youth Advocacy Project.  He previously served as a hearing committee member with the Board of Bar Overseers and as an adjunct professor at Suffolk University in its Masters in Criminal Justice program. The Massachusetts Juvenile Bar Association (MJBA) presented Mr. Healy with its 2015 Chief Justice Francis G. Poitrast Award for his advocacy on behalf of the juvenile justice system, including his efforts to increase compensation for attorneys who handle juvenile cases through CPCS.  He formerly served as a commonwealth of Massachusetts bar examiner for the Supreme Judicial Court.  In 2019, he received the Beacon of Justice Award from the state’s Equal Justice Coalition.  He has been appointed to the Firearm Licensing Review Board by Gov. Charlie D. Baker.  In 2020, Mr. Healy was sworn in by Baker as a commissioner to the governor’s special Supreme Judicial Court Nominating Commission.  Prior to joining the MBA staff, he worked in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office Appellate Division and as a legislative aide in the Massachusetts Senate.

James C. Kennedy, Esquire

is the Chief Legal Counsel for the Speaker of the House.  He received his JD from Suffolk Law School in 2003 and in 1998 he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science & Government from Northeastern University.

Jennifer McKinnon (Chair)

is the founding partner at Wiesner McKinnon LLP, after initially being Of Counsel to the firm Shapiro, Weissberg & Garin. Jennifer is also a former CPCS staff attorney and Framingham and Quincy PDD AIC. She left CPCS to become a Clinical Instructor at Harvard Law School’s Criminal Justice Institute. Jennifer and her firm litigate a wide variety of criminal and civil cases, including a focus on civil rights litigation. Jennifer continues to take appointed criminal cases as a member of SLJ and is also on the CJA panel in Federal Court.

Georgia Petropoulos

graduated from Suffolk University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1996.  She earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Massachusetts Law School in 1999.

Prior to attending law school, Georgia worked as a legal assistant at the Law Offices of Creedon and Creedon located in Brockton, MA.  While attending Suffolk University, Georgia worked as a legislative assistant for the Office of Senator Michael C. Creedon at the Massachusetts State House.  There she assisted with drafting legislation and assisted constituents with their requests.  While in law school, Georgia was a judicial intern for the Honorable John M. Xifaras in the Fall River Superior Court, Civil Session.  Georgia also worked in the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office as a Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:03 intern before being hired as an Assistant District Attorney.  As a prosecutor, Georgia practiced in both the Superior and District courts in Plymouth County.  In 2004, Georgia opened her own law firm, Law Offices of Georgia Petropoulos located in Brockton, MA with a concentration in criminal defense.   Georgia has represented clients in the Superior, District, Juvenile and Probate and Family Courts throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  She is licensed to practice in both Massachusetts and the United States District Court, District of Massachusetts.

In 2018, Georgia was appointed by Governor Charlie Baker to serve on the Committee for Public Counsel Services.  Georgia also serves on the Board of Directors for the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Brockton, MA.  She is a member of the Plymouth County Bar Association, Plymouth District Bar Association, the Hellenic Bar Association and the Ladies Philoptochos Society, Brockton Chapter.  Georgia is a citizen of Greece, by dissent, as a first generation American.  She is fluent in the Greek language.

Lon Povich

is Of Counsel at the Boston law firm of Anderson & Krieger in Boston. His practice is focused on matters involving Massachusetts state and local government.

Until March of 2015, Lon served as Chief Legal Counsel to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and was responsible for the broad range of legal matters that came before the Governor and his senior team, including over 130 judicial appointments.

Prior to joining the Baker administration in January 2015, Lon had a very diverse career in and out of the public sector.  Immediately prior to the Governor’s Office he was Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc.  Lon joined BJ’s after serving as General Counsel at Boston Consulting Group, a global strategy firm. Earlier in his career Lon worked as a litigation associate at Goodwin Procter in Boston; as an Assistant United States Attorney, in the Economic Crimes Division of the Boston United States Attorney’s Office; and as Deputy Chief Legal Counsel to Massachusetts Governor William F. Weld.

Lon has also been active in the community.  He currently serves on the board of UTEC, an organization that focuses on criminally involved youth in Lowell and surrounding communities. Lon is also on the Boards of MassInc. (a non-partisan political think tank), the Jewish Community Relations Council, and the Maine Maritime Museum, in his hometown of Bath, Maine.

Lon’s prior pro bono service includes an appointment by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to the Court Management Advisory Board, an appointment by Governor Weld to the board of MassHousing, and appointments by Governors Romney and Patrick to the Judicial Nominating Commission.  Lon has also sat on the Board of Directors of the Greater Boston Food Bank, served on the Board of Greater Boston Legal Services, and as an elected member of the Council of the Boston Bar Association. He is also currently and an adjunct professor at Northeastern University in the doctoral program in Law and Policy.

