Help us Launch What Comes Next
The DC Bar Foundation is preparing to mark 50 years of expanding access to justice in 2027. It’s an important milestone, but our 50th anniversary is about more than looking back. It’s an opportunity to build on what we’ve accomplished together and invest in what comes next.
Over the last 50 years, the DC Bar Foundation has grown from a humble organization distributing grants to a handful of legal services providers, to the District’s leading funder of civil legal services and a nationwide leader in network coordination, access to justice innovation, and more.
Our 50th anniversary will celebrate how far we have come – not just as an organization, but as a network. Together, we’ll shape what comes next: a future where everyone who needs legal help can get it.
Introducing the Innovation Fund
To help move that vision forward, the DC Bar Foundation is launching a new Innovation Fund as part of our 50th anniversary.
The Innovation Fund will allow us to make strategic investments in new approaches that will help more DC residents find and get the legal help they need. It will build on efforts like the DC Resource Bridge, laying the groundwork to bring community justice workers to DC under new court rules, and expanding self-help resources that put trusted information, practical tools, and guidance directly into the hands of DC residents.
We’re inviting our community to help make this next chapter possible.
In honor of our 50th anniversary, will you consider making a one-time 50% increase in your annual support in 2027?
You can make that additional investment through any of the ways you already support the DC Bar Foundation:
Call to Action: The Foundation’s signature annual campaign for law firms, corporations, and other justice-minded organizations. Recognition tiers are based on a per-attorney giving structure, ensuring an equitable system that reflects each firm’s footprint within the DC legal community.
The DC Walk for Justice 5K: A family-friendly, community-building event that kicks off DC Pro Bono Week and raises awareness of civil justice issues in DC. Sponsorship levels are $2,500, $5,000, $10,000, $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000.
Avenues to Justice: An annual event hosted by the Foundation’s Young Lawyers Network Leadership Council. Sponsorship levels are $1,500, $2,500, $3,500, $5,000, and $10,000.
However you choose to participate, your increased support during our anniversary year will help the DC Bar Foundation invest in the future of legal help in DC.
To learn more about supporting the DC Bar Foundation in our 50th anniversary year, please contact Daryl Byler, director of development.
