Madeleine from Legal Momentum’s new blog has a good post about working at non-profits. Women’s non-profits in general are notorious for being hard places to stick out long term. As I think about a career working amongst needy clients in order to obtain a clinical licensure, sometimes I dread it.

But Madeleine reels it in when she writes of her work at the women’s rights group,

“Sitting in meetings all day talking about this circuit court decision or that state legislative trend makes it easy to lose sight of the lives we’re touching with these big sweeping changes. Everyone here at Legal Momentum has contact with our clients, but no other position at the organization has as much contact with the outside world, regular women, as mine. With help from my intern (thanks Angela!), I answer all the calls and emails from women asking for help with a variety of legal problems. I hear stories from women all across the country, women with different backgrounds and experiences, each needing help with her legal problems.

Speaking to all these women everyday helps me to see the universality of women’s issues and that things like employment discrimination and domestic violence affect all types of women. Realizing that a doctor from a fancy suburb can have the same issues as a cashier from a tiny town really puts our work into perspective. I’m able to sit in the meetings discussing legislative strategy and see with perfect clarity how these efforts will impact the daily lives of so many women.”