© 2013 The Texas Lawbook.
By Patricia Baldwin
Lifestyle Writer for The Texas Lawbook
Winstead associate Brittany Byrd was “shocked” when she was selected as the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers’ Outstanding Young Lawyer for 2013. She also was “grateful” – for the opportunity to bring awareness to the pro bono projects she undertakes in addition to her role as a member of Winstead’s finance and banking practice group.
Byrd, 29, hopes the honor, to be presented at a May 3 luncheon, will allow her “to show how important it is to do pro bono work and to encourage others to get involved. I feel it is my duty to help others less fortunate.”
Byrd epitomizes “extraordinary,” says Winstead senior level associate and DAYL board member Robert Ivey III, who nominated Byrd for the DAYL award. “Working alongside Brittany reminds me daily that each of us has both the power to positively impact the lives of others and the obligation to provide assistance to those who do not have the resources to help themselves,” he adds.
Girls Embracing Mothers evolved from Byrd’s own experience of having an incarcerated mother. And, although Byrd was 22 when her mother, Evelyn Fulbright, began an eight-year prison sentence, Byrd says she was “greatly affected” by her mother’s incarceration.
“No amount of education in the world can prepare a person for that,” Byrd says, adding that she grew up in an environment of privilege. “Prison was very foreign. I asked God: Why?”
One day, she got her answer or, at least, her inspiration. She saw a report on the Oprah Winfrey Show about a Girl Scout mentoring program. As she investigated, she also learned of a Big Brothers Big Sisters program for children with a relative in the legal system.
No existing program, however, met Byrd’s vision. “I wanted something more personal and intimate. I decided to start my own.”
By 2011, she had recruited a board and formulated the business side of the nonprofit organization. In 2012, the group reached out to the state’s prisons for women in Gatesville and found the wardens enthusiastic. Soon, Girls Embracing Mothers will officially launch with 10 to 15 mother-daughter pairs.
Jaya Davis, an assistant professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Texas at Arlington, is on the GEM board. She notes the organization is “on its way to assisting girls with character development, building positive self-esteem and acquiring necessary skills to break the cycle of intergenerational negative life choices.”
“She has put in long hours and her own money to see that a deficit in programming offered to daughters of incarcerated mother is addressed,” Davis says. “Her original motivation was certainly her own experiences as a young woman, but her drive surpasses those experiences. Brittany wants to do what is in her power to change parts of the criminal justice system that, for lack of a better term, are broken.”
Something else Byrd is working to fix: the life sentences (without parole) for several pro bono clients who were convicted as first-time, non-violent drug offenders. Byrd says the U.S. Sentencing Commission has adjusted two federal sentencing guidelines in the past five years that reduce sentences for crack cocaine offenses.
In particular, Byrd is completing the application for sentence reduction for Sharanda Jones and is soliciting signatures for a petition on behalf of Jones. Byrd first learned of Jones’ case when she wrote a paper for a class at the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.
“Her case really touched me, and I vowed to help her,” Byrd says.
“Helping” obviously is a watchword for Byrd. And she knows the power of mentoring – that’s how she became an attorney after already working as a CPA.
“I always wanted to be an attorney,” she recalls, but she didn’t meet one until she was 21. The rest isn’t quite history yet, but Byrd is working on it.
Note: Byrd’s petition for Sharanda Jones can be found at: http://www.change.org/petitions/president-barack-obama-sharanda-jones-does-not-deserve-to-die-in-prison
Do you have a special avocation, hobby or other lifestyle interest to share? Please email patricia.baldwin@texaslawbook.net.
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