Lon is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School.

Eric Tennen

is a Magistrate at the Division of Administrative Law Appeals.  Before that, he was in private practice for over 18 years at Swomley & Tennen, LLP, doing work as a Bar Advocate on the Murder, Superior Court, District Court, Appeals, and SDP/SORB panels.  He has provided representation at the trial and appellate level and done civil rights litigation and administrative law.

He presently volunteers as a group facilitator at Communities for Restorative Justice and volunteers as a hearing committee member for the Board of Bar Overseers.   He previously served as the Chairperson and Treasurer of the nonprofit organization Criminal Justice Policy Coalition. He also taught a seminar at Boston University School of Law on Sex Crimes and Collateral Consequences from 2013-2022.

Attorney Tennan received the Liacos Award in 2011. He was also recognized by the National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws with the Hawthorne Award in 2022.

Honorable W. Paul White

is a Principal in the Boston government relations firm The Karol Group, Inc. White joined the firm in September 2001 following four years as the Associate Vice President for State and Community Affairs at his alma mater, Boston College and served as a member of the President’s Cabinet.

Prior to his time at Boston College, White served as a Massachusetts State Senator from the Suffolk and Norfolk district for nine years. He has been recognized for his leadership in the Senate by the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Lawyers, The Massachusetts Children’s Trust Fund, Action for Boston Community Development, and others.

Paul White also served for 16 years in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from a district in Boston’s Dorchester section. During his House tenure, White was appointed the first Chair of the Criminal Justice Committee. He was recognized by the Massachusetts Bar Association as Legislator of the Year and received awards from Suffolk University Law School and the Massachusetts Amvets. White pioneered legislation for community health, community development and public transportation.

Paul White has an A.B. in Political Science from Boston College, an M.A. in Political Science from the State University of New York at Albany, a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, and an M.P.A from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.  For more than 20 years he was a partner in the Boston firm White, Salimbene and Madek.

Paul White has served over the years on numerous community boards and organizations. He served as a board member for many years for the St. Mary’s Center for Women and Children, a human services agency affiliated with the Archdiocese of Boston located at the site of the former St. Margaret’s Hospital in Dorchester. He also serves on the board of Family Aid Boston a nonprofit family homeless services agency.

Anthony J. Benedetti, Chief Counsel

Anthony J. Benedetti is the Chief Counsel of the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), Massachusetts’ public defender agency. CPCS provides representation to approximately 285,000 indigent clients each year in criminal defense, youth advocacy, child welfare, and mental health matters through over 800 staff, including 425 staff attorneys, and more than 2,800 assigned private counsel. After graduating from Boston College and Suffolk University Law School, he worked as a public defender trial lawyer in the CPCS Brockton office representing clients in the Plymouth County District and Superior Courts.

In 1998, Attorney Benedetti became the CPCS General Counsel, responsible for providing legal counsel and support to the Chief Counsel, and maintaining a leadership role in carrying out of the agency’s fiscal, human resources, and operational responsibilities, internally and externally.  In addition, he was the agency representative before the executive, legislative and judicial branches on budget and legislative issues.

Since becoming Chief Counsel in 2010, Benedetti has overseen substantial agency expansion in response to legislative changes in the delivery of indigent defense services.

Benedetti is the current President of the National Association for Public Defense (2025–2026) and serves on the House of Delegates and the Executive Management Board of the Massachusetts Bar Association. He has been an active member of the American Council of Chief Defenders and previously served on the board of the National Legal Aid & Defender Association and was deeply involved in the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ State Legislative Network.

A longtime adjunct professor at Suffolk University, he has taught courses in legal issues, criminal justice policy, delinquency, child welfare, and the death penalty. He was recently inducted into the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame, recognized in 2005 by Suffolk Lawyers for Justice for his advocacy on access to justice, and received the 2017 NACDL Champion of State Criminal Justice Reform Award for his work on progressive criminal justice reforms in Massachusetts.

Jon E. Bartelson, Chief Information Officer

Jon E. Bartelson is Chief Information Officer for the Committee for Public Counsel Services and oversees the Information Technology Division by providing leadership and vision in developing, implementing, and maintaining IT initiatives for the agency. He is responsible for directing the planning and implementation of enterprise IT systems in support of legal strategy and business operations to improve service quality, cost effectiveness, and efficient delivery of applications for the agency’s staff and private counsel partners providing high quality legal representation to our clients.

