What Inspired Us in 2025

As we close out 2025, I am reflecting on the successes that the Foundation and the DC legal services community accomplished this year, while also acknowledging that we were presented with challenges that made us feel uncertain, unsettled, and perhaps even scared.  

Even when times feel heavy and hard, I believe there are glimpses of hope and inspiration that help keep us going. For my final letter of 2025, I’m sharing with you some of the reflections, quotes, and resources that inspired our partners and collaborators throughout the year.  

• “The most inspiring examples of resilience are the individuals, families, mothers, and children who succeed against the odds. It is their immeasurable grit and determination that inspires me.” –Ben Wilson, DC Bar Foundation board member and immediate past president   

  
  

• “This year, it's been so rewarding to be a part of the DC Resource Bridge, our new one-stop access point to the legal services community, and I've been inspired by the way that my colleagues have guided DC residents to legal help during some of the hardest moments in their lives. –Amy Mix, Director, DC Resource Bridge   

  
  

• “It always seems impossible until it's done.” –A quote by Nelson Mandela, shared by Tina Nelson, Managing Attorney at Legal Counsel for the Elderly and 2024 Scoutt Prize recipient

  
  

• “Intentionally curating the information we consume (i.e., news) was key to protecting our peace and sustaining our energy this year. And the Coming Back to Breath course and mantras by Alexis Pauline Gumbs were especially helpful.” –Monique Riviere, Executive Director, Community Mediation DC, and DC Social Justice Transformations Network member   

  
  

• “Few will have the greatness to bend history itself [but] each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, these ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." –A quote by Robert Kennedy Sr., shared by Philip Horton, retired partner at Arnold & Palmer, former DC Bar Foundation board member, and current volunteer solicitor for the Call to Action Campaign   

  
  

• “In a rapidly changing national landscape, it was inspirational to see individuals, communities, businesses, and attorneys convene—be it organically or deliberately—to put new ideas in motion, often under short timelines; new ideas centered around protecting, and at times creating, access to resources as well as systems, safety nets, and safe spaces that contribute to a just society. 2025 has been an inspirational reminder of what is possible and also of what is still needed. –M. Aurora Vasquez, Esq., senior vice president, state policy, Sandy Hook Promise, and member of the DC Bar Foundation Advisory Committee 

• "The sky grows dark, the black over blue, yet the stars still dare to shine for you." –From the book The Midnight Library shared by Selam Eyassu, vice president, relationship manager, Specialized Deposit Group, Hingham Institution for Savings—a PRIME Partner IOLTA Bank 

What I take away from these submissions is that working through the challenges allows us to reap the reward on the other side. As for what inspired me this year, it was every person who supported, invested in, or volunteered with the Foundation; we would not have had the year we had without you. Thank you for continuing to believe in this work. 

Sincerely,  

Kirra L Jarratt 

Chief Executive Officer