Mike Elefante

Mike Elefante received his undergraduate degree from Syracuse University in 1965 and his law degree from Harvard University in 1969. While in law school he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation he served as a clerk to Chief Justice Raymond S. Wilkins of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. He then joined the Boston firm of Hemenway and Barnes where he spent his entire career. He concentrated on corporate law and service as a trustee of family trusts. He was a director of Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) from its inception until 2017, and served as President of the GBLS Board for five years in the 1990s.

Mike is working on a project sponsored by the New Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce (SouthCoast Chamber) to reduce recidivism in the population of persons incarcerated in the Bristol County House of Correction and the other prisons serving the area. The project involves building a coalition of people from many institutions, including the courts, the District Attorney and probation personnel, educational institutions, and social service agencies. The coalition will evaluate individual prisoners to identify their needs and skills. Coalition members will provide resources to address the need for housing and other essential services. The coalition will address the need of former prisoners for further education and vocational training intended to provide ex-prisoners with job skills. South Shore Chamber will work with employers to identify their needs and to place former prisoners in jobs paying living wages. Participants will have a mentor assigned to them to help them through the program.