Before joining CPCS, Jon was most recently Chief Information Officer at Rhode Island College in Providence, RI. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar and has worked as a pro bono attorney with Community Legal Aid in Worcester, MA. Jon is also a member of the Massachusetts, Boston, and Worcester County Bar Associations. He holds a Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School, a Master of Business Administration from Bentley University, and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Dulcineia (“Duci”) Goncalves, Deputy Chief Counsel

Duci is the Deputy Chief Counsel of the Youth Advocacy Division (YAD).  Driven by a passion to advocate for youth and challenge the inequities within the legal and educational systems, Duci has dedicated her professional career to being a public defender.  In her role as Deputy Chief Counsel, Duci provides leadership, training, support and oversight to 9 staff offices across Massachusetts and approximately 300 private attorneys accepting appointments for cases in juvenile court. Prior to becoming Deputy Chief Counsel, Duci was the Attorney in Charge of the YAD Quincy/Brockton Office for over ten years where she supervised attorneys and social workers while maintaining her own caseload.  From 2010-2011, Duci worked as a staff attorney at Suffolk University School of Law’s Juvenile Justice Center supervising law students representing youth in the Boston Juvenile Court and assisting in the teaching of the Juvenile Defender Clinical Class.

In 2008, Duci was selected as one of fifteen lawyers by the Boston Bar Association to participate in its 2008-2009 Public Interest Leadership Program, a program designed for lawyers who have demonstrated leadership in public service, pro bono and organized bar activities.  Duci is a recipient of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s 2012 Access to Justice Defender Award.  In 2019 she was appointed by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker to the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, where she served as a member until 2023.  Duci has participated in numerous CPCS and MCLE trainings as a panelist lecturing in various criminal and juvenile law topics.  In addition to lecturing at trainings, Duci taught a seminar entitled “Racial Justice and Prosecutorial Metrics” at Northeastern University School of Law from 2020-2021.  She earned her B.S. in Rehabilitation and Human Services from Boston University and her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.

Lisa M. Hewitt, General Counsel

Lisa Hewitt is the General Counsel for the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS).  Lisa also worked for CPCS as General Counsel and Legislative Counsel from 1986 to 1998.

Before joining CPCS in 1986, Lisa worked as the Chief of Staff for the Massachusetts House Committee on the Judiciary, as a research analyst for the Committee on Criminal Justice, and as a staff member of the Special Commission on Uniform Sentencing and Revision of the Criminal Code.

Lisa left CPCS in 1998 to serve as the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys (MATA), and maintained a leadership role on behalf of MATA in coalitions with other consumer and civil justice bar associations.  She also maintained a general law practice while representing clients in government affairs before state and municipal adjudicatory boards, and as a registered lobbyist, she has lobbied for community organizations and citizens’ groups initiatives and funding.  She has drafted and advocated for amendments to town ordinances, secured state and local funding for community projects, and managed the press in support of key community initiatives.

Lisa earned her B.A. from Stonehill College and her J.D. degree from Suffolk University Law School.

Sandra DeBow-Huang, Chief Human Resources Officer

As the Chief Human Resources Officer for the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), Sandra DeBow-Huang brings a distinguished background in HR leadership and a deep commitment to advancing the organization’s mission of ensuring equal justice for all individuals in need of legal representation. With a career marked by transformative initiatives and strategic foresight, Sandra and her HR team seeks to drive organizational excellence and to foster a culture of inclusivity and support within CPCS.

In previous roles within the Commonwealth, Sandra served as the Secretariat HR Business Officer for the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development and the Senior HR Business Partner for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services’ Department of Mental Health and the Department of Public Health. Prior to her tenure in state government, Sandra was the Director of Human Resources for the Town of Brookline for over twelve years, and the Deputy Director of Labor Relations for a department at the City of Boston for over seven years.

With a Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School, a Master of Public Health and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Boston University, Sandra possesses a unique interdisciplinary background that enriches her approach to human resources management. Additionally, she holds a SHRM-SCP from the Society for Human Resource Management. Sandra leads a strong HR team at CPCS many whom are SHRM-certified and whose varied work experience furthers this holistic approach which enables the team to address complex HR matters.

In her role as Chief HR Officer for CPCS, Sandra uses her extensive experience, leadership skills, and political acumen to lead the HR team to ensure HR initiatives are closely aligned with the CPC’s strategic objectives. The HR team is dedicated to supporting the organization’s mission by championing initiatives that prioritize employee well-being, professional development, and organizational excellence. By fostering a culture of inclusivity, equity, and continuous growth we hope to empower employees to thrive and contribute to their collective goal to fight for equal justice and human dignity. CPCS HR strives to collaborate with colleagues across CPCS to build a stronger, more resilient workforce that is fully equipped to meet the evolving needs of the communities it serves.

