Set a trend – give for justice!

Let’s return to the true spirit of the holidays

And #Give4Justice on #GivingTuesday!

Let's #give4justice on #GivingTuesday

Let’s #give4justice on #GivingTuesday

We had Black Friday.  Today is Cyber Monday.  Two days that are all about shopping.  And deals.  And commercialism.

What happened to the holiday season being about giving thanks for what we have – and caring for those who don’t have enough – instead of focusing on getting more stuff for ourselves?

At OneJustice, we think it’s time to return to the true spirit of the holidays – by giving thanks AND giving back to our communities.

That is why last year we were among the inaugural partners in #GivingTuesday – a national campaign to focus more on giving than getting.  Spend more time volunteering than shopping.  Return to caring for those who are in need rather than tracking down the best deal.

And we’re super proud to be doing it again this year!

Started by the United Nations Foundation and the 92d Street Y, #GivingTuesday builds on the American tradition of giving back but uses technology to give this idea greater impact. #GivingTuesday is intended to encourage Americans to reflect and give back. It’s a collective moment for individual and community action.  This year, more than 7,000 partners across the country are taking part – including large corporations and small businesses, faith-based organizations, nonprofits, and local government.

And we are rallying the legal services and access to justice community to make sure that justice is a big part of #GivingTuesday. We can all celebrate by giving the gift of justice to Californians in need!  So join us tomorrow – on #GivingTuesday – in giving for justice!

How do you do that, you ask?  It’s sooooooo easy!

  • Giving Justice on GivingTuesdayJoin OneJustice and the California Campaign for Justice in our jointly hosted #Give4Justice twitter party from 12pm to 1pm.  Just track our feed at @OneJusticeOrg and search using hashtag #Give4Justice.  We’ll be posing questions about the power of pro bono and supporting legal services throughout the hour – and tracking and retweeting your replies!
  • Or donate to your local legal aid organization – or the statewide Campaign for Justice.  Or volunteer with your local pro bono program.  Thank you for YOUR actions, which will make all the difference for those facing pressing legal problems and suffering needlessly from solvable legal problems.

Thank you for giving thanks AND giving back!

Why we love our board of directors – and you will, too

BoardSource NewsletterA love letter to the OneJustice Board

We’re so excited – and we just can’t hide it!

We’re so excited to share some wonderful news with you — OneJustice was named the grand-prize winner of the 2013 Prudential Awards for Exceptional Nonprofit Boards at the recent BoardSource Leadership Forum (BLF), which took place earlier this month in Los Angeles! And, the award comes with $15,000!

Recognizing and promoting excellence in board service is at the heart of BoardSource’s mission. That’s why BoardSource created the Prudential Leadership Awards for Exceptional Nonprofit Boards, now in their third year. BoardSource announces these awards, in partnership with Prudential, at the annual BoardSource Leadership Forum. The awards are intended to inspire and support new approaches to strengthening and building organizational impact through board leadership.

In conjunction with the theme of BLF, the 2013 award winners exemplify exceptional governance and demonstrate the concept of “Bold Leadership: Taking Risks, Thinking Big” for their organizations in at least one of three areas: structure, fundraising, and governance.

OneJustice is featured in an article in BoardSource’s newsletter “Spark” released today.  (Click here to download the PDF of the article).

And, here’s what the folks at BoardSource had to say about OneJustice in a brochure they distributed at the conference:

The OneJustice Board of Directors

The OneJustice Board of Directors

What do you do when a consultant hired to help your board and new executive director prepare for a strategic planning process tells you that your stakeholders are not aware of your mission and do not consider your organization’s programs relevant to the communities it serves? Do you step back and rethink your plans to plan? The board of OneJustice (then the Public Interest Clearinghouse) took another tack. It decided to move ahead, to fully launch a strategic planning process, seek further stakeholder input, clarify its mission, set its vision, and carefully evaluate every project against a double bottom-line: mission impact and contribution to the organization’s financial health.

