Mid-Shore Pro Bono has announced its newly elected directors and members to its Board while recognizing the service of two departing Board members.  Newly elected officers are President Tim Abeska, Esq., who was elected to serve for a second two-year term, Vice President Dr. Clinton Pettus, Ruth Thomas as Treasurer, and Holland Brownley, Esq, as Secretary, also elected to serve for a second two-year term. Also joining the Executive Committee will be Tony Rodriguez, Esq., Chair of the new Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Committee.

Tanisha Armstrong, of Salisbury, Maryland, and Arlette Kelly Bright, Esq. of Ocean City, Maryland were elected as new board members, with Sarah Dahl, Esq. of Denton, Maryland, and Samantha Bowers Welte of Easton, Maryland recognized as departing board members.

“Our Board members have direct experience with legal services and the people we serve and share rich connections with the many facets of the community as well,” said Mid-Shore Pro Bono Executive Director Meredith Lathbury Girard, Esq. “These qualifications translate into our ability to successfully meet the dynamic legal needs of people on the Eastern Shore.”

Tanisha Armstrong is a consultant with more than 20 years of experience working with nonprofits in grant writing, board development, and strategic planning. In addition to her consulting, Armstrong’s service includes working as Deputy Director at Tri Community Mediation in Salisbury, Md., and with Wicomico Partnership for Families and Children as a local care team coordinator.

Her volunteer service spans multiple agencies, including training as an alumni recruiter with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee member with Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, and serving as a member of the Lower Shore Vulnerable Populations Task Force. She also served as a Board member for Wicomico Public Libraries.

In 2022, Armstrong received the Delegate Sheree-Sample Hughes Award presented by the Maryland Higher Education Commission, and the Chris Anderson WomenLead Scholarship, presented by Thrivent Charitable Impact & Investing.

Armstrong is currently pursuing a Master’s Public Health degree at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore as part of their Honors Program.

Arlette Kelly Bright, Esq. is the owner of The Law Offices of Arlette Kelly Bright, P.C. and co-owns and operates with her brother, Sam Greenfield, Bright Title and Settlement Service, LLC, with offices in Salisbury and Ocean City. Her previous legal experience includes working at Piper & Marbury (now DLA Piper), Miles and Stockbridge, and Hyatt & Weber, P.A. Bright also served as Program Director and Facilitator with the Worcester County Child Advocacy Center.

Bright received the American Jurisprudence Award for Interviewing and Counseling and earned membership in the national legal honor fraternity Phi Delta Phi at Widener University School of Law, where she earned the degree of Juris Doctor cum laude.

She also attended The American University, graduating cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies. While at The American University, she earned an Outstanding Scholarship Award and membership into Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Sigma Alpha, both national honor societies. Bright also studied abroad while attending The American University, taking classes at the University of Brussels in Belgium and interned with the European Union (EU) in Brussels, Belgium.

Bright’s service on other boards includes the Worcester County Department of Social Services Advisory Board, Wicomico County Child Advocacy Center Board, Delmarva Zoological Society, Inc, and The Salisbury School Board of Trustees.

Mid-Shore Pro Bono connects Eastern Shore individuals and families in need of legal representation with volunteer attorneys to ensure that justice truly is for all. Civil legal services include family law, housing, life planning, and economic stability. For more information, call 410-690-8128 or go to www.midshoreprobono.org.