John Lozada, Equity and Inclusion Director

John Lozada is the Equity and Inclusion Director for the Committee for Public Counsel Services, and leads CPCS’ efforts to build fairness and respect within our offices and in our work to represent indigent individuals, across the broad range of cases we address. John brings to this work as strong ability to assess and respond to bias risks in both the work place and public settings, along with experience as counsel on discrimination matters and as a manager overseeing compliance activities across the range of civil rights issues in government and private settings.

As Director of Civil Rights and Manager of Federal Programs for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), John focused on issues relating to affirmative action//equal employment opportunities, nondiscrimination obligations toward the public, MWDBE contractor programs, and accessibility under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Much of this work involved innovative efforts to bring technology solutions to build equity in efforts to prioritize issues of concern and remediation strategies.

As an attorney, Mr. Lozada has served in government and private capacities, focusing on civil rights in employment, education and transportation, as well as general civil law. He has blended his work focus with extensive volunteering across diverse organizations focused on civil rights, Bar diversity, community empowerment, education and health.

John is a graduate of the Northfield Mount Hermon School. Amherst College and the University of California – Hastings College of the Law, and likes to fish, ride bicycle, read and cook.

Kevin Lucchetti, Chief Financial Officer

Kevin Lucchetti is the Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining us at CPCS, Kevin served as the Director of Administration and Finance for the Massachusetts Department of Health, Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality. Prior to that, he spent twelve years in the private sector as a Finance and Purchasing Director and a Senior Financial Analyst. He began his career in state government, first as a Budget Analyst for the House Ways and Means Committee and as a Senior Budget Analyst for the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority.

Kevin has a long history and strong background in financial management.

Daniel Mahoney, Deputy Chief Counsel

Daniel Mahoney is the Deputy Chief Counsel of the Children and Family Law Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services. Daniel oversees twelve staff trial offices, an appellate staff office, an administrative office, and a private panel of appellate and trial attorneys across the Commonwealth. He is a graduate of Fairfield University and Boston College Law School.  Daniel began his career working in civil litigation in state and federal courts.

Daniel started representing parents and children as private counsel in cases of alleged abuse and neglect in Norfolk County in 2005 and has provided direct client representation of parents and children for over 19 years. He joined the Committee for Public Counsel in the Audit and Oversight Department in 2011 and moved to the Boston Children and Family Law Trial Office in 2013.

Daniel came to this current position from the Boston Children and Family Law Trial Office where he was the Attorney in Charge of a holistic team of attorneys, social workers, and administrators representing parents and children in the Boston and Cambridge Juvenile Courts. Daniel is a founding member of the Children and Family Law Racial Justice Task Force(RJTF), which consists of staff and the private bar. RJTF was created in 2019 to address the racial and ethnic disparities in the Family Regulation System.

Bob McGovern, Communications Director

McGovern oversees all internal and external communications for CPCS and is the main point of contact for media organizations seeking comment from the agency. McGovern joined CPCS in 2019.

McGovern has worked for various media outlets, most recently as the legal columnist for the Boston Herald. While at the Herald, he covered all matters of the law – from novel Supreme Judicial Court decisions to the “Deflategate” saga involving New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. The Massachusetts Bar Association honored him with the 2016 Excellence in Legal Journalism Award. He joined the Herald after working as an attorney in Boston.

McGovern is an active member of the New England First Amendment Coalition and worked as a law clerk for the organization while in law school. He frequently guest lectures on media law and ethics.

McGovern earned his B.A in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst and his J.D. from New England Law in Boston.

Tere Ramos, Chief of Administration and Operations

Tere Ramos is the Chief of Administration and Operations and a member of the Senior Management Team, helping guide the agency’s strategic direction and daily operations. She brings over 20 years of experience in public service, nonprofit leadership, and civil rights advocacy, with a deep focus on education equity, disability rights, and language access.

Before joining CPCS, Tere served as Executive Director of Partners for Youth with Disabilities, where she expanded programming and strengthened the organization’s financial sustainability. Her legal career includes work as a civil rights and education attorney representing children with disabilities, English language learners, and underserved communities. Earlier in her career she was an attorney at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, the Disability Law Center, and represented children as a CPCS CAFL attorney. She has presented nationally on issues of language access rights, especially regarding limited English proficient students with disabilities.