Projects that had outlived their relevance were eliminated. In their place rose two core program areas: increasing volunteerism in the legal community and increasing the business skills of nonprofit legal services. Both are directly tied to the organization’s mission of increasing the legal assistance available to poor and other underserved Californians. The board also turned to an issue that had long been under discussion: the confusion caused by its name, Public Interest Clearinghouse. With a communications consulting team supporting its efforts, the board managed a consensus-driven rebranding process that resulted in a new name — OneJustice — representing the organization’s commitment to creating one justice system that works equally for all.

The OneJustice Board doing training by videoconference

The OneJustice Board participating in fundraising training by videoconference.

But the board was not done. Immediately after completing the organizational strategic plan, the board turned its critical eye inward. After completing an in-depth performance assessment and identifying its strengths and weaknesses, it trained in the Governance as Leadership model, created a governance committee, and institutionalized processes related to multi-year recruitment plans, performance evaluation of each board member prior to term renewal, and continuous learning.

As a result of the board’s work over the past six years, OneJustice is now flourishing. The budget has doubled, the revenue model is stable, the organization is responding to stakeholder requests for geographic presence in Southern California, and the board is engaged and focused on mission, excellence, and continued strategic growth. Just over a year ago, the board solicited feedback from the same set of stakeholders as in 2007. The response this time? “One Justice is the glue that holds the California legal services community together.” The 180-degree transformation in the organization’s relevance is due to the board’s leadership.

BoardSource Award 2013

OneJustice Board Chair Max Ochoa with OneJustice staff receiving the award from BoardSource and Prudential at the BoardSource Leadership Forum on November 8th in Los Angeles.             (Photograph by Sarah Fiske)

You are the best book club ever!

Here is your very own justice “must read” book list

You blew us away with these great suggestions.  Thank you!

Wow!  Who knew that the OneJustice network is filled chock-a-block with book worms?

You all rocked this month’s contest, with over 40 submissions and 35 book suggestions.   Below is your very own justice book club reading list.  Enjoy!

Thank you so much – and you made it really hard to choose a winner!  But we had to do it – and so we’re delighted to announce that we have tie.  Congratulations to Ugochi Anaebere-Nicholson, Managing Attorney of Indio Branch Office of Inland Counties Legal Services, and to Betsy Cavendish, President of Appleseed – they both submitted the winning title: The Buffalo Creek Disaster by Gerald M. Stern.Earn donations to OneJustice while you shop through Amazon Smile!  Enjoy those OneJustice water bottles!

And YOU can give the gift of justice this season – through Amazon Smile.  These terrific books will also make great gifts for the folks on your list.  And if you will be doing some holiday shopping online with Amazon, you can also give the gift of justice by registering with Amazon Smile and designating OneJustice as your nonprofit!  The AmazonSmile Foundation will then donate 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to OneJustice.

Thank you for signing up to give the gift of justice to Californians in need – just by doing your holiday shopping!

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The OneJustice Network Book Club Reading List

Advise and ConsentAdvise and Consent by Allen Drury    A 1959 Pulitzer Prize-winning political novel, later made into a movie, about Senate confirmation hearings for Secretary of State for a nominee who is a former member of the Communist Party. The Senator heading the confirmation subcommittee, while under pressure to move the nomination to the forward, is discovered to have a homosexual past and commits suicide rather than face exposure.

America is In the Heart: A Personal History by Carlos Bulosan     First published in 1946, this autobiography of the well-known Filipino poet describes his boyhood in the Philippines, his voyage to America, and his years of hardship and despair as an itinerant laborer following the harvest trail in the rural West.

Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje     Anil’s Ghost transports us to Sri Lanka, a country steeped in centuries of tradition, now forced into the late twentieth century by the ravages of civil war. Into this maelstrom steps Anil Tissera, a young woman born in Sri Lanka, educated in England and America, who returns to her homeland as a forensic anthropologist sent by an international human rights group to discover the source of the organized campaigns of murder engulfing the island.

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank   Anne Frank’s remarkable diary has since become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, Anne and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annex” of an old office building.

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand     Atlas Shrugged is the astounding story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world–and did. Tremendous in scope, breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrugged stretches the boundaries further than any book you have ever read. It is a mystery, not about the murder of a man’s body, but about the murder–and rebirth–of man’s spirit.Buffalo Creek Disaster

Black Hills/White Justice: The Sioux Nation versus the United States, 1775 to the Present by Edward Lazarus    Black Hills/White Justice tells of the longest active legal battle in United States history: the century-long effort by the Sioux nations to receive compensation for the seizure of the Black Hills. Edward Lazarus, son of one of the lawyers involved in the case, traces the tangled web of laws, wars, and treaties that led to the wresting of the Black Hills from the Sioux and their subsequent efforts to receive compensation for the loss.

The Buffalo Creek Disaster by Gerald M. Stern     In February 1972, an impoundment dam owned by the Pittston Coal Company burst, sending a 25 foot tidal wave of water, sludge, and debris crashing into southern West Virginia’s Buffalo Creek hollow. Instead of accepting the small settlements offered by the coal company’s insurance offices, a few hundred of the survivors banded together to sue. This is the story of their triumph over incredible odds and corporate irresponsibility, as told by the young lawyer who took on the case and won.

A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr   In this true story of an epic courtroom showdown, two of the nation’s largest corporations stand accused of causing the deaths of children. Representing the bereaved parents, the unlikeliest of heroes emerges: a young lawyer who hopes to win millions of dollars and ends up nearly losing everything. A searing, compelling tale of a legal system gone awry – one in which greed and power fight an unending struggle against justice – A Civil Action is also the story of how one determined man can ultimately make a difference.Enriques Journey

Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario   This astonishing true story recounts the unforgettable odyssey of a Honduran boy who braves unimaginable hardship to reach his mother in the United States.  Based on the Los Angeles Times  series that won two Pulitzer Prizes, Enrique’s Journey is the timeless story of families torn apart, the yearning to be together again, and a boy who will risk his life to find the mother he loves.

The Feminine Mystique  by Betty Friedan    Landmark, groundbreaking, classic—these adjectives barely describe the earthshaking and long-lasting effects of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique. This is the book that defined “the problem that has no name,” that launched the Second Wave of the feminist movement, and has been awakening women and men with its insights into social relations, which still remain fresh, ever since.

Gideon’s Trumpet by Anthony Lewis     This history of the landmark case of James Earl Gideon’s fight for the right to legal counsel describes the story behind Gideon v. Wainwright, in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that criminal defendants have the right to an attorney even if they cannot afford it.

The Giver by Lois Lowry     Since winning the Newbery Medal in 1994, Lois Lowry’s The Giver has become one of the most influential novels of our time.  The story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal world. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does he begin to understand the dark secrets behind his fragile community.
Half the SkyHalf the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn    This is passionate call to arms against our era’s most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world.   We undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary women struggling there. Drawing on the breadth of their combined reporting experience, Kristof and WuDunn depict our world with anger, sadness, clarity, and, ultimately, hope.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood     Set in the near future, the Handmaid’s Tale describes life in what was once the United States, now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans with bizarre consequences for the women and men of its population.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett     Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women—mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends—view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t.

Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins     In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen launches a rebellion when she represents her district and wins.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote     In November 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.  As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates mesmerizing suspense, astonishing empathy, and poignant insights into the nature of American violence.

Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie     A Seattle serial murderer has been dubbed “the Indian Killer” because he scalps his victims and adorns their bodies with owl feathers. As the city consumes itself in a nightmare frenzy of racial tension, a possible suspect emerges: John Smith. An Indian raised by whites, John is lost between cultures. He fights for a sense of belonging that may never be his—but has his alienation made him angry enough to kill? This national bestseller and New York Times Notable Book delivers both a scintillating thriller and a searing parable of race, identity, and violence.

To Kill A MockingbirdTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee     The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh     The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating mistrust and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.  When she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.

Learning Tree by Gordon Parks     Photographer, writer, and composer, Gordon Parks has written a moving, true-to-life novel of growing up as a black man in this country in this century. Hailed by critics and readers alike, the Learning Tree tells the extraordinary journey of a family as they struggle to understand the world around them and leave their mark a world that is better for their having been in it.

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines     In a small Cajun community in the late 1940s,  Jefferson, a young black man, is an unwitting party to a liquor store shoot out in which three men are killed; the only survivor, he is convicted of murder and sentenced to death.  Grant Wiggins, who left his hometown for the university, has returned to the plantation school to teach.  As he struggles with his decision whether to stay, his aunt and Jefferson’s godmother persuade him to visit Jefferson in his cell before his death.  In the end, the two men forge a bond as they both come to understand the simple heroism of resisting—and defying—the expected.

Native Son by Richard Wright     Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail.  Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright’s powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.The New Jim Crow

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander   With dazzling candor, legal scholar Michelle Alexander argues that by targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control—relegating millions to a permanent second-class status—even as it formally adheres to the principle of colorblindness.

Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63 by Taylor Branch    Moving from the fiery political baptism of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the corridors of Camelot where the Kennedy brothers weighed demands for justice against the deceptions of J. Edgar Hoover, here is a vivid tapestry of America, torn and finally transformed by a revolutionary struggle unequaled since the Civil War.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver     This is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959.   What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family’s tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in post colonial Africa.

The Round HouseThe Round House by Louise Erdrich     One of the most revered novelists of our time—a brilliant chronicler of Native-American life—Louise Erdrich transports readers to the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota. This is an exquisitely told story of a boy on the cusp of manhood who seeks justice and understanding in the wake of a terrible crime that upends and forever transforms his family.

Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools by Jonathan Kozol  For two years, beginning in 1988, Jonathan Kozol visited schools in neighborhoods across the country, speaking with teachers, principals, superintendents, and, most important, children. What he found was devastating. Not only were schools for rich and poor blatantly unequal, the gulf between the two extremes was widening—and it has widened since.  Kozol delivers a searing examination of the extremes of wealth and poverty and calls into question the reality of equal opportunity in our nation’s schools.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut     Kurt Vonnegut’s absurdist classic Slaughterhouse-Five introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes unstuck in time.  We follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all phases of his life, concentrating on his (and Vonnegut’s) shattering experience as an American prisoner of war who witnesses the firebombing of Dresden. Slaughterhouse-Five (taken from the name of the building where the POWs were held) fashions the author’s experiences in the Second World War into an eloquent and deeply funny plea against butchery in the service of authority.

Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson by George Jackson     This collection of Jackson’s letters from prison is an outspoken condemnation of the racism of white America and a powerful appraisal of the prison system that failed to break his spirit but eventually took his life. Jackson’s letters make palpable the intense feelings of anger and rebellion that filled black men in America’s prisons in the 1960s.   Jackson’s story resonates for its portrait of a man taking a stand even while locked down.The Spirit Catches You

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures Paperback by Anne Fadiman   The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. Lia’s parents and her doctors both wanted what was best for Lia, but the lack of understanding between them led to tragedy.

The Stranger by Albert Camus     A young Algerian, afflicted with a sort of aimless inertia, becomes embroiled in the petty intrigues of a local pimp and, somewhat inexplicably, ends up killing a man. Once he’s imprisoned and eventually brought to trial, his crime, it becomes apparent, is not so much the arguably defensible murder he has committed as it is his deficient character. The trial’s proceedings are absurd, a parsing of incidental trivialities, so that the eventual sentence the jury issues is both ridiculous and inevitable.

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David von Drehle      Triangle is a poignantly detailed account of the 1911 disaster that horrified the country aWalking with the Windnd changed the course of twentieth-century politics and labor relations.  On March 25, 1911, as workers were getting ready to leave for the day, a fire broke out in the Triangle shirtwaist factory in New York’s Greenwich Village. The final toll was 146 people—123 of them women. Triangle is an immensely moving account of the hardships of New York City life in the early part of the twentieth century, and how this event transformed politics and gave rise to urban liberalism.

Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis and Michael D’Orso    As Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Congressman John Lewis was at the epicenter of the civil rights movement in the late ’50s and ’60s. Arrested more than forty times, he was one of its youngest and most courageous leaders. Writing with charm, warmth, and honesty, Lewis moves from the Nashville lunch counter sit-ins as he reflects on the era to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where he led more than five hundred marchers on what became known as “Bloody Sunday.”

