A Legacy of Leadership: Ruth Ellen Fitch to Receive Richard A. Soden Public Service Award

Ruth Ellen Fitch’s career is a story of leadership and unwavering dedication to her community. She has shaped education as Director of the METCO program in Brookline, inspired minds as a professor of Black literature at UMass Boston, and broke barriers as the first Black female partner at a Boston law firm (Palmer & Dodge, now Troutman Pepper Locke LLP). As President and CEO of The Dimock Center, she transformed healthcare access for countless individuals. Even in retirement, Ruth Ellen’s impact has only grown—serving as an Access to Justice Fellow, Board member, Trustee, and more.

It is this legacy of service, excellence, and lasting change that make her a deserving recipient of the Boston Bar Foundation’s Richard A. Soden Public Service Award, which will be presented at the 2025 John & Abigail Adams Benefit on April 5, 2025.

“The Boston Bar Foundation is delighted to have this opportunity to recognize and celebrate Ruth Ellen Fitch’s immeasurable contributions to our community,” said BBF President Megan Gates. “She has devoted much of her career to helping others overcome social and economic obstacles so they, too, may achieve a life of fulfillment and dignity. Her lengthy and distinguished career and commitment to others are examples for all attorneys to strive to emulate.”

Ruth Ellen’s career path wasn’t exactly traditional. After earning her B.A. in Economics from Barnard College, she didn’t immediately enroll in law school—and least not officially. While raising two young children, she regularly sat in on classes at Columbia Law School alongside her husband, Harrison. After he graduated, the family moved to Boston and eventually settled in Brookline, where he started his own law firm. With her children now old enough to be more independent and Brookline offering a convenient home base, Ruth Ellen took on the role of Director of the METCO program for Brookline Public Schools, beginning her journey as a leader in education.

That experience taught me a lot about interacting with my community and working with people,” Ruth Ellen said. “It taught me how to focus on the big picture and figure out how to get the work done and encourage others to do the work.

After about six years as Director of the METCO program—and despite now being a decade removed from college graduation—Ruth Ellen took the next step in her career, applying to area law schools.

“It was a time when education was being expanded to all ages and types of people,” she said, “and I felt I’d already sort of been through law school once before with my husband, so I thought I could still be accepted and really excel.”

She was right; Ruth Ellen was accepted to Harvard Law School, and this time it was her family joining her for classes.

“Harrison was in and out of classes with me,” she said. “My kids could take public transportation and would also meet me in Harvard Square and attend classes with me.”

The early exposure must have rubbed off on her daughter, Robin; later in life, she, too, attended Harvard Law (she now works as a teacher).

“I have always been certain that I was the oldest person in my class at law school,” Ruth Ellen said, “but I didn’t mind. It really became kind of a family support system to get me through.”

She began working at then-Palmer & Dodge during her second year of law school, moving there full-time after obtaining her J.D. Ultimately, she spent nearly 20 years with Palmer & Dodge, eventually rising to partner.

“Ruth Ellen was a thoughtful and insightful mentor to associates in the public finance practice group at Palmer & Dodge,” said Stephanie Massey, Co-Chair of the Adams Benefit Planning Committee, who today is herself a Partner with Troutman Pepper Locke, the result of Palmer & Dodge merging with other firms over the years. “Her professional and personal achievements in law and community service are exceptional, and her leadership and dedication are inspiring. She is a true role model in every respect, and I am proud and grateful to have worked with her and to know her.”

During this time, she also leant her expertise to the Boston Bar Association and Foundation; from 1990-1993, Ruth Ellen served on the BBA Council and BBF Board of Trustees, and as Council Treasurer from 1993-94. She also served on the BBA Nominating Committee, Joint Finance Committee, and Law Day Steering Committee.

After nearly two decades with Palmer & Dodge, Ruth Ellen next decided to take her economics and legal backgrounds back to her roots in Roxbury, taking a job with the Dimock Center, a community health center formerly known as the New England Hospital for Women and Children.

