The South Asian Bar Association of Greater Boston (“SABA GB”) is proud to congratulate two attorneys of South Asian heritage, Sunila Thomas-George, Esq., and Navjeet K. Bal, Esq., for their recent professional appointments to senior positions within the government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  On November 30, 2007, Governor Deval Patrick appointed Sunila Thomas-George to the position of Commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (“MCAD”).  On January 4, 2008, Secretary for Administration and Finance Leslie Kirwan announced that Navjeet K. Bal will be appointed at the end of the month to the position of Commissioner of Revenue for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Department of Revenue.  Both women are the first South Asians to hold Commissioner positions for the Commonwealth and they are the highest ranking South Asians in the executive branch of Massachusetts State government.   

Ms. Thomas-George is a graduate of Wheaton College and the Western New England College School of Law.   She has served in a number of capacities at the MCAD since 1997 and has received a number of awards, including the 2001 Manuel Carballo Governor’s Award for Excellence in Public Service and the 2004 Executive Branch Award for Excellence in Government Legal Services, for her unflagging dedication to civil rights. 

Ms. Bal, a graduate of Williams College and Northeastern University School of Law, is the second woman to be appointed Commissioner of Revenue, the first minority and the first South Asian.  Prior to serving as Senior Deputy Commissioner of Revenue, Ms. Bal was a public finance attorney for seventeen years at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, P.C.

“These appointments mark historic times in Massachusetts government.  As South Asians rise in the ranks of our Government, Massachusetts shows itself to be a leader in making its government more representative of the community at large,” commented SABA GB President Samia Kirmani, Esq., “Congratulations to both Commissioners.”

SABA GB is a chapter of the North American South Asian Bar Association and is an organization dedicated to serving as the regional voice of the South Asian legal community.  SABA GB supports and promotes the advancement of attorneys and law students of South Asian heritage and looks to serve the legal needs of the South Asian community at large. 

For additional information about SABA please visit www.sabagb.org or contact Samia Kirmani, President, South Asian Bar Association of Greater Boston, at kirmanis@jacksonlewis.com.

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