$40,000 for 40 Years Campaign

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            In honor of BALIF’s 40^th Anniversary in 2020. The BALIF Foundation is conducting a fundraising campaign “$40,000 for 40 Years,” and we want you, a longtime BALIF supporter, to be a part of the campaign!  This special campaign is designed to provide a solid foundation for the BALIF Foundation’s charitable giving for years to come.  

            It’s hard to believe, but in just a few short months it will be 40 years since Donna Hitchens, Roberta Achtenberg, Mary Morgan, Carl Wolf and other pioneers did something completely revolutionary at the time – created an organization for LGBT lawyers called BALIF.  BALIF was founded in a time when most attorneys could not be out at work.  It was the first LGBT Bar Association in the nation, but most of its members could not even be part of an organization with a name that had any part of LGBTQI in it (thus, “Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom”). 

            BALIF has come a long way since then, with many accomplishments – one of the first organizations in the movement to ensure gender parity in leadership (reflected today in the requirement of equal representation by male, female, and non-binary board members); the first organization to focus on, and succeed at, putting LGBT lawyers on the bench; helping to create AIDS Legal Referral Panel (ALRP) to provide legal assistance to all of those suffering with HIV & AIDS; writing amicus briefs on the most important legal issues affecting LGBTQI people (such as marriage equality); facilitating the provision of pro bono work by law firms for LGBTQI issues and people; to say nothing of providing a safe social and networking sphere for the LGBTQI legal profession.

            While there has been much progress, we know that not everyone in our community had an equal chance in the legal arena, and that LGBTQI organizations are struggling. The BALIF Foundation was formed as the 501(c)(3) wing of BALIF to attack this inequity on two levels: one, to help fund important legal work in our community related to LGBTQI issues, particularly intersectionality issues; and, two, to help fund law students and new lawyers to do this important work who would not otherwise be able to do so, either because of discrimination, being overlooked, or for economic reasons.

What the BALIF Foundation has accomplished thus far:

• Funded summer fellowships for law students who are LGBTQI or working in the field of LGBTQI equality (for organizations such as NCLR).
  
• Funded student scholarships jointly with Asian Pacific American Bar Association and other organizations.
  
• Established grants to law students to attend Lavender Law who have demonstrated commitment to working on LGBTQI issues.
  
• Given grants to LGBTQI organizations, such as the AIDS Legal Referral Panel, the Transgender Law Center, Queers United at Boalt Hall School of Law, Youth Law Academy of Centro Legal de la Raza, NQAPIA and others.
  
• Established the Julius Turman Memorial Fellowship, to be awarded to an outstanding law student performing work to benefit the LGBTQI community. Donated to the Justice and Diversity Center of BASF in Honor of Julius Turman.
  
• Total awards of over $34,000 in under three years.
  

            Your donation will go a long way in funding this ongoing important work, and demonstrate your, or your firm’s, support for the LGBTQI community. You have a loyal audience who greatly values your commitment.  Remember, your donation to the Foundation is tax deductible, and will be recognized in a variety of ways:  

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the BALIF Foundation, we hope that you and your firm will generously give in honor of BALIF’s 40^th Anniversary. Thank you for your continued support of BALIF, the BALIF Foundation, and the LGTBQI community.  

                                                                                    Sincerely, 

                                                                                    The BALIF Foundation Board

Jamie Dupree, Shay Gilmore, Chelsea Haley-Nelson, Jeff Kosbie, Nina Paul, Linda Scaparotti, John Robert Unruh, and Alex Touma                                                             

Please go to www.baliffoundation.org to make your donation. Thank you!