March 2009

The Washington State Bar Foundation: Fostering Leadership to Further Social Justice 

by Ronald R. Ward

Our communities are now facing the greatest economic collapse since the Great Depression. Businesses are laying off workers by the thousands. Many who cannot find new jobs are facing personal bankruptcy. Families are being evicted from modest apartments because landlords have defaulted on mortgage payments. Legal aid offices are now overwhelmed with low-income individuals needing legal services. 

Our communities need help. They need attention. And they are looking for new leaders.  

In 1957, a group of Washington lawyers created the Washington State Bar Foundation. The birth of the Foundation was in anticipation of a real estate bequest to the Washington State Bar Association. The bequest was never made, and the Foundation has been little more than a repository for donated or memorial funds for the past half-century. 

That was then. This is now.  

Today, the Foundation is undertaking a new beginning, with new leaders and new energy. The Foundation's Board of Trustees comes from across Washington state, from the shores of Puget Sound to the rolling wheat fields of the Palouse. Some hail from the corporate world. Others have small practices or work in government agencies. All share a common vision and dedication to fulfill the Foundation's new mission to foster leadership to further social justice.  

But we cannot do it alone.  

While the Foundation has started the process of reaching out to business and individuals beyond the legal profession, we are looking to the membership for support. Washington's legal community has consistently dedicated itself to making the state a better place for everyone. Whether it is individuals spending weekends at their local legal clinic, or helping neighbors clean out flooded homes, WSBA members contribute thousands of hours each year providing assistance to those who need it. Now the Foundation is asking for your help.  

We would like the WSBA membership to know who we are and what we do. Over the next few months, the Foundation trustees will be talking about programs such as the President's and Governor's Diversity Scholarship Fund and the WSBA Leadership Institute (WLI). The scholarship fund will provide financial assistance for young persons of diverse backgrounds interested in pursuing a legal career, who without this sustenance would not otherwise be able to attend law school. The WSBA Leadership Institute recruits, trains, and retains Washington attorneys who have been admitted to practice for three to 10 years for leadership positions in the legal community and in the WSBA. Program participants are selected with an emphasis on diversity, and receive many valuable benefits, including training in leadership and the law, one-on-one interaction with judges, and mentorship from well-known Bar and community leaders. 

The Foundation will work on other efforts to help improve our communities as well.  

Hope, faith, and optimism have always defined the community spirit, and those qualities have never been more urgently needed than now. You will be hearing more about the Foundation in the months ahead. Until then, please feel free to contact me or our new Board of Trustees for more information about building a better place for everyone. See www.wsba.org/lawyers/wsbf.htm for more information. 

Ronald R. Ward is the president of the Washington State Bar Foundation Board of Trustees and former president of the Washington State Bar Association.