Women, Race, & Class by Angela Y. Davis     Longtime activist, author and political figure Angela Davis brings us this expose of the women’s movement in the context of the fight for civil rights and working class issues. She uncovers a side of the fight for suffrage many of us have not heard: the intimate tie between the anti-slavery campaign and the struggle for women’s suffrage. She shows how the racist and classist bias of some in the women’s movement have divided its own membership.

Truth or Dare: are you a book worm?

Then tell us your favorite book about justice!

November contest in honor of National Book Lover’s Day.

Did you know that yesterday was National Book Lover’s Day?  Pretty awesome holiday, right?Love to Read?  Tell us your favorite justice book!

TRUTH: For all the book worms among us, November’s justice contest has your name on it.  Tell us your favorite book that deals with justice (or injustice) in some way – and you’ll be entered to win a super nifty OneJustice water bottle.

DARE: All you have to do is post the book title and author by Tuesday, November 12th to any of our social media sites.

It’s seriously so easy.  Just give us your suggestions in a comment to this post, on our facebook wall or LinkedIn page, post a photo of the book to Pinterest or Instagram, or tweet it with @OneJusticeOrg #onejusticecontest.

And yes, for all you folks who are true read-a-holics – you can post more than ONE suggestion.

And then we’ll gather all the book recommendations and post the collective reading list for the entire OneJustice network to enjoy!   Post away!

Wishing you all a most spooktacular Halloween

Hermione, Garden Gnome, and the SS Justice

Which OneJustice staffer reigned supreme in the annual costume contest?

Both OneJustice offices are full of odd characters today as we celebrate a spooktacular Halloween!  From a Garden Gnome in the executive office to the SS Justice group costume in the LA office, everyone is showing their Halloween spirit.

This year’s winner was none other than Hermione Granger (aka Renae Getlin, Executive & Communications Associate).  Congrats Renae!

And the 2013 Runners Up: Max from Where the Wild Things Are (played by Ruby Kimberly, Justice Bus Project Program Associate), as well as Deputy Director Linda Kim in pajamas and Stephen Downey, LawHelpCA.org Program Associate as Toad.

Photo montage below for your general amusement!   Wishing you a most fantabulous and freaky Halloween from all the OneJustice staff!

The electric slide, bicycle-powered juice stand, and growing up in Taiwan

Meet the new OneJustice staffers

Look who we stole away from the City of LA, Alpine Legal Services, and San Diego State University!

We’re delighted to welcome a new crew to OneJustice!  A heartfelt welcome to Cheryl, Ruby, and Arbour – all of whom fit right into the OneJustice network with their big hearts, big ideas, and big visions of a more just world.  We sat down with them and subjected them to a series of questions to satisfy our curiosity and yours.  Read on and get to know them a little better!

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Cheryl Banares, Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Fellow – running the Justice Bus Project in Southern California

Cheryl, what drew you to the work of OneJustice?Cheryl Banares, Justice Bus Fellow

I was interested in learning more about OneJustice’s unique approaches to closing the justice gap in California, particularly the Justice Bus® Project. I worked at several public interest organizations throughout law school, but unlike the other projects I had worked on the Justice Bus was the first, in my experience, that was focused on providing free legal services to low-income Californians in rural and isolated communities. The idea of providing “pop-up” legal clinics in areas where they are most needed is what really interested me in the work of OneJustice.

What will you be responsible for at OneJustice?

I will be responsible for the Justice Bus Project in Southern California. I will continue to foster the existing partnerships with laws schools and legal services organizations in Southern California. I also plan to establish new partnerships and further expand the number of legal clinics throughout Southern California. I would like to plan trips to areas and counties the Justice Bus has never gone to in the hopes of providing legal services to more communities in California.

What did you do before coming to OneJustice?

