There is no “one size fits all” solution to ensuring equal access to justice in our community, and Teri Ross embodies that notion in her work for Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO). Over 70,000 people a month visit ILAO’s website for the public (www.IllinoisLegalAidOnline.org) for helpful legal information and resources. As ILAO’s Outreach Coordinator, Teri travels the state to make these web-based resources available to thousands of pro se litigants in need. She facilitates the planning, implementation and support of Internet-based, legal self-help centers at courthouses and public libraries throughout rural Illinois. Teri knows firsthand the value of these resources from her personal experience as a legal aid attorney serving the homeless population in Lake County the first two years of her legal career.

Teri came to her current work in a somewhat circuitous fashion. In her first ten years after graduating from college in 1991, she did media and public relations work for several nonprofit organizations, ultimately working as the Publications Director for the University of Minnesota’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. But after the events of September 11, 2001, Teri realized that while she was professionally satisfied, she wanted to make a greater contribution to her community. She ultimately arrived at the decision to go to law school to pursue a career in legal aid. Throughout law school at DePaul, she was very active in public interest law activities, often assuming leadership roles. The Director of DePaul’s Center for Public Interest Law credits Teri’s leadership as essential to the creation of DePaul’s loan repayment assistance program.

Receiving the Anderson Fellowship this year is extremely good timing for Teri and her husband. Earlier this month they welcomed their first child, Raeya Ross Stewart. The Anderson Fellowship will allow Teri, with her newly expanded family, to continue on her chosen path in legal aid with a much lighter load.