Courtney Ross Escobar was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1978 and now lives in Worcester, Massachusetts. Courtney lived in south Florida until she attended undergraduate studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston in 2002. After graduating from the New England School of Law in 2010, Courtney worked with Kids in Need of Defense, before opening her own law firm that concentrates in small business compliance regulations and family law cases. She is a lawyer in Oxford, Massachusetts, and has many ties to the Worcester community. Courtney is on the advisory board for the Worcester County Commission on the Status of Women, and she was just named to the 40 Under 40 list by the Worcester Business Journal. Courtney also balances family life with her career and strong ties to the community. She is married to Christian and they are raising two children. In the interview, Courtney attributes her success to her strong grandmothers on both sides of her family. Courtney is proud of her career achievements so far, but she also discusses her goals for the future, both professionally and for the Worcester community. Finally, Courtney’s advice to everyone is “Whatever it is you think you can’t do because you don’t have time or you don’t have the skills or you don’t- whatever it is just- it sounds like a Nike commercial- just do it.”
I would say that women’s experiences in Worcester have probably been the same that they are anywhere else. I think women face the same struggles in whatever community they’re in. So, I don’t like—clearly there’s systematic sexism [laughs] and you know things like that. I don’t think Worcester is incubated from those things. But I see so many women doing so many amazing things and Worcester embracing those women and so, I’m hopeful that our experiences in Worcester are more positive than women’s experiences other places. I would say that I do feel like Worcester is really—if you want to be active in the community, Worcester has a way to help you be active in that community, whether it’s volunteer or start a business or whatever it is. To me—and maybe it’s because I’m involved in those things, but to me it’s highly accessible. I moved out here in 2012 and I didn’t know anybody in Worcester except for my husband and none of my friends from Boston are going to come out to Worcester because it’s like so far away. So, it was just me and I met women on my own and now I’m involved in a number of nonprofits that are based in Worcester, which is another amazing thing Worcester has going on. It’s home to I don’t even know—it amazes me how many nonprofits are based in Worcester. I sit on the advisory board for the Worcester County Commission’s on the Status of Women and I’ve just been able to get into the community, not knowing anybody and that’s because that happens in two ways, you have to put yourself out there and then people have to be willing to accept that you’re putting yourself out there. And that happens in Worcester and I was just named part of [Worcester Business Journal] 40 under 40 class of 2017, which was an amazing honor because of the type of women who win that award, but also because that means that the city recognizes what I’m doing and I just came here in 2012. And so, that speaks to I think women and other people's experiences here that the city is welcoming and supportive of people who want to be involved. I hope that extends to other areas of Worcester life as well. [laughs]