WHO WE ARE
OUR FOUNDING MEMBERS:
MFAC was founded by a grassroots group of women who seek a fair, safe, and streamlined family court system for all users and which serves the best interests of children. Their collective experiences with the Massachusetts family court system have shown that the system is under-resourced and at risk for protracted delays, misuse, and inequities, the judicial outcomes are unpredictable, and the cost is unaffordable to most.
These systemic shortfalls are barriers to accessible and equitable justice for all and do not ensure the best interests of Massachusetts children and families.
With the legendary phoenix as their emblem, they believe that each challenge brings an opportunity for change and renewal. They are hopeful for a better system for all.
MFAC members are previous leaders and members of the Awareness and Advocacy Committee at Jane Does Well.
Our Co-Executive Directors
Lori Sherman Johnson and Margie Palladino began collaborating in 2021 to effect family court reform in Massachusetts. Margie is former Chair of Family Court Reform, and Lori is the former Director of the Awareness and Advocacy Committee at Jane Does Well. Together, they authored the 2022 White Paper entitled “Equitable and Accessible Justice For All: A Working Report on the Massachusetts Family Court System.” Lori also is the co-author of the Jane Does Well Public Comments and Recommendations to the 2020-2021 Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines Task Force.
Lori is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and earned an MBA in finance from the University of Michigan. She worked for many years in the finance industry in New York and Asia before retiring to become the family’s full-time caregiver to her three children. Discovering the inequitable economic treatment of caregivers in Massachusetts after her divorce, she became passionate about family law advocacy and making change in the family law system.
Margie, a graduate of Colgate University and Boston College Law School, is a retired commercial litigator and a small-business owner. She left the practice of law to be the family’s caregiver of her two children. After her experience in the family court, she felt the strong desire to advocate on behalf of women and children impacted by the family court system.
Contact Margie at mjpalladino@massfamily.org
Contact Lori at ljohnson@massfamily.org
Margie Palladino
Lori Johnson
Board of Directors
Michelle Barnes joins Lori and Margie as an inaugural director of MFAC. Michelle received her PhD in economics from the John Hopkins University and has worked at JP Morgan, the World Bank, the University of Adelaide and most recently enjoyed 17 years in the research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston as a macro-financial policy research economist. For the past several years she has focussed on fulfilling leadership responsibilities on various non-profit boards based in her community. Michelle will employ her empirical data and policy research skills to educate family court stakeholders about the implications and consequences of the current administration of family court justice on women, children, and taxpayers in support MFAC’s objective of safe, fair and efficient justice for all.
Michelle Barnes