Tere holds degrees from Wellesley College, Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and Boston College Law School, where she was a public service scholar and an Equal Justice Works fellow. Tere was also the recipient of BC Law’s Recent Graduate Award. Her commitment to inclusion is both professional and personal, and she is passionate about building systems that serve all communities equitably.

Laura Sanford, Deputy Chief Counsel

Laura Sanford oversees the Mental Health Litigation Division and leads its efforts to improve access to legal representation and quality of services for a segment of our community with unique and difficult life and legal challenges. Before joining CPCS management, Attorney Sanford spent over 20 years as private counsel representing citizens facing civil commitment proceedings in District, Superior, and appellate courts, and litigating all aspects of guardianship law including issues of capacity, substituted judgment, court ordered medication, and other extraordinary treatment.  Attorney Sanford appealed Guardianship of Zaltman which holds that an incapacitated person is entitled to an evidentiary hearing to determine capacity to retain counsel for the purpose of removing the guardian, and appealed Guardianship of L.H, which addresses the role of Respondent’s counsel in a guardianship case with authority to admit to a nursing facility and administer antipsychotics. She received the Paul Liacos Award for Zealous Advocacy and Outstanding Legal Services to Individuals with Mental Health Issues and was a member of the Disability Law Center’s Advisory Council for the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) Program. Attorney Sanford has mentored attorneys for certification by the MHLD trial and appellate panels since the mentorship program began. As a MHLD Regional Coordinator she designed, organized, and implemented numerous training programs for MHLD attorneys’ continuing education.

After a 20-year career in civil litigation in state and federal court, she was inspired to apply her talents to representing the critically underserved MHLD constituency (the joy of her legal career). Attorney Sanford was a former ADA for Middlesex County in another incarnation and is a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of Boston College and B.C. Law School. She lives in Boston with her husband and their dog, Taji.

Holly T. Smith, Deputy Chief Counsel

Holly T. Smith is the Deputy Chief Counsel for the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS).

Holly spent the lion’s share of her legal career working for and with CPCS, first as private counsel and then as staff.  Holly joined CPCS staff as a trainer in the Youth Advocacy Division training unit in Boston in 2012 after having been in private practice for many years during which time she represented adults and juveniles in criminal, delinquency, and youthful offender matters in all Trial and Appellate Courts of the Commonwealth.  She served as the Attorney in Charge of the Somerville/Malden Youth Advocacy Division Trial Office and, recently, as Director of Administration and Operations of the agency.  In addition to the aforementioned roles,  Holly was the Interim Director of the Criminal Trial Support Unit, she co-headed the Post-Conviction Covid 19 Task force focused on seeking decarceration of our clients during the pandemic, Chaired/Co-Chaired the Juvenile and Child Welfare Section Counsel of the Massachusetts Bar Association, and participated in CPCS’s last Strategic Planning efforts as a member of the committee focused on Training.

Holly earned her B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and her J.D. from New England Law Boston.

Arnie Lucinda Stewart, Deputy Chief Counsel

Photo: Paper Schemes Productions

DIVERSITY IS A FACT, INCLUSION IS AN ACT

Arnie Lucinda Stewart is the Deputy Chief Counsel of the Public Defender Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services. She oversees the operation of public defender staff offices throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Arnie Lucinda Stewart began her journey with the Committee for Public Counsel Services in 1997 as a trial unit staff attorney assigned to the Boston Superior Court Office. In 2009, Arnie was appointed as the Attorney-in-Charge (AIC) of the Boston District and Municipal Court office.  She supervised, trained, and mentored attorneys, support staff, social service advocates, and investigators. In 2012, Arnie was chosen as the first PDD Managing Director for the Northeast Region now known as the Central Region. The Central Region includes all of the public defender offices in Suffolk and Norfolk Counties.

Arnie has served as a mentor to numerous colleagues and been an active participant in efforts to improve CPCS and the representation provided to clients. Arnie has served on various committees and has been extremely active in recruiting and hiring. Arnie is a leader in efforts to increase agency diversity and retention, helping to create training on management and diversity and being a founding member of the CPCS affinity group Public Lawyers of Color (PLOC).

Arnie received the Thurgood Marshall Award for Zealous Advocacy which honors “a person or persons who champion the cause of zealous representation for the poor and the right to effective assistance of counsel for all.” At New England Law, Arnie received the Charles Hamilton Houston Award for Academic Achievement and the Timothy J. Cronin Memorial Award for Public Service.  She was given the Activism Award by the National Lawyers Guild.

Arnie studied Criminal Justice and Women’s Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park.  After obtaining her Bachelor’s degree, she attended New England Law in Boston. Arnie received a Master’s Degree in Conflict Resolution from the University of Massachusetts, McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies.

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