About

Bethany Li is the executive director of AALDEF. She brings more than twenty years of experience working with Asian American communities and other communities of color to promote justice and equity for all. Grounding her work in a deep commitment to community lawyering and community-engaged advocacy, Bethany has litigated cases and led advocacy efforts on a wide range of civil rights issues, including housing and displacement, workers’ rights, immigration, education equity, language access, and hate violence.

Using a multi-faceted and innovative approach, Bethany has collaborated with Asian American communities across the country. Her work has included:

• Representing Southeast Asian communities fighting against deportation, including the first Cambodian American to return to the East Coast after deportation;
• Serving as co-counsel to a multiracial coalition of organizations and families supporting efforts to promote racial equity in Boston Public Schools;
• Winning millions in back wages for low-wage workers along the Northeast corridor;
• Leading a variety of initiatives to increase access to resources for low-income communities with limited English proficiency;
• Representing multiracial coalitions challenging gentrification in courts through environmental and zoning laws;
• Guiding the launch of RAISE, the first undocumented Asian American youth group on the East Coast;
• Representing the coalition resisting the 76ers arena that would harm Philadelphia’s Chinatown;
• And suing Florida for its anti-Chinese alien land law.

Bethany started her legal career at AALDEF as an Equal Justice Works Fellow before returning as Legal Director in 2022 and becoming executive director in 2024. Prior to returning to AALDEF, Bethany served as the Director of the Asian Outreach Unit at Greater Boston Legal Services, where she led Massachusetts’ largest legal services program for Asian American communities. Her career also includes deep experience as an educator, helping train the next generation of Asian American activists and social justice lawyers. Teaching at Yale Law School, Bethany served as the Robert M. Cover Fellow in the Veterans Legal Services Clinic. Additionally, Bethany has taught as an adjunct professor at Hunter College on Asian American civil rights and the law.

Bethany received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and her B.A. from Amherst College. She is a Boston-native and a die-hard Celtics fan.