Public Defender Spotlight: Reflections on the Emerging Leader Academy

January 29, 2026 – Our Public Defender Spotlights shout out and celebrate the achievements of individual members of the PDAP community, whether past or recent. If you’d like to nominate a fellow Public Defender (attorney, social service advocate, investigator, mitigator, or support staff member) for a feature, reach out to Anna@PAPublicDefenders.com.

One of PDAP’s biggest recurring initiatives over the past two years has been the Emerging Leader Academy, a yearlong program that engages a group of new-to-practice Public Defender attorneys in intensive training and mentorship to prepare them for growth and leadership in their offices.

Throughout the year, members of the Emerging Leader cohort attend conferences and workshops on the building blocks of public defense, motions, and voir dire, as well as additional virtual trainings and meetups. These new Public Defenders are paired with Mentors, more experienced attorneys who provide guidance throughout the year. The program culminates in an end-of-year symposium, where the Emerging Leaders present on specialized defense-related topics and officially graduate. Along with empowering these Public Defenders to become leaders, the Academy aims to create a stronger network of Public Defenders across different county offices.

To hear what it’s like to go through this program, we conducted interviews with past Emerging Leaders all throughout 2025, who shared their experiences with the curriculum and shared how they applied the knowledge they gained from the Academy to their real-life practice in public defense.

Joshua May

Josh is an Assistant Public Defender at the Lehigh County Public Defender’s Office who was part of the 2025 cohort of Emerging Leaders. Having transitioned from a career in education to one in public defense, he expressed his appreciation for the chance to step into the role of a student and learn collaboratively alongside a cohort of Public Defenders from different counties. He also spoke about the vital knowledge he took away from all three in-person conferences – the introductory bootcamp, motions workshop, and voir dire training – and shared how the motions workshop in particular helped him earn a better outcome for one of his clients.

Mary Connors

Mary was part of the 2025 class and currently serves as an Assistant Public Defender at the Dauphin County Public Defender’s Office. Around the time of her interview, she had successfully filed a writ of habeas corpus petition. She reported that the pretrial motions strategies she developed with the help of the Emerging Leader Academy bootcamp helped her obtain a satisfactory result. She explained the process of filing one, shared her biggest challenges, and passed down advice for other Public Defenders who find themselves in similar situations.

Bill Sanchez

Bill participated in the 2025 program and is an Assistant Public Defender in Monroe County. He pointed to the Emerging Leader Academy’s voir dire workshop as a training he found particularly useful, especially regarding questioning jurors. Bill shared how the conference encouraged him to bring more options to the table when conducting voir dire in his county, leading to an acquittal for his client. He also spoke about the community aspect of this program and the benefits of making connections with Public Defenders from other offices that may have very different procedures and approaches to client representation.

Ally Fox

Ally is an Assistant Public Defender in Lancaster County who participated in the 2024 Emerging Leader Academy, where she focused her final presentation on the importance of wellness in public defense. Since graduating from the program, she has continued to advocate for more mental health awareness in this field. Ally is the Chairperson for PDAP’s Retention and Sustainability Committee, which helps address the pervasive issues affecting employee retention that offices are facing statewide. She spoke about her work with the Committee, including her role in creating the Defender Retention & Sustainability Report released last year, and how she hopes her work will impact new and experienced Defenders alike.

Stay tuned for more interviews with Emerging Leader Academy Mentors, who spoke with PDAP about their experience training and supporting new-to-practice attorneys through this program. We hope to continue the Academy in the future to promote strong, well-resourced public defense across Pennsylvania.

Our mission is to provide tools, strategies, mutual support, training and information to Public Defender Offices in Pennsylvania; to be the voice of public defense in Pennsylvania; and to promote best practices in the leadership, management, and administration of justice in Pennsylvania.