[email protected]

Elizabeth works to develop and diversify current funding sources and other types of community support, including the cadre of volunteer and pro bono attorneys upon which we rely to launch and grow the programs that build community resilience and more just, sustainable economies. An employment lawyer by training, Elizabeth developed her commitment to building community resilience several years ago while working in a blighted urban food desert in Philadelphia, transforming abandoned vacant lots into organic community food gardens. Upon returning to the East Bay in 2013, she became a volunteer attorney and ardent fan of Sustainable Economies Law Center's Legal Cafes. Later, she became a Legal Fellow after opening the Law Office of Elizabeth Burnett, which provides affordable employment law advice and assistance to cooperatives, non-profits, social enterprises, and small businesses who are operating in and growing the local, sustainable economy.

A graduate of UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, Elizabeth has been practicing employment law in various settings for more than twenty years. She has worked in law firms, large and small, as in-house counsel for a start-up, and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. In all these roles Elizabeth advised human resource professionals, drafted employment policies, investigated, mediated, arbitrated and litigated employee claims and other disputes, and developed employee training programs. In 2015 she broadened her law practice to include securities law, with a focus on Direct Public Offerings, as a part-time attorney with Cutting Edge Counsel. In her free time she loves to bike and hike and is learning to compost and grow food in her backyard.

Roles at SELC

Program Areas

  • Support: Legal Cafe

Operations Areas

  • Support: Grants
  • Support: Organizational Abundance 

Thanks to our Partners and Collaborators: