2010-11 Florida Legal Aid Leadership Development Institute Fellows announced

July 2010
by Gabrielle Davis

ORLANDO — Now in its second year, the Florida Legal Aid Leadership Development Institute has become a stepping stone for legal aid attorneys wanting to advance in Legal Aid.

The 14-month program teaches up-and-coming legal aid attorneys leadership skills with support from more experienced attorneys and leaders in legal aid who serve as mentors.

“I developed an initiative in a forum that allowed me to gain the experience that I needed on a professional level to know that I am doing exactly what I was called to do — to lead," said Lizzie Johnson, Community of Legal Services of Mid-Florida attorney and 2009-10 Institute fellow.

The Florida Bar Foundation allocated $100,000 and collaborated with the Center for Legal Aid Education (CLAE) to create the Institute, which was held for the first time last year.

The 26 fellows and mentors participating in the 2010-11 Institute met for the first time last month and will meet again in October. They will reconvene at several in-person workshops in Orlando and participate in Web-based activities to address Legal Aid issues.

The fellows apply leadership concepts to projects they created to solve problems they identified in their legal aid communities.

Legal Aid attorney Jacina Parson, a 2009-10 Institute fellow, knew there was a need for a legal clinic to serve victims of sexual violence in Tallahassee, but she didn't know where to begin.

Through the Institute, the Legal Services of North Florida attorney was able to identify local stakeholders and the communities that the clinic needed to serve and form partnerships to get the clinic off the ground.

“As a Leadership Institute fellow I learned essential tools to take any project from start to full potential,” Parson said.

The Institute also creates a close-knit network of legal advocates, said attorney Jennifer Wimberly, Florida Bar Foundation program associate and Institute coordinator and mentor.

“The fellows enjoy the camaraderie and ability to work together at the Institute retreats as a group of advocates,” Wimberly said. “They are from different parts of the state with different substantive legal practices but they all share a common goal of ensuring that low-income clients receive quality legal representation.”