Alison Bloomquist is NLADA'S vice president of Strategic Alliances and Innovation. Before joining NLADA, Alison served for six years as director of training and education for the Connecticut Division of Public Defender Services, where she coordinated training for attorneys, investigators, social workers, and clerks in all aspects of criminal defense. She has been invited to teach federal and state public defenders all across the country, including as faculty at the National Criminal Defense College (NCDC), and has authored several trial skills publications. In addition to teaching, Alison has been trying public defense cases in New England for more than 15 years. She served for more than 10 years as a staff public defender in greater Boston, two of them as attorney‐in‐charge of the Norfolk Superior Court office at the Committee for Public Counsel Services. She has continued to try cases in Connecticut since joining the Connecticut bar in 2016. Alison is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law and Boston University College of Arts and Sciences. She is an executive committee member of the National Alliance of Indigent Defense Educators (NAIDE) and a BPDA Certified Anti-Racism Trainer. She lives in West Hartford with her wife, three children, and their silver lab, Cooper.