Nonprofit aims to ‘drive change,’ celebrate diversity in Maine’s legal community
FILE Photo / Tim Greenway
Krystal Williams has big plans for the Alpha Legal Foundation, a Portland-based nonprofit whose programming includes a book discussion series called “Legally Racist.”
In 2020, Krystal Williams set out to “drive change within Maine’s legal community” and create a community of like-minded lawyers of color by launching the Alpha Legal Foundation.
The Portland-based nonprofit aims to do that through a speaker series called “Legally Racist” that Williams hopes to open up to participants beyond the legal community.
“We recognize that may attract people who don’t agree that systemic racism is real, and we want to be able to hold a safe space and engage people where they are,” says Williams, who was honored as a Mainebiz Woman to Watch in 2021. She’s also the founder of a Portland-based law and business advisory firm called Providentia Group.
In 2023, the “Legally Racist” series will feature presentations and discussions on three books: “The Sum of Us,” by Heather McGee, on Jan. 5; “N*gga Theory,” by Jody Armour, on Feb. 9; and “The Whiteness of Wealth,” by Dorothy A. Brown, on March 9.
While the books aren’t required reading, Williams notes that people who have read them prior to the sessions “will be able to participate in a deeper way.” Tickets for each session are $49, though a discount code is available to Mainebiz readers. Williams says she prefers raising money for specific programming over aggressive fundraising, saying, “I really want the community to hold me accountable in my leadership of the Alpha Legal Foundation.”
The foundation also offers a video series called “Asked & Answered: Interviews with BIPOC Legal Professionals,” all of which are archived on the foundation’s website and free to watch.
“I love celebrating other people, and I love how well it’s been received in the community,” Williams says.
She has a lot of big plans for the foundation, including submitting an application in 2023 to create a program similar to California’s JusticeCorps, which has helped over one million people in that state find access to justice since it began in 2004. If selected, AmeriCorps (an agency of the U.S. government that has already awarded a planning grant to Alpha Legal Foundation) will fund a portion of the program through a grant, Williams says.
“We don’t yet know what the end product is going to be,” she notes, “but we’ve very excited.”
More information
The Alpha Legal Foundation lists upcoming events here. Recorded interviews for the foundation's "Asked & Answered" series are archived here.
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