Samantha Howell

Samantha Howell is the executive director of the New York State Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. She graduated from Whitman College with a B.A. in Political Sociology and obtained her J.D. from Albany Law School in 2010. She is admitted to practice in New York State and the Southern District Federal Court of New York. Ms. Howell has worked in public interest for more than a decade and in the pro bono arena since her law school days. Most recently, she was the director of Pro Bono & Outreach at Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York, where she developed and managed the nation’s only pro bono program tasked, exclusively, to working on civil issues for incarcerated New Yorkers. She co-founded The Center for Community Insight, which provides poverty simulations and training/consulting services, and also serves as a facilitator and on the Board of Directors. Ms. Howell has presented at five Equal Justice Conferences on the development and management of pro bono programs, prisoners’ rights and cultural competency. She has also presented on substantive and procedural law related to prisoners, cultural competency, and ethics on numerous occasions. Ms. Howell is a member of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), NYSBA’s President’s Committee on Access to Justice, NYSBA’s Student Loan Assistance for Public Interest committee, the National Association for Pro Bono Professionals, the NYS Pro Bono Coordinators Network, the Capital Region Pro Bono Committee, the American Bar Association (ABA), the ABA’s Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense, the National Lawyers Guild, and the Capital Region Immigration Collaborative. Ms. Howell also serves on the New York Civil Liberties – Capital Region Chapter’s board and legal committee. Ms. Howell was awarded the Supervising Attorney award at Albany Law School’s 2014 Pro Bono Awards Ceremony and was recently named the 2017 Public Citizen of the Year by the New York State chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.