When she took that job, she said, her first action was understanding the Center’s various programs, which were funded by a combination of city, state, and federal money. In all, Ruth Ellen managed a staff of 400 and a budget of more than $29 million.

My focus immediately was on raising the excellence of the programs, so that the various entities funding them would continue to do so. I had to understand some of the politics and what it was going to take to continue to get the funding that we were getting to ensure we could continue to do the work that was needed in the community.

Those vital services included the qualified health center, catering to the needs of the Roxbury and Dorchester communities, as well as addiction and detox clinics. Today, thanks in part to Ruth Ellen’s expert stewardship, the clinic offers a range of health services, from primary to specialty care such as dental, pediatrics, OB/GYN, and for people living with HIV/AIDS. The Center also offers Behavioral Health Services and mental health support to people of all ages, including inpatient programs for people in recovery from substance use disorder, as well as outpatient counseling for youth and adults. In addition, its Child and Family Services programs provide educational and support services for families with children from birth through age five.

“Ruth Ellen’s leadership at the Dimock Center was focused on deepening the impact of its mission on the surrounding communities through program expansion, financial solvency and providing the highest quality of care to its patients and residents,” said Myechia Minter-Jordan, who served as President and CEO of the Dimock Center from Ruth Ellen’s retirement in 2013 through 2019. “She set new standards for work ethic, accountability and respect for our community that will serve The Dimock Center throughout the years to come.”

Even after retiring from her role at the Dimock Center in 2013, Ruth Ellen continues to lend her expertise and support to many community projects and organizations. As an Access to Justice Fellow, Ruth Ellen worked with “Moving from Debt to Assets,” a Greater Boston neighborhood financial literacy program offering learning and support services to diverse groups of residents. She says that she hoped joining the Access to Justice Fellows program would encourage others to do the same.

“Oftentimes, to outsiders, these types of programs feel unapproachable,” she said. “Of course I wanted to continue to make a difference, but I also hoped that by doing so—and allowing people to see me join and understand my motivation to do so—it would help others to do the same.”

Ruth Ellen remains a staunch believer in giving back to one’s community.

“I think it’s really important to connect with the community that you either work in or live in and to figure out what resources or programs you can add value to,” she said. “I recommend to newer lawyers: Take an interest in some of the programs that are going on in schools or around your neighborhood. It doesn’t need to be overwhelming; if you can find even one project, and approach it with intentionality and work hard at it, you can really make a difference.”

She certainly practices what she preaches; Ruth Ellen serves as the treasurer’s appointed member of the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) Board, where she works on the Stewardship and Sustainability Committee and the Investment Committee. She says doing so allows her to remain current and connected to the local business community. In addition to the PRIM Board, she also serves on the Boards of Franklin Park Zoo and Curry College.

“I’ve had the great fortune to witness Ruth Ellen’s problem-solving, wisdom, and decency, and her dedication to Boston and to the people in all of its neighborhoods,” said Adams Benefit Planning Committee Co-Chair Colin Van Dyke, who serves on the BBA Council and, alongside Ruth Ellen, on the Franklin Park Zoo Board.

“I’ve had the privilege of knowing and working with Ruth Ellen over the course of many years,” said Jay Gonzalez, who currently serves as President of Curry College. “She was my mentor when I was a young public finance lawyer, and I now have the pleasure of working with her on the Curry College Board. Guided by compassion and a firm moral compass, Ruth Ellen is sharp, insightful, and a person of integrity. I’m grateful for her and for the opportunity to join the BBA in honoring her for the positive impact she has had on our community.”

Looking back at the impact she’s had—and continues to have—on her community for so many years, Ruth Ellen says she feels a sense of pride and validation knowing she’s being recognized, while underscoring the importance of her family and colleagues in supporting her along the way.

“I really am satisfied and happy about all that I have done, all the chances I’ve taken” she said. “Both the successes, of course, and the non-successes, which have all served as learning experiences. I enjoy working hard, I’m lucky to have a supportive family and ecosystem around me, and those people have all helped allow me to get to where I am today.”