August 2, 2018
Contact: Paula Saha
Director of Communications and Media Relations
732-214-8509
The NJSBA's Education Pipeline Program will be honored as one of the nation's top programs, receiving an American Bar Association Partnership Award on Friday in Chicago.
The pipeline program, an effort of the NJSBA’s Diversity Committee, has sent volunteers into the community to discuss the role of the law and Constitution in today’s society.
“The NJSBA is proud to receive this award. We continue to create initiatives to ensure the state bar truly embraces the rich diversity of New Jersey and engages in active inclusion of all, and this program is an excellent example of that,” said NJSBA President John E. Keefe Jr. “Understanding the life experiences and perspectives of the people who make up the rich tapestry of New Jersey, and are our colleagues and clients, is central to our mission.”
In the past three years, Diversity Committee members and other volunteer lawyers visited Boys and Girls clubs, Big Brothers/Big Sisters chapters, Three Doctors Foundation and local schools to discuss a fact pattern, the law, and careers with students from elementary school to high school. Students receive donated books at each event.
The association has run the program for three years in Newark, Atlantic City and Trenton, and hopes to expand to additional communities in the coming year. It has brought together volunteers from a wide swath of the legal community, including members of the NJSBA, Essex County Bar Association, Atlantic County Bar Association, Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, Garden State Bar Association, Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey, Haitian American Lawyers Association of New Jersey and Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey.
The award is to be presented on Aug. 3 at a joint luncheon for bar leaders from around the country, at the American Bar Association’s Annual Meeting.
In addition to the NJSBA, partnership awards were to be presented to the New York City Bar Association and Dallas Bar Association.