Before I attended law school, I was a Legislative Analyst at the City of Los Angeles where I worked with other City departments to preserve and establish new parks and recreational areas throughout the City of Los Angeles. While in law school, I worked at several public interest organizations and participated in Loyola Law School’s Employment Rights Clinic. It is the culmination of these experiences that led me to the fellowship at OneJustice. Each of these experiences share a common theme of providing much-needed services to communities in the most need.

And tell us something else we should know about you!

I love to dance…though not professionally. You can often find me on the dance floor at weddings/clubs/lounges cutting a rug. My favorite type of music to dance to is 90s hip-hop and R&B, but I will dance to it all from the “running man” to the “electric slide.”

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Ruby Kimberly, Justice Bus Project Program Associate

Ruby Kimberly, Justice Bus ProjectSo Ruby, what caused you to want to work at OneJustice?

Having interned at a struggling legal services organization in rural Colorado, I was ecstatic to discover OneJustice and its critical support of small nonprofits of that nature. I was particularly drawn to the Justice Bus Program for its community building effect. Much of the pro bono legal work I have been exposed to in the past happened behind closed doors between an individual attorney and an individual client.  While this is certainly a part of Justice Bus clinics, there is also a much broader community engagement aspect that is fostered through the highly collaborative nature of the Justice Bus Program. This includes engagement between law students and attorneys with a common dedication to social justice, between OneJustice and smaller organizations, between urban and rural populations, and between clients and the legal services community.

What will you be doing at OneJustice?

As the Justice Bus Program Associate, I am responsible for organizing the logistical aspects of Justice Bus trips. This includes everything from booking the Justice Bus to ensuring each clinic is equipped with the tools necessary to best serve our clients. Through this position, I hope to continue improving upon the efficiency and sustainability of the Justice Bus project and assist in its expansion to reach as many underserved Californians as possible. My ultimate goal as an employee of OneJustice is to help empower disenfranchised individuals to exercise their legal rights as a means of cultivating a more accountable justice system for us all.

What did you do before coming to OneJustice?

I graduated from Colorado College in 2012 with a degree in History and Political Science and a deep commitment to social justice advocacy. While I had participated in nonprofit work extensively over the course my educational career, it wasn’t until the fall of 2012 that I became directly involved with legal aid as an intern at Alpine Legal Services in Glenwood Springs, CO. Through this experience I gained a profound understanding of the challenges confronting those forced to navigate the justice system with limited resources, and a lifelong passion for countering the detrimental effects this has on society as a whole.

And please share something not work related!

While in college I co-founded The Peddle Palace, a bicycle-powered, carbon neutral juice stand. This endeavor included biking 60 miles over a mountain pass while hauling a trailer of fruit to ensure our brand’s environmentally friendly status.

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Arbour Decker, Donor & Corporate Relations Manager

Arbour, tell us what drew you to the work of OneJustice!Arbour Decker, Donor Relations

I have always been passionate about equality, poverty alleviation, and assisting the disadvantaged. For me, the most important aspect of any job is knowing that I am positively impacting people’s lives. I feel strongly that all individuals have the right to successfully navigate the legal system regardless of income, race, education level, or geography. Therefore, it is a privilege to work for an organization that provides life-changing legal services to Californians in need.

What will you be responsible for at OneJustice?

I will be responsible for managing relationships with our organization’s wonderful and generous supporters. Without the involvement and dedication of this community, our services would not be possible. I look forward to further strengthening OneJustice’s amazing support system, which will allow us to continue funding our vital programs and services.

What did you do before coming to OneJustice?

Prior to OneJustice, I held various development roles, spanning from the Pacific Northwest to San Diego, California. I’ve recently engaged in fundraising for organizations such as the Boys & Girls Clubs as well as San Diego State University (also where I received my Masters Degree in Communication). I naturally gravitate towards nonprofit environments and have also volunteered as a domestic violence and sexual assault advocate for abused women and children in Portland, Oregon.

And what else should we know about you?

I did not move to the United States from Taiwan until I was 18, I am a food and travel enthusiast, I love watching and playing sports, and I was born two months premature!

