"The American College of Bankruptcy Foundation was established to promote the ends of justice through educational and charitable activities. Its missions, focused in the areas of bankruptcy and insolvency, are: sponsorship and encouragement of legal research, publications and forums; establishment of scholarships; providing for the collection and maintenance of data and documents for scholarly research; and fostering the institution and maintenance of legal aid facilities for the indigent."
- American College of Bankruptcy Foundation Mission Statement
The College determined long ago that service and charitable contributions were not only appropriate, but indeed necessary, corollaries of its core purpose of recognizing distinguished, longstanding achievement in the bankruptcy and restructuring community. Who in a better position, for example, to identify and address the localized needs of the indigent for legal help in navigating the bankruptcy system than various of
the profession’s acknowledged leaders? Hence the establishment and ongoing work of the American College of Bankruptcy Foundation.
The concept underlying that hard work could not be more straightforward. The Foundation raises funds from our Fellows and then distributes them to bankruptcy-related, pro bono legal services providers in the form of annual grants totaling nearly half a million dollars. Our Pro Bono Committee awards funds based on an exhaustive review of grant applications, directing funds where it thinks most needed and useful. In 2019, the Foundation made a total of 50 grants averaging approximately $9,500 each, including the Michael L. Cook Extraordinary Grant, which is awarded each year to “a legal services organization that offers an innovative and exemplary approach to a previously underserved area of need.”
Over the longer term, the Foundation has become by far the largest financial supporter of bankruptcy-related pro bono services in the country, distributing well over $4 million to pro bono legal services organizations.
Demand nonetheless far outpaces our resources. The Pro Bono Committee annually receives a far larger number of worthy applications for assistance than it can possibly grant. Likewise, although we have been fortunate and, in recent years, have been able to accommodate modest annual increases in our total grants, the Foundation still receives insufficient donations to fully fund
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A Collective Mission Demanding Generous Commitments
Paul E. Harner, Ballard Spahr LLP
Chair, ACB Foundation
Foundation Officers
Paul E. Harner
Chair
Daniel R. Murray
Secretary
Martha E.M. Kopacz
Treasurer
Foundation Directors
Marc Abrams
Charles A. Beckham, Jr.
Russell M. Blain
Hon. Sheri Bluebond
Hon. Janet E. Bostwick
Guy A. Davis
Kenneth H. Eckstein
M. Colette Gibbons
Rozanne M. Giunta
Craig Goldblatt
Scott J. Goldstein
Ronald F. Greenspan
Jan M. Hayden
Eric W. Lam
Vincent E. Lazar
David E. Leta
Norman L. Pernick
Natalie D. Ramsey
Richard L. Wasserman
Hon. Judith H. Wizmur (Ret.)
Senior Director
Richard Carmody
Ex Officio
Mark D. Bloom
Executive Director
Shari A. Bedker