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2026 Annual Exemplar Gala

At NLADA's Annual Gala, we present the Exemplar Awards which honors members of the corporate counsel or private law firm communities who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, dedication and achievement in promoting and supporting equal justice. Each Exemplar honoree has made invaluable commitments and contributions to pro bono and public service, and supports NLADA’s work to provide equal access to justice for all. Also presented at the Annual Gala are the Kutak-Dodds Prizes and Beacon of Justice Awards.

Your donation makes NLADA's work developing innovative and transformative solutions to eliminating barriers to justice possible. With your support, we provide expert trainings, tools, and technical assistance to our members - civil legal aid attorneys, clients, and public defenders - who help people in need of justice every day.  Together we will make the promise of equal justice for all a reality!
Please check the box below and fill in the information to make your donation to this cause with your personal credit card.

2026 Exemplar Gala Tickets

Individual tickets are available for the 2026 NLADA Exemplar Awards Gala at two price levels. 

Individual $250 and Public-Service Advocate at $150 (limited quantity).

Please check the box below and fill in the information to make your donation to this cause with your personal credit card.

JustFundIt Campaign

JustFundIt is a national campaign to protect and expand federal investment in communities and families to ensure equal access to justice in America. As funding uncertainties and executive actions jeopardize the stability of families and communities, NLADA is sounding the alarm and mobilizing action.

Every day, NLADA’s members, civil legal aid attorneys, public defenders, clients, and community advocates, stand in the gap for people navigating life-altering legal crