Christine W. Lai is the Cofounder and Founding Executive Director of Special Education Legal Fund, a not-for-profit organization that provides knowledge, resources, and support to under-resourced families in Connecticut and New York with children in the special education system. Since 2018, S.E.L.F. has provided over $1.5m in grants for hundreds of families across 80+ school districts in Connecticut and Westchester County, New York. Since S.E.L.F.’s founding, Christine has created, launched, and disseminated all of Special Education Legal Fund’s programmatic work, including the Legal Aid Program, and the Attorney/Advocate Grants Programs. Christine is currently a member of the Villa Maria School Board of Trustees where she sits on the Education Committee. Previously, she was a member of the Board of Directors of NEXT for Autism (where she was a member of the Audit Committee and Liaison to the Junior Board), co-chair of Columbia University’s Fairfield County Alumni Relations Committee, and Chair of the Board of Directors for Abilis, Inc.

Christine has received numerous awards in recognition of her work, including the Greenwich Bar Association Liberty Bell Award (2023), the New England Patriots Difference Maker Award (2022), the Greenwich YWCA Women Who Inspire Award (2022), and the Moffly Media Light A Fire Award (2021). In 2016 Christine was honored as the first “Friend of Abilis” at the organization’s annual gala.