Kansas and Western District of Missouri Chapter – Third Chair Summer Legal Intern Program
This program is designed to promote diversity within the Federal Public Defender community – important because a large population of defendants are diverse. The interns work in the office over the summer without pay. This creates a barrier for some students to come to Kansas absent support from their schools. For example, one year the District of Kansas CJA panel funded a student from NYU to work in the federal defender’s office. The CJA funding is not an option this year due to the impact the pandemic has had on members of the private bar, so the FFBA is stepping in to help. The FFBA funding will be used for summer living expenses including rent, and transportation for one student.
Minnesota Chapter – Understanding Our Duluth Lynchings: Racial Violence in America and the Road to Justice and Reconciliation
The chapter received additional funding for its event commemorating and contextualizing a severe injustice in Duluth, Minnesota: the lynching of three young black men. (See Chapter Community Outreach Grants for full description)
Jeanette Bazis (Minnesota Chapter) – Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference: “How a Representative Judiciary Ensures Judicial Legitimacy” Educational Programming
The Infinity Project received a grant to provide an educational program at the Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference in October 2021 entitled “How a Representative Judiciary Ensures Judicial Legitimacy.” The programming will highlight the fact that the Eighth Circuit is the least diverse in the nation, discuss the benefits of a representative judiciary, and teach participants how to be change agents. When the makeup of our institutions fails to reflect our communities, our institutions lose legitimacy. In other words, the rule of law requires a representative judiciary. The Infinity Project has a track record of impact in this arena.
New Orleans Chapter – Civil Rights CLE Series
The New Orleans Chapter received a grant from the FFBA to support and enhance its civil rights CLE series. This series stems from an excerpt of the Statement of the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association on Equal Justice (http://nofba.org/statement-on-equal-justice) released the summer of 2020: “Over the course of the next year, and beyond, the Chapter will employ a renewed focus on addressing these issues head-on. Among other initiatives, we will host programming focused on Civil Rights issues, endeavor to include diverse members in our panel discussions and other activities and strive for more partnership with other organizations sharing similar goals.”
Oklahoma City Chapter – Speech Quarantines of Misinformation, History of Legal Racism Against AAPI, and Your Questions About Con Law or SCOTUS
This program involves a timely, relevant, and thought-provoking look free speech doctrine as well as an educational component on the history of discrimination against citizens of AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) descent. The FFBA grant will assist with general funding for the program, which will bring heightened awareness to these important topics.
San Diego Chapter – Diversity Toolkit: A Roadmap for Enhancing Equality
The San Diego Chapter will host a conference titled “Diversity Toolkit: A Roadmap for Enhancing Equality.” The conference will address practical applications to give practitioners a “toolkit” for developing strategies to confront structural inequalities and to work toward greater diversity, equality, and inclusion. Presented as part of the chapter’s annual conference, this diversity-related event is unique because it is designed to provide specific tools to newer and experienced attorneys in an effort to enhance diversity, which is a goal of the San Diego Chapter.
Utah Chapter – UCLI Certification Program, 2021 Train the Trainers Event
The Utah Chapter received funding from the FFBA to host its first Train the Trainers Day in October 2021. The Utah Center for Legal Inclusion (UCLI) has received funding for its Certification Program primarily through the generosity of UCLI’s Founding Sponsors.
Younger Lawyers Division – A Call to Action: Stepping Up to Lead and Effectuate Change in a Time of Crisis
The Younger Lawyers Division received a FFBA grant to fund a unique training event for newer and younger attorneys to support their efforts and participation in the YLD’s Annual StepUp Pro Bono Challenge. Last year, then-YLD Chair Adine S. Momoh led a Call to Action following George Floyd’s tragic death and the civil unrest across our state, country and world. The YLD issued a statement and provided resources to help younger attorneys respond. The YLD then initiated a national pro bono challenge, the StepUp Pro Bono Challenge, and encouraged younger attorneys to step up and perform pro bono specifically addressing issues of systemic racism, socio-economic injustice, and access to justice. The YLD Board has since adopted it as an annual program.
Northern District of Ohio Chapter – Educational Diversity CLE
The Northern District of Ohio Chapter has made a commitment to focus programming on diversity, inclusion, and education this year through a number of programs. It is our goal to present a large-scale CLE program to educate attorneys in our chapter, the judiciary, and fellow practitioners. Our program is intended to focus on eliminating bias and promoting diversity while focusing on systematic changes that need to be made within the legal system to address racial and economic justice.
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast – Youth for Unity Diversity Project
The Youth for Unity Diversity Project seeks to build a pipeline of diverse high school students ages 14-18, or 9th through 12th grade, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast to pique the interests of the young minority population and inspire these young leaders to become trailblazers of change. Our “Public Speaking 101” training sessions and simultaneous diversity workshops, paired with the knowledge and influence of lawyer Jenny Nicaud and other local attorneys of area FBA chapters, will produce a dynamic and impactful program creating the next generation of attorneys and judges.