Berkeley Law Foundation

BLF Fellow Lydia Edwards Secures Grant for Domestic Worker Mediation Project

editor — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:10:42 +0000

BLF’s 2011-2012 Fellow Lydia Edwards, who is working at the Brazilian Immigrant Center in Allston, MA, recently secured a grant from the Miller Foundation to support her Domestic Worker Mediation Project. The grant will pay for the training of domestic workers and progressive employers in the co-mediation model to help mediate workplace disputes between domestic workers and the families who they work for. One of the goals of the project is to build capacity and worker leaders who will be able to one day teach mediation to other workers in a number of different languages, including Haitian, Creole, Spanish and Portuguese.

Lydia is also working with nine clients, drafting contracts for live-in domestic workers, and giving workshops at churches and other local organizations. She is also working to organize the first annual Massachusetts Coalition for Domestic Workers convention this spring which will bring together domestic workers from around the state to get their leadership and input on a local campaign for a domestic workers bill of rights and a national campaign to provide a pathway to citizenship and fill the care gap.

BLF Phoenix Fellow Yanin Senachai Awarded Skadden Fellowship

editor — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:06:48 +0000

Congratulations to BLF Phoenix Fellow Yanin Senachai, who has earned a 2012-2014 Skadden Fellowship. Yanin, who will be graduating from Berkeley Law in spring 2012, will be working at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center representing trafficked and exploited Thai low wage workers. Congratulations Yanin!

BLF Fellow Daniel Redman Co-Authors Guide for LGBT Elders

editor — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 04:13:10 +0000

2010-2011 BLF Fellow Daniel Redman recently completed his year-long fellowship, and was a lead author of a pioneering new guide for LGBT elders published by the National Center for Lesbian Rights in December 2011. The guide, called “Navigating the System: A Know-Your-Rights Guide for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Elders in California”—is designed as a resource to empower and help protect California’s LGBT elders who often are targets of discrimination due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Congratulations to Daniel for his excellent work!

2011 BLF Auction Raises Money for Phoenix Fellowship

editor — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 01:38:03 +0000

The Berkeley Law Foundation is pleased to announce that our 16th Annual Auction Extravanganza on November 11, 2011 raised approximately $41,000 for the Phoenix Fellowships, which will be awarded to incoming 1Ls from diverse backgrounds with an extraordinary commitment to social justice. We are grateful for the tremendous generosity of Boalt faculty, students, firm sponsors and community donors for the making the Auction a success!

The full program is available here. Thanks especially to our auction sponsors for their generous commitment to the work of BLF and the Phoenix Fellowship:

CHAMPION OF DIVERSITY

Crowell & Moring, LLP

Kirkland & Ellis, LLP

GUARDIAN OF DIVERSITY

Hanson Bridgett

Leonard Carder, LLP

Rosen, Bien & Galvan, LLP

Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP

ADVOCATE OF DIVERSITY

Goodwin Procter, LLP

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP

Rutan & Tucker, LLP

SUPPORTER OF DIVERSITY

Alston + Bird, LLP

Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP

Nixon Peabody, LLP

Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP

Join us on Dec. 8 at the BLF holiday happy hour!

editor — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 23:12:45 +0000

It’s hard to believe! BLF has been funding social justice legal work for 35 years. During that time, BLF has helped launch many public interest careers, and organizations such as the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, the East Bay Community Law Center, and the Homeless Action Center.

To celebrate BLF’s 35 years of grant giving, BLF will be hosting a special holiday happy hour. Please come out to toast to BLF’s long history of giving, mingle with BLF alumni and supporters, and enjoy one of the best happy hours in San Francisco.

December 8, 2011

6:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Taverna Aventine

582 Washington St., San Francisco

If you can’t attend, please consider making a special donation to help BLF celebrate 35 years of grant making!

Please feel free to invite other friends of BLF to join us at this event.

BLF Auction Scheduled for November 11, 2011

editor — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 23:20:51 +0000

This year’s Berkeley Law Foundation Auction will be held on November 11, 2011 at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center in downtown Oakland. The Auction is the primary fundraiser for the Phoenix Fellowship, a scholarship that provides major support to first-year Berkeley Law students from diverse backgrounds who are committed to pursuing careers in social justice. Click here for more information about the auction and to purchase tickets!

Update on BLF fellow Michael Geoghegan’s Food Justice Project

editor — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 19:23:20 +0000

BLF 2010-2011 postgraduate fellow Michael Geoghegan writes with an update on his project, which he has expanded to support the work of Clean Greens:

The work of the Food Justice Project is coming into full swing as summer arrives in the Northwest. The Clean Greens Farm and Market Project is harvesting food from their 22-acre farm and selling the produce at open air markets in the heart of Seattle’s Central District. The Central District has long been a hub for Seattle’s African American community and houses the main office of the Black Dollar Days Task Force (BDDTF), the nonprofit that oversees the Clean Greens project. This year, BDDTF entered into an agreement with Fork and Frame, a Seattle bicycle collective, that will deliver boxes of produce by pedal power to households participating in Clean Greens community supported agriculture (CSA) program.

BLF’s fellowship provided funding for the Food Justice Project to take on BDDTF as an organizational client, providing legal support to structure contracts and solidify the organization’s legal structure. In the long-term, the relationship between BDDTF and the Food Justice Project holds potential to enter new areas. BDDTF’s future plans include a center for teaching local youth job skills related to healthy food preparation and opening a year-round store front selling healthy, chemical free produce at affordable prices. By providing legal assistance, we hope to ensure BDDTF is successful in achieving the goals of its Clean Greens project of food self-sufficiency, job creation, and promoting community health.

BLF fellow Daniel Redman continues the Del Martin Memorial LGBT Elder Advocacy Initiative at NCLR

editor — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 23:49:09 +0000

BLF 2010-2011 postgraduate fellow Daniel Redman writes with an update on his project:

In 2010, the Berkeley Law Foundation awarded me a fellowship to start my project, the Del Martin Memorial LGBT Elder Advocacy Initiative. Housed at the Elder Law Project of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Del Martin Initiative fights discrimination against LGBT elders through litigation, legislative advocacy, and outreach.

In just a year, because of BLF’s help, I’ve been able to represent clients across the country in disputes with state and federal benefits agencies, officials who disrespected their life-planning documents, and long-term care facilities. I’ve worked with LGBT aging activists across California and the country to push for better implementation of laws protecting LGBT elders that are already on the books and for new laws to extend protections further. The outreach component has included presentations, articles, and publications to promote LGBT elder empowerment. After publishing two articles with Aging Today on LGBT elder issues, I was invited on to the masthead as a contributing writer. I’ve made nearly a dozen presentations to academics, service providers, and elder groups, spoken about LGBT elder issues on KALW’s “Cityvisions” program, and plan to finish publications on the needs of low-income LGBT elders and funeral rights issues by the end of the summer. The BLF fellowship makes this work possible. Without your support, this project could not have gotten off the ground.

The Del Martin Initiative has received additional funding, and will be an ongoing project at NCLR.

New BLF Year Long Grantee

editor — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 20:15:11 +0000

Congratulations to Lydia Edwards, BLF’s 2011-2012 post-graduate fellow! Read more about Lydia and her project here.

Chris Daley named as Deputy Executive Director of Just Detention International

editor — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 23:22:49 +0000

BLF Honorary Director Chris Daley has joined Just Detention International as their Deputy Executive Director in Washington, D.C. Congratulations!