Connecticut Veterans Legal Center Announces New Executive Director
Connecticut Veterans Legal Center Announces New Executive Director
West Haven (September 27, 2022) – Connecticut Veterans Legal Center (CVLC) is excited to announce the appointment of Alison Weir as its new Executive Director. Alison will assume her role as Executive Director on October 3, 2022.
Ms. Weir joins CVLC as it celebrates its 13th anniversary. CVLC established the nation’s first medical-legal partnership with the VA health care system integrating free legal help where veterans are already seeking care. Targeting the legal needs of veterans facing homelessness and diagnosed with mental illness, CVLC removes legal barriers to housing, health care and income together with our pro bono volunteers and supporters.
Ashleigh Backman, Director of Pro Bono, Partnerships & Development, has served as CVLC’s Interim Executive Director during a period of tremendous programmatic growth and transition. “After a nationwide search and rigorous selection process, Alison was a clear choice to lead our phenomenal staff and to carry out our mission,” said Backman. “I believe Alison will continue to be an ally to and champion for the veteran community we serve. We are excited by the wealth of expertise she brings to our program and her commitment to the values that make CVLC so incredibly special.”
As a former member of CVLC’s Board of Directors and pro bono attorney, Alison brings deep knowledge of CVLC’s mission and strategic vision. She was a career active duty officer in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a lieutenant colonel after serving 20 years. Her duties in the Air Force included program management in national security space programs, instructor duty at the Air Force Academy, speechwriting for the Chief of Staff, and other assignments. She joins us after serving as the Benefits Policy Advocate and a Staff Attorney at Greater Hartford Legal Aid (GHLA).
In addition to her post-Air Force work at GHLA, she was at the National Diaper Bank Network for seven years where she developed and implemented the diaper distribution network programming and advocacy agenda for a network of 300+ diaper banks across 47 states. Alison has also worked as an attorney at the Wiggin and Dana law firm in New Haven; she was a clerk to the Hon. José A. Cabranes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and she was a Supreme Court Fellow with duty at the U.S. Sentencing Commission. She earned her B.A. (English) and B.S. (Electrical Engineering) at Cornell University, her Ph.D. (English) from the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, her J.D. from Georgetown University (magna cum laude), and her LLM (Insurance) from the University of Connecticut School of Law.
We invite the legal community and veteran advocates to connect with Alison and join us in working towards our vision where all veterans will have adequate financial stability, safe and affordable housing, and access to vital health care.
About CVLC: Connecticut Veterans Legal Center (CVLC) helps veterans recovering from homelessness and diagnosed with mental illness overcome civil legal barriers to housing, health care and income. Co-founded in 2009, CVLC was the first legal aid program in the United States to embed legal services at VA mental health facilities. For more information, please visit: https://ctveteranslegal.org/
For More Information, please contact:
Ashleigh Backman, Interim Executive Director
(203) 794-4291