Images that sear the mind

Thought-provoking images of justice and injustice

Results of the October justice contest

Win this awesome OneJustice water bottle!Congratulations to Emma W., the 16-year-old winner of our October “Images of Justice” contest.  Emma posted a photo of Minnijean Brown Trickey, one of the “Little Rock Nine” who integrated all-White Little Rock Central High in 1957.  And when we learned the back story to Emma’s connection to this photo, we just had to select it as the winner.

You see, Emma actually traveled with Minnijean on a 10-day bus journey through the south, learning about the history of the civil rights movement.  This trip was made possible by the amazing and award-winning nonprofit Sojourn to the Past,which takes thousands of high school students on an interactive history course that travels to civil rights sites, meeting with key leaders and participants in the southern United States.

And so Emma shared the photo of Minnijean not only because of Minnijean’s work as a civil rights activist, but also because Emma learned so much from Minnijean directly in the course of their Sojourn to the Past bus trip together.  (And yes, we loved that there is another bus out there focused on social justice – there are sister justice bus trips!).  Congratulations Emma – enjoy your Justice Bus water bottle.

Below is a collage of all the images that were submitted – a visual representation of both suffering and victory, despair and hope.  Thank you all for submitting.

And keep your eyes open for the November contest.  We’re going to switch up the contests for the next 4 months . . . so you can expect some changes – but still the same great Justice Bus water bottle as the prize!

Because lawyers and law students can be heroes

Serving those who have served our country.

And those who seek refuge on our shores.

What an amazing pro bono celebration this week has been.  What a great opportunity to recognize the work of the legal services nonprofits, law firms, corporations, and law schools – and thousands of individuals – who give back to their communities.  That you all!

We have you have enjoyed our daily doses of the power of pro bono – and that it has inspired you to get involved and volunteer in your community.  Please enjoy our final three videos that document the power of pro bono to serve two particular populations – veterans and immigrants who are seeking refuge in our country.

Happy Celebrate Pro Bono Week and Campaign for Justice Month!

Serving those who served our country

The power of law students doing pro bono

Thank you all for celebrating Pro Bono Week with us!

When you can’t work or make ends meet

Can you imagine the fear of not being able to work?  Or cover your most basic expenses?

Sadly, for too many Californians, their economic realities are a tangled mess of legal problems.

What if you cannot obtain the license you need to work?  Or what if your working conditions are horrific?  What if you can’t work – and can’t cover your most basic needs, including medical treatment.  Too many Californians face legal problems that prevent them from gaining self-sufficiency – because they can’t work, they work but don’t get paid, or they face crushing consumer debt.

Many pro bono attorneys volunteer in order to help poor Californians find economic opportunity, safe working conditions, and financial stability.  Watch the videos below to find out more.  With just two more days left of Pro Bono Week, the pro bono celebration is in full swing!

Pro bono can remove barriers to employment

LinkedIn’s pro bono efforts focus on economic opportunity

What if you were working – but in horrible conditions and without pay?

Pro bono assistance helped mitigate and manage consumer debt issues in face of illness

And we want YOUR pro bono stories, too!  What pro bono have you done?  Please share!  And thank you to everyone who gives so generously of their time and energy to bring life-changing legal help to those in need!

Keep a roof over their heads

Securing housing.  Preventing homelessness.

The power of pro bono – safe and stable housing.

It’s one of those basic life necessities – a roof over our heads.  To know where we will sleep tonight.  Someplace where we feel safe and secure.

But what if you are about to lose your housing – because you played by the rules?  Or because a foreclosure predator tricked you and 200 others?  Or because you fell into hard times – and couldn’t even get into the worst possible public housing complex?

What if your ability to gain or remain in housing was all tied up in legal problems?  Well, then it takes a pro bono attorney to step in and help.

Enjoy today’s daily dose of the Power of Pro Bono – all in celebration of national Pro Bono Week and California’s Campaign for Justice month.  Because lawyers can be heroes.  Just watch these videos, and you’ll see what we mean!

When pro bono makes the biggest difference you can imagine

When you risk losing your housing because you followed the rules

When a community needs to stop a foreclosure predator

When there is an overwhelming need for assistance

When you can move from being homeless