The Office for Access to Justice of the U.S. Department of Justice is hosting a webinar focusing on federal funding for Legal Aid on Thursday, April 25, 2024 from 1:00 pm-2:00 PM Eastern.

Join the webinar to learn about the basics of identifying and using federal grants that support legal assistance. The new federal funding resource from LAIR will be demonstrated and speakers will offer tips for locating relevant grants, and discuss how legal aid and community organizations can leverage federal programs that support a range of legal and related services to meet community needs.  

This webinar features speakers from the Department of Justice, Office for Access to Justice:

• Rachel Rossi, Director 
• Todd Venook, Counsel 
• Justin Brooks, Counsel 
• Allie Yang-Green, Executive Director, Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable 

Also featuring:

Alison Paul has been the Executive Director of the Montana Legal Services Association in Helena, Montana, since 2011, and with the program since 1998. Alison was in private practice in Chicago, Illinois, primarily advising tax-exempt organizations on tax and corporate issues before moving to Montana.  Alison is a founding member of the Montana Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission, the current Chair of the Board of Directors of the Montana Nonprofit Association, and a past member of the Board of Directors of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association.  Alison is a frequent speaker on rural access to justice issues.    

Karen A. Lash is a Senior Fellow at the Georgetown Lab. Karen’s consulting practice helps organizations and foundations working to close the justice gap. In 2021 she helped reestablish DOJ Office for Access to Justice, an office she had served in as a President Obama political appointee in leadership positions and as the founding Executive Director of LAIR. In between the two tours with DOJ, Karen was Practitioner-in-Residence and Director of The Justice in Government Project at the American University School of Public Affairs where she applied the lessons from LAIR to state and local governments and their justice partners to tap federal funds and integrate civil legal help in government programs to improve outcomes, effectiveness, and fairness.

For any accessibility and accommodation inquiries and requests, please email todd.venook@usdoj.gov.