MassInc MassInc was founded in 1996 by concerned leaders who believed that the policy process in Massachusetts was missing accurate, thorough, and unbiased information and research about the challenges facing the middle class. As an independent public think tank, MassInc’s mission is to promote a public agenda for the middle class and to help all citizens achieve the American dream. The organization supports this mission through nonpartisan research, civic journalism, and public forums to stimulate debate. Paula Valencia-Galbraith provided corporate legal counsel to help MassInc establish a start-up subsidiary to do opinion research through a unique brand of independent, issue-oriented polling work. Ann-Ellen Hornidge also provided counsel and is chair of its board. The Medical-Legal Partnership | Boston The Medical-Legal Partnership allies health care providers with legal advocates to improve the health and well-being of vulnerable patients. The organization seeks to integrate legal assistance as a core component of patient care by addressing the complex needs of low-income patients, to enable them to meet their basic needs for food and nutrition, housing and utilities, education and employment, health care, and personal and family safety and stability. Having advocated in past years to improve special education services for individual Medical-Legal Partnership clients, Mintz Levin served the organization in a strategic and advisory role this year. Peter McCarthy and Garrett Gillespie were among the attorneys who collaborated with the organization to advocate for system-wide improvements in the provision of educational services for autistic and developmentally disabled students. Mintz Levin hopes that its advocacy will improve educational outcomes for low-income students—and decrease the need to individually litigate each child’s case. The Melanoma Education Foundation The Melanoma Education Foundation is a nonprofit organization devoted to saving lives from melanoma, a common skin cancer that is often deadly unless detected early. The foundation increases awareness of melanoma by training high-school and middle-school health educators and supplying them with student materials and lesson plans; providing complete information about early self-detection and prevention of melanoma on its website; and conducting talks and facial skin analyzer screenings for area organizations and businesses. Mintz Levin has provided pro bono legal services to the Melanoma Education Foundation since its inception in 2000, including assistance by Laurence Schoen. During the past year, Carol Peters worked with the foundation to obtain trademark protection for SkinCheck®, the mark it uses on its educational literature and materials. “It was tremendously rewarding to provide assistance to an organization that truly makes a difference in saving the lives of young people by educating them about how to detect this disease before it is too late,”Larry says. The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty One of New York’s largest human services agencies, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty provides 100,000 NewYorkers with critical services in their fight against poverty each year. For more than 35 years, the organization has been a defender and advocate for New Yorkers in need, has raised awareness around the growing problem of Jewish poverty, and has offered services ranging from domestic violence counseling to kosher food pantries to career training. Jeffrey Moerdler has represented the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty on many issues over the years. Andrew Roth, Nili Yolin, and Jeffrey represented the council in negotiating a management agreement with an assisted-living facility manager, and Jeffrey continues to advise on related Traveling Companions