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Chronological December 6, 2019

NAPD Fund for Justice Makes 3 Creative Advocacy Grants

Written by Fund for Justice

Advancing the right to counsel, the NAPD Fund for Justice, Inc. makes 3 Creative Advocacy Grants in Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina in the name of its Hall of Fame members Jeff Adachi and Norman Lefstein

We know that good lawyering makes a difference for clients. The NAPD Fund for Justice, Inc. is working to help defenders, defender staff and public defense programs advance the right to counsel for clients by providing financial assistance.
The NAPD Fund for Justice Creative Advocacy Grant was created in April 2019 to provide support to public defense initiatives to help clients. Grants are made in honor of the Fund’s Hall of Fame Members, Jeff Adachi and Norman Lefstein. Each of these Public Defense Leaders set a national standard for high quality public defense. The Fund received 14 Creative Advocacy requests for financial help. Today, The Fund provided financial assistance to three initiatives: 

1. Keisha Hudson, Montgomery County Pennsylvania Marijuana Pardon Initiative
2. Mario Richardson, Statewide Advocacy Campaign to Achieve Fair and Just Outcome for Clients
3. Jennifer France, Michigan Chippewa County Rural Training of Local Attorneys
 
Tuition Scholarships Awarded
In 2019, in addition to Creative Advocacy applications, The Fund received hundreds of requests for help attending education. In 2019, in addition to these 3 Creative Advocacy grants, the Fund awarded 31 tuition scholarships to defenders, investigators, sentencing specialists, social workers, leaders:

  •   5 scholarships Social Worker/Sentencing Advocate Conference Biloxi, Mississippi, April 2019
  • 10 scholarships Team Mitigation Institute Atlanta, GA, May 2019
  •   5 scholarships Team Mitigation Institute Boise, Idaho August 2019
  • 10 scholarships Social Worker/Investigator Conference Seattle, Washington September 2019
  •   1 to Executive Leadership Institute, Austin Texas, October 2019

 
The Fund Leadership
Our dedicated Board of Directors have passionately worked to help clients for decades:

  • Jim Bethke, Board Member, Director, Justice Administration Department in Harris County, Texas
  • Cait Clarke, Board Member, Washington, DC
  • Stephen F. Hanlon, Board Member, General Counsel, National Association for Public Defense, St. Louis, MO
  • Fred T. Friedman, Board Member, retired Chief Public Defender Minnesota Sixth District and Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Minnesota, Duluth
  • Rodney Ellis, Board Member, Harris County Commissioner, former Texas State Senator
  • Mark Stephens, Board Member, Former District Defender, Knox County Public Defenders Community Law Office, Knoxville, TN
  • Ernie Lewis, Board Member, Executive Director of NAPD, Former KY Public Advocate
  • Ed Monahan, Board Member, Executive Director, Former KY Public Advocate

 
More Help is Needed
The Fund Board found all of the applications for an advocacy grant and scholarship assistance to have merit. The Board was frustrated it could not help all those who applied.
 
Join our efforts to provide clients with just outcomes we can be proud of achieving by making a donation today:
Gideon’s Trumpeter:  $5,000 or more
Thurgood Marshall Advocate:  $1,000-$4,999
Freedom Fighter:  $100-$999
Sixth Amendment Litigator:  $25-$99
Or make an ongoing monthly or quarterly donation
 
Make your donation at: https://fundforjustice.org/donate/