CCT Client Case Study
Organization: Political Asylum / Immigration Representation Project (PAIR)
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
What they do: Provide free legal services to asylum seekers and unjustly detained immigrants, primarily through a pro bono model
Type of CCT engagement: Signature consulting engagement with six months of pro bono support
About PAIR
For people seeking asylum or facing immigration detention, access to legal help can shape what comes next. PAIR works to protect their rights through free legal services and a network of pro bono attorneys. As pressure on immigrant communities intensified, the organization turned to CCT to strengthen its ability to keep serving them.
The Challenge
PAIR’s mission was clear. The harder question was how to organize its people, programs, and resources around that mission when staff were already stretched thin. Leadership carried too much responsibility and institutional knowledge. Some work had drifted from the organization’s core purpose and pro bono model.
Executive Director Anita P. Sharma saw a need to stay focused while building an organization that could respond to rapidly changing conditions. That meant taking an honest look at what PAIR should continue, what it should change, and how to evaluate the next opportunity.
Working Together
Over six months, CCT’s volunteer consultants worked closely with PAIR to understand its mission, clients, and ways of working. That time helped create space for difficult conversations about the organization’s strengths and where it needed to change.
As Sharma explained:
“It asks an organization to hold up a mirror to celebrate the great work it does, and to be honest about what isn’t working. Our consultants created that space for us.” — Anita P. Sharma, Executive Director, PAIR
Together, we developed a three-year business plan spanning organizational effectiveness, program structure, financial sustainability, and systems and technology. Interviews with 15 industry peers brought perspective on how others were navigating similar pressures. Sharma said that perspective helped PAIR feel less isolated and offered a foundation for a stronger network.
Making Room for the Mission
The work gave PAIR a process for winding down activities that no longer fit its mission and a rubric for assessing future programs and funding opportunities. Those tools could help leadership consider whether a new opportunity would strengthen its core work before committing scarce capacity.
The team also recommended distributing responsibility and institutional knowledge more broadly. Sharma described the need clearly: “We need to spread responsibility and institutional knowledge so that our leaders can lead rather than just keeping up.”
One proposal initially surprised Sharma: a flatter organizational structure. The recommendation aimed to reduce silos between programs and help staff work with greater flexibility and solidarity during a challenging period.
The financial sustainability recommendations encouraged PAIR to deepen existing funder relationships and add a second development staff member to support planning. Twelve systems and technology recommendations identified opportunities to improve how the work gets done, including exploring new tools such as AI.
Outcomes and Next Steps
PAIR finished the engagement with a three-year business plan, a peer study, financial forecasting tools, and practical recommendations to guide its next decisions. Sharma described the plan as strengthening the organization where it had been stretched and bringing clarity to its purpose.
For PAIR, the goal of that stronger foundation was to deepen its service to immigrant communities. As Sharma put it:
“And the plan also prepares us to scale, not growth for its own sake, but to deepen our impact so we can stand with our immigrant communities.” — Anita P. Sharma, Executive Director, PAIR
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