05/26/2026
As her three kids got older and she started looking for a place to volunteer, Anna Shilov Sterk had already heard about PBN from friends and colleagues. What really stood out to her was the flexibility, which ultimately drew her to PBN.
“PBN gave me flexible options to pitch in and help whenever I could, depending on my workload,” she says. “What I loved about it when I first started was that it didn’t feel intimidating at all. I felt like I had the support and training I needed.”
Anna’s path to PBN is just as inspiring as her work with us. She emigrated from Ukraine, started her career as a paralegal, and later earned a dual JD/MSW from Loyola University Chicago. After law school, she practiced immigration law and eventually opened her own law firm, where she now focuses on residential real estate law.
She began volunteering with our legal clinics helping older adults with estate planning documents, and later worked with our Online Legal Counseling Project, answering questions from home. Then she found her way to PBN’s Lawyers in the Classroom project, where she now helps young students see the law in a whole new way.
“I hope it plants a seed that they can do more, that they can pursue higher education,” Anna says. “I hope it gives them a spark to keep going, to see that their potential is limitless.”
We’re grateful to have Anna as part of the PBN community.
“Seeing how many people PBN can reach and provide legal services to, services that most people can’t afford to access, is really a huge benefit that PBN provides. I’m grateful that I’ve become a part of PBN and love the people that I’ve met through it.”
Thanks, Anna, for sharing your time, talent, and heart with PBN and the people we serve!
If you'd like to learn more about opportunities to get involved with PBN as a volunteer attorney or translator, please visit www.pbnetwork.org/volunteer today!
