Atlanta Bar Foundation Announces New Directors
Foundation Reenergized With Appointments That Follow Hiring of First Executive Director
ATLANTA (September 8, 2009) - The Atlanta Bar Foundation announces the appointment of seven new members to its Board of Directors, bringing the current total number of members to 21. The newly elected board members are David S. Gruskin, Jo Lanier Meeks, Natasha Perdew Silas, W. Ray Persons, Robert G. Wellon, Seth D. Kirschenbaum and Tracye T. Miller. New members are appointed annually to the board's rotating calendar, with each new board member to serve a two-year term. These appointments follow the January, 2009 appointment of Sally Hogsette, former long-time Delta Air Lines attorney and Foundation board member, as the first Executive Director of the Atlanta Bar Foundation.
In addition to its new members, the Foundation Board of Directors includes Allan J. Tanenbaum (President), William M. Ragland, Jr. (Secretary/Treasurer), Hon. T. Jackson Bedford (Immediate Past-President), David N. Schaeffer (President, Atlanta Bar Association), Michael B. Terry (President-Elect, Atlanta Bar Association), Elizabeth A. Price, S. Wade Malone, William D. deGolian, Paula J. Frederick, Elizabeth Finn Johnson, Dawn M. Jones, E. Penn Payne, Terry Walsh and Ex Officio member, Terrence L. Croft.
"We are extremely excited about utilizing the unique and valuable knowledge and relationships of each of these lawyers to achieve the Foundation's mission. This reenergized board, with Sally's leadership, will lay the groundwork for many more years of foundation success," stated Atlanta Bar Foundation President, Allan Tanenbaum.
The Foundation was the recent recipient of approximately $35,000 raised by the Atlanta Bar Association's variety show, "A Courthouse Line VIII: Saving Private Practice" which was written, directed and performed by Atlanta Bar lawyers and judges and held in June, 2009 at the 14th Street Playhouse.
ABOUT THE NEW BOARD MEMBERS
- Gruskin, of The Partners Group, is a former member of the Atlanta Bar Association Board of Directors, recently chaired the Atlanta Council of Young Lawyers Section (ACYL) and currently chairs the Community Outreach Committee.
- Meeks, of Pursley Lowery Meeks, chaired the Atlanta Bar Association Litigation Section in 1999-2000. Meeks recently served on the Judicial Selection and Tenure Committee.
- Silas, of the Federal Defenders Program, is a past president of the ACYL Section (1997-1998). She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Summer Law Internship Program and is this year's recipient of the Atlanta Bar Association "Charles Watkins" Award.
- Persons, of King & Spalding, has spent many years of leadership in the Bar and Atlanta community, including formerly serving as President of the Atlanta Bar Association and Chair of the Bar's Litigation Section.
- Miller, of AMC, Inc., is a former member of the Atlanta Bar Association Board of Directors, was a principal organizer of the Atlanta Bar's Women in the Profession Committee, and was past chair of the Atlanta Bar's Harvest Gala, a fundraiser for the Atlanta Community Food Bank.
- Kirschenbaum, of Davis Zipperman Kirschenbaum & Lotito, is a former president of the Atlanta Bar Association, founder of the Multi-Bar Leadership Council, member of the Atlanta Bar Foundation Board in the immediate past term, and re-elected to serve another term.
- Wellon is a former president of the Atlanta Bar Association, co-founder of the Sole Practitioners Section, member of the Atlanta Bar Foundation Board in the immediate past term, and re-elected to serve another term.
"Each member of the foundation's board brings forth a unique skill and perspective. We look forward to enhancing our mission by encompassing the diversity that our members encompass. We have installed a leadership team that will continue to ‘raise the bar' in terms of achieving our goals," stated Atlanta Bar Foundation Executive Director Sally Hogsette.
ABOUT THE ATLANTA BAR FOUNDATION
The Atlanta Bar Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization and charitable arm of the Atlanta Bar Association, supports the Atlanta Bar Association's law-related projects that assist youth at-risk, encourage and support pro bono service, and promote higher education through scholarships. All Foundation projects are envisioned, created and staffed on a volunteer basis by Atlanta Bar Association lawyers and judges.
The projects that the Atlanta Bar Foundation currently supports include:
- Atlanta Santa - Judges and lawyers serve as Santa and elves for non-profit organizations and children's hospitals during the holiday season.
- International Connection - Bench and Bar members collaborate to sponsor international students for a fall semester fellowship at Georgia State University School of Law.
- Memorial Fund - Following the tragedies surrounding the Fulton County Courthouse shootings of March 11, 2005, the Foundation established a memorial fund to support the families of the victims, including a scholarship for law students at Emory University School of Law, the alma mater of Judge Rowland W. Barnes.
- Minority Clerkship Program - Established in 1985, minority first-year law students in Atlanta-area law schools receive summer internships in law firms, government and corporate law departments to give them the opportunity to experience the practice in the mainstream of the legal profession.
- Police Scholarship Fund - Established in 1980 to provide college scholarships to children of City of Atlanta police officers who have been killed or injured in the line of duty.
- Summer Law Internship Program - Since 1993, outstanding students have been selected from local high schools such as D.M. Therrell High School, an Atlanta public law and government magnet school adopted by the Atlanta Bar Association in 1988. Participants in the internship program receive a six-week internship in local law firms, government agencies and corporations to encourage their interest in the practice of law. Each year, select students are awarded college scholarships from the Foundation to assist their goal to attend law school. Currently, several members of the Atlanta Bar Association are graduates of this program and others soon will graduate from law school, making this internship a proven success.
-Truancy Intervention Project ("TIP") - Bar members and other volunteers provide pro bono representation to first-time truants in Fulton County Juvenile Court to identify and resolve the problems that prevent the children from being in school. Since the inception of this program in 1991, a high percentage of children represented by TIP never have returned to court for any reason.
For additional information, contact Sally Hogsette, Executive Director, at (678) 510-1658 or shogsette@atlantabarfoundation.org.
ABOUT THE ATLANTA BAR ASSOCIATION
The Atlanta Bar Association is the largest voluntary bar association in the southeast with membership at about 6,300 from the 12 counties of metro Atlanta: (Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Paulding, Rockdale). The mission of the Atlanta Bar Association is to promote professionalism and the fair administration of justice in our community and to provide programs and benefits which serve our diverse membership. Contact Diane O'Steen, Executive Director, at (404) 832-6206 or dosteen@atlantabar.org for additional information.