Elms Names YWCA Director Elizabeth Dineen New Trustee

CHICOPEE — The board of trustees at College of Our Lady of the Elms has appointed Elizabeth Dineen ’77, J.D., executive director of the YWCA of Western Mass. in Springfield, MA, to be a new member of the board. Dineen has had a long career of community service, first serving as an assistant district attorney for 25 years prosecuting child sexual abuse and rape cases, then entering an academic career as the director of the criminal justice program at Bay Path University, and now at the YWCA, whose mission — “eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all” — is consistent with that of Elms College.
Her legal career focused on helping the most vulnerable in our community, especially women and children who were the victims of sexually based and personal violence, and that focus has carried over into her work at the YWCA, which serves women and families at critical times in their lives.
“I am fortunate to have had a life and career of public service, all of which springs from the values of integrity, compassion and social justice that were fostered in me throughout my education at Elms College,” Dineen said. “The engaging classes challenged me intellectually and gave me a superb foundation for the study and practice of law.”
Dineen has served on the board of directors of Square One of Springfield, MA, which provides education programs for children, since 2013; she previously served on the board of Mont Marie Child Care Center in Holyoke, and on the appropriations committee in East Longmeadow.
Honors Dineen has earned throughout her career include: the Governor’s Award for Service to the Commonwealth; the YWCA Woman of Achievement Award; Top Women of Law from Massachusetts Lawyers’ Weekly; the first Justice Kent B. Smith Award (2010) from the Hampden County Bar Association; the City of Holyoke: Mayor’s Certificate of Recognition (2004); the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Access to Justice Award — Prosecutor of the Year (2003); and the Elms College Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award.