MEMBERSHIP
The Atlanta Bar Foundation
ALAN G . POOLE Troutman Pepper alan . poole @ troutman . com
The Atlanta Bar Association has its own charitable arm : the Atlanta Bar Foundation . Some members of the Atlanta Bar community are unaware of the good works and goals of the Foundation . In the coming months , the Foundation ’ s board hopes to change that by increasing ties with Atlanta Bar ’ s membership and Sections while repeating last year ’ s successful fundraising and awareness events .
Did You Know ?
The Foundation exists to support projects that promote equal access to justice , youth development programs , and public understanding of the law . The Foundation ’ s activities consist of three primary categories : ( 1 ) student programs , ( 2 ) community giving programs , and ( 3 ) supporting fundraisers .
The Foundation is meant to be an important part of the Atlanta Bar . We hope that all members of the Atlanta Bar Association will start to view the Foundation as what the Atlanta Bar does to give back to the community .
The main student programs of the Foundation are the Atlanta Bar Association ’ s Minority & Diversity Clerkship Program , the first of its kind in the country , and the Atlanta Bar Association Summer Law Internship Program . The Foundation ’ s flagship community giving program is the Atlanta Bar Foundation Grants Program . To date , the Grants Program has distributed over $ 1.6 million in grant funding to worthy recipients . Beneficiaries include organizations that the Atlanta Bar has helped establish , such as Atlanta Legal Aid Society , Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation , Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network , and Truancy Intervention Project . Other recipients include Georgia Innocence Project , Georgia Justice Project , Georgia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice , Georgia Lawyers for the Arts , Gideon ’ s Promise , Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta , and others .
To meet these goals , the Foundation solicits funds from the Atlanta Bar community and hosts fundraisers . After a hiatus in 2020 due to the pandemic , the Atlanta Bar Foundation enjoyed a successful run of new fundraisers from Summer to Fall , including a new Summer of Fun event series and a whiskey tasting at the ASW Battery Distillery , which was a surprising hit . The Foundation has also hosted its yearly Legal Runaround 5K Race , Walk and Tot Trot . Proceeds benefit the Police Scholarship Fund , which awards scholarships to children of slain or disabled police officers in various counties throughout the metro Atlanta region .
36 March / April 2022