Thank you for giving me the privilege and opportunity to serve as President of the Atlanta Bar Foundation for the last two years. Following in the large footsteps of my immediate predecessors, Liz Price and Bill Ragland, was no easy task. It goes without saying that all of the incredible work that Bill and Liz had done made my term much easier. Our new President Mike Terry, with his tremendous ability and creativity, will take the Foundation to a new level.
Record Grant Distribution
This past year, the Foundation achieved a record high $ 250,000 grant distribution made possible in part through the success of the Lawyer Referral and Information Service( LRIS) under the leadership of Carla Brown and the LRIS Board of Trustees. The LRIS program contributed $ 200,000 to the program and joined funds raised from our ongoing fundraising initiatives: LawJam, A Courthouse Line and The Legal Runaround. These initiatives, combined with the personal donations of our members, supplied vital support to pro bono organizations that give the underserved in our community the access to justice that they may not otherwise be able to secure. Funds also supported programs of the Atlanta Bar Association, like the Summer Law Internship Program( SLIP) and the Minority and Diversity Clerkship Program, which celebrated its 30th birthday this year.
Over 600 Internships
One shining example of the important work of the Foundation, that is certainly near and dear to my heart, is the Summer Law Internship Program for high school students. This summer is the 24th straight summer the Atlanta Bar Association has conducted the program, named SLIP24. In the twenty four year history of the Internship Program, over 600 Internships have been made available to Atlanta’ s youth.
Diversity
The program this year included a record tying 49 Interns from a record 33 schools. Our 2016 Summer
Law Interns were a wonderful cross section of America, and I do not think we have ever had a more diverse group of Interns as we had this summer. The Interns were impressive and were worked as hard as they could be within the bounds of the law. We even had our first home schooled participant, a dynamic young lady from Augusta. She came to Atlanta to interview in April, was selected, and moved to Atlanta to live with her aunt and uncle for the summer to Intern.
Highest Heights Initiative
The annual Intern Kick-Off Breakfast was hosted by Alston & Bird and Liz Price for the sixteenth straight year. At the breakfast, the Highest Heights Initiative was officially launched. Highest Heights was created to support our former SLIP Interns in their dreams of becoming lawyers. The initiative will provide scholarship support for costly LSAT Prep Classes and Bar Review Classes. The Internship Program has provided the Interns with a chance and a challenge through their internships, now we want to help champion them in their pursuit of their dreams of becoming lawyers.
Mount Cho Oyu
Our goal is to raise $ 100,000 by the close of SLIP25( August 1, 2017). To date, over $ 33,000 has been raised. A fun way that you can participate in this initiative is by sponsoring former Atlanta Bar President David Schaeffer as he ascends Cho Oyu, the sixth highest mountain in the world, located on the border of Tibet and Nepal, in September. By pledging $ 0.01 per every foot of elevation that David climbs, and assuming he makes it to the top, donors will contribute a total of $ 269.06 to the Highest Heights Initiative.
We hope to gather 100 pledges to raise an additional $ 25,000 for the program. You can participate here.
In closing, thank you again for the incredible opportunity I have had to serve as the Atlanta Bar Foundation President these last two years. I loved every second.
7 August / September 2016