Kirra Jarratt is the Chief Executive Officer of the DC Bar Foundation. Kirra and her team work hand-in-hand with DC’s legal aid community to ensure that every individual, regardless of income, has access to justice. Largely, she oversees and implements the Foundation’s strategic direction in support of its mission “to fund, support, and improve legal representation of the poor, vulnerable, and otherwise disadvantaged in the District of Columbia.” Kirra manages the Foundation’s budget of more than $34 million to make for strategic and impactful grantmaking in their vision to transform the District’s civil justice system.
Kirra joined the DC Bar Foundation in 2014 as its Chief Executive Officer with more than 20 years of service and investment within the District community through her professional and volunteer work.
“I’ve always been inspired by the ability of the law to make huge differences in our lives, either through individual cases or systemic reform,” says Kirra. “I never really thought about being anything other than a lawyer.”
After graduating from Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Kirra worked on the Hill as Counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee and Legislative Director to Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. She then founded the law practice of Jarratt & Jarratt where she represented parties in the child welfare system. Afterward, she served as agency counsel within the District’s Office of the Attorney General for the Child and Family Services Agency and the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services. Kirra also advocated on behalf of the American Bar Association on issues related to domestic violence, tort reform, anti-terrorism, the environment, and the elderly. She was the 2015 recipient of the Charlotte E. Ray Recipient, given annually to an African American female attorney who has demonstrated a strong commitment to community involvement, membership, advocacy, and excellence in the Metropolitan Washington community. In October 2019, she was recognized by the Washington Business Journal as one of their “Women Who Mean Business” honorees. She is also a member of the Leadership Washington Class of 2015.
“It is possible to bring about a change in our local civil justice system so that everyone has a fair and equal experience, and not just those with wealth, knowledge and power. The belief in what’s possible is what motivates me every day. It’s what fuels me to keep pushing and moving forward to figure it out and make it better.”
Kirra serves on the board of the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers and is a past board member of the Washington Improv Theater and the National Conference of Bar Foundations. In her spare time, Kirra enjoys hosting dinner parties, spending time with dear friends, gardening, and reading.