Development Committee

Lauren Stern - Chair

The Development Committee works to identify mission partners to support and amplify MSJDN’s work. Committee members work directly with representatives from our corporate sponsors to raise money for MSJDN and educate the private sector about MSJDN’s mission. Development committee volunteers also work closely with other MSJDN initiatives, including Homefront to Hired and Justice for Military Families, to design and foster the projects our partners are most interested in pursuing–this could include a new corporate hiring or fellowship model for military spouses, a webinar series about corporate recruiting, or a pro bono partnership where corporate legal departments take on JMF cases that are otherwise hard to place.

Lauren has been a licensed attorney since 2004 and first joined MSJDN in 2014. Lauren earned her bachelor’s degree from American University and her juris doctor degree from Temple Law School. While she began her career as a practicing attorney, she has since found her passion in Legal Operations and is the Director of Legal Operations at Dolby Laboratories. With her active duty Coast Guard (formerly Navy) husband and two children, she is currently stationed at USCG Air Station San Francisco.

Beverley Griffin - Development Director Emeritus

Beverley Griffin is an attorney with a solo practice, concentrating in the general practice of law with specialization in estates and probate matters, education law, mental health law, veteran’s matters, and administrative and policy concerns. As an elected official in Massachusetts, Beverley serves on two local school boards as well as the board for her state school committee association. A graduate of Northeastern University and Vermont Law School, she is a member of the Massachusetts Bar, the Federal District Court of Massachusetts, and a certified Court Conciliator. A charter member of MSJDN, Beverley considers MSJDN as “a life jacket” she discovered during one of her husband’s numerous deployments. Beverley has served many times as a Command Family Ombudsman for her husband’s US Navy Reserve units throughout his career. She is an active volunteer in her community, having served as the Boy Scout and Girl Scout leader, Sunday School teacher, PTO mom, Band Parent and others (often all at the same time!) and is now serving as chair of a $30M school building project after having finished serving as chair of a $92M school building project. Married to Robert Dunne, a retired Federal Agent and a Navy Mustang currently on active duty, Beverley and Bob are the proud parents of four wonderful children – a son and three daughters. Beverley has actively participated in many of the MSJDN programs throughout the years including Homefront Rising and Making the Right Moves and has benefited greatly from the information provided but most importantly from the support and friendship of MSJDN members.

Michelle Parker-Elliott - Vice-Chair

Michelle has been a licensed attorney since 2015 and a member of MSJDN since 2016. Originally from Long Island, New York, Michelle earned her bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University and her juris doctor from Syracuse University. She is licensed and in good standing in New York and Missouri. Since marrying her active-duty Air Force husband in 2016, Michelle has moved five times. They are currently stationed at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. After spending several years in the demanding world of high value defense-side civil litigation, Michelle has taken a step back and is focusing on her passion for volunteer work and parenting. Along with MSJDN, she volunteers her time with various international law groups, and fundraising for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Michelle Parker 3.2023 - Michelle Parker-Elliott
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Accomplishments

During MSJDN's Tenth Anniversary year, the Development Committee forged new corporate partnerships and expanded the work we do with our steadfast supporters.

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Goals/Projects

The committee hopes to continue building and forging these relationships. When it began, MSJDN was really on its own advocating for attorney licensing and employment. We are no longer alone in this fight and need to leverage our strong relationships in order to accomplish more for military families!

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