Ceasar McDowel​​​​​​​l

Vatsady Sivongxay is an entrepreneur, community advocate, and attorney with more than a decade of experience facilitating community engagement, effective dialogue, and collective vision planning, and advising small businesses, immigrants, and underserved communities. As the former Director of Public Policy for Boston’s District 7, she collaborated with diverse civic, business, union, and community stakeholders in complex social and justice issues, including but not limited to special education rights, small business financing and sustainability, affordable housing, legislative advocacy, and private and public development. Prior to that, Vatsady served as a community legal service pro-bono attorney and opened a law practice to help entrepreneurs realize their small business dreams and guide immigrants through the complex immigration system. She is a Trustee of the Harry H. Dow Memorial Legal Assistance Fund, a grant giving organization focused on ensuring access to legal services for those who are deprived of justice. Vatsady also serves as a Director of the Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts where she promotes diversity in the legal field by organizing career networking events, partners with national and local non-profits to increase civic engagement in limited English proficiency communities, and supports scholarship opportunities. She recently co-founded Nile’s Initiatives for Learning and Education (NILE), a program whose mission is to close the opportunity gap by providing learning tools and resources to our most socio-economically underserved young children and their families. Vatsady’s personal background directly informs and drives her commitment to building a more just, inclusive, and equitable society. 

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Vatsady earned a Juris Doctor degree from Suffolk University Law School and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and French from Creighton University.  She has been tapped to speak and lead conversations about minority women leadership and racial equity.