ShiAnn Steele of Smyrna, Del. has recently joined the Salisbury office of the non-profit Mid-Shore Pro Bono as the Lower Shore Intake and Outreach Coordinator.
In the position, Steele is responsible for initiating services with clients in Wicomico, Worcester, and Somerset counties, along with outreach activities that cultivate public awareness, charitable donations, and volunteer recruitment for the nonprofit organization. Johannah Cooper previously served in the position and is now off to pursue a graduate degree in social work at Boston University this fall.
Steele is the fourth internship alumni hired onto Mid-Shore Pro Bono’s staff and is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Salisbury University, where she is named to the Dean’s List. She is a Smyrna High School graduate, with her academic merits earning her membership to the National Honor Society.
“ShiAnn was one of our summer interns in 2021, and she never stopped her internship—she just kept on volunteering because she enjoyed the work so much,” said Mid-Shore Pro Bono Executive Director Meredith Lathbury Girard, Esq.
“Our theory of workforce development is working,” said Girard. “Which is ultimately a double-win for the people who need our services the most, because they have a larger, compassionate team working for them, while we bring more students into rewarding careers in civic engagement and civil justice.”
“I am very passionate about giving back to the community, especially in legal services because I firmly believe everyone has a right to justice,” says Steele. “As a philosophy and law and justice advocacy student a large portion of my studies involves deepening my understanding of what is morally just for people.”
MSPB’s Sandy Brown Public Interest Internship was established in 2021 to honor MSPB’s previous executive director Sandy Brown—and is supported by the Rural Maryland Council and the Maryland Bar Foundation. The donor-funded program provides undergraduate and law school students with a stipend while learning in the areas of public interest law, non-profit management, community service, and basic work experience.
