Kanchana Fernando will serve as president of the Worcester County Bar Association starting in August 2026, as the bar association held its annual meeting and elections on Wednesday at Cyprian Keyes Golf Club in Boylston.
Fernando joined the bar association in 2011 and has since served as co-chair of the Young Lawyers section, the Women Lawyers section, and the Juvenile Court Bench Bar Committee, according to a Thursday press release from the Worcester County Bar Association. She has served two terms on the association’s executive committee.Â
Prior to her current position as the assistant clerk magistrate at Worcester County Juvenile Court, Fernando served as the assistant district attorney for the Office of District Attorney Joseph Early. Fernando received her bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University and her law degree from Suffolk University School of Law, both in Boston.
Current WCBA President Ryan Avery will finish his term on Aug. 31. Maura Tansley of Worcester law firm Tansley | Halloran will begin her term and serve through August 2026, with Fernando taking over at that point.Â
WCBA is a voluntary organization of legal professionals offering programs and services of interest and assistance to other legal professionals and the community, dating back to 1887, according to the organization’s website. In January, the association made its first executive director change in 30 years, after Sandra DiLuzio stepped down after 43 years at WCBA. Worcester native Stephen Altobelli stepped up to serve as the new executive director.Â
Lucy Coran is an editorial intern for Worcester Business Journal and a rising sophomore at Smith College.Â
