Avenues to Justice 2026: The Art of Advocacy

Presented by the Young Lawyers Network Leadership Council (YLN LC), benefiting the DC Bar Foundation.

Thursday, July 9th, 5:30 to 7:30 PM

Arnold & Porter

Click to sponsor & raise $75,000 for legal services in DC

1/14

About the Event

Since 2020, the DC Bar Foundation's Young Lawyers Network Leadership Council has presented its annual Avenues to Justice event, which raises funds for the Foundation while facilitating insightful conversations between expert panelists and speakers about civil legal aid in the District. With a catered happy hour preceding the main event, Avenues to Justice is a great opportunity for networking and building connections among fellow justice-minded professionals in the District.

Past event topics have included:

Harnessing the Power of Technology to Improve Legal Services in the District
Securing Legacies in the District
Exploring the Intersection of Wellbeing and Civil Legal Aid
The Importance of Diversity at All Levels of the Legal Profession
Race, Equity, and Civil Legal Aid

Avenues to Justice 2025 raised over $77,000 for civil legal aid in DC and explored the transformative power of technology to enhance the efficiency, reach, and impact of civil legal aid organizations and highlighted the importance of thoughtful and responsible implementation to ensure the best outcomes for clients.

The night featured thoughtful remarks and conversation from the following speakers and panelists:

Keynote Speaker

Rachel Rossi

President of Alliance for Justice

Former Director of the DOJ’s Office of Access to Justice

Ashley Graham-Watanabe Director of Compliance and Legal Innovation, NLSP.png

Join the Young Lawyers Network Leadership Council on Thursday, July 9, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at Arnold & Porter for its annual fundraiser event!

Help us raise $75,000 for civil legal services in the District. Don't delay your sponsorship - there are $7,250 in matching funds available!

Avenues to Justice: The Art of Advocacy will explore the intersection of art and legal advocacy.

In the context of civil legal aid, art can amplify client stories, deepen public understanding of injustice, and strengthen advocacy by connecting communities to the real people behind the work. By pairing art and legal services, Avenues to Justice: The Art of Advocacy, highlights creative storytelling as a tool for impact, engagement, and justice.

Corporate and individual sponsors receive ticket(s) to a cocktail hour, the exclusive Glimmer on the Horizon art exhibit, and a panel conversation with artists and legal services organizations who will share how they incorporate art into their storytelling and advocacy work.

The Leadership Council is proud to partner with Down Gallery to curate an exclusive exhibit, "Glimmer on the Horizon," featuring artworks available for purchase both in-person and online that explore the intersection of art, advocacy, and justice.

50% of the proceeds from all art sales go directly to the DC Bar Foundation.

"Sometimes we have to do the work even though

we don't yet see a glimmer on the horizon that it's actually going to be possible.” - Angela Davis

Glimmer on the Horizon presents a constellation of DMV-based artists who, through representational means and abstract play, present respites from the gloom so often presented in our screen-forward world.

Here, we recall the unique power of visual art, of human design and expression, even when witnessed from a screen, to open portals into other realities.

Even when encountered through a screen, these works invite us not simply to assume their textures, but to collaborate with them imaginatively, shaping their possibilities through our own acts of looking. Together, these artists offer a glimmer on the horizon; in resonance with the mission of the DC Bar Foundation, their work is ongoing, urgent, and inspired by a shared human desire—and right—to freedom.

Down Gallery (DG) is a nomadic gallery dedicated to artistic innovation and emerging exhibition formats. DG expands audiences and challenges artistic canons through dynamic exhibitions, acquisitions, publications, and programming.

Avenues to Justice 2026 Events Slides.png

Thank You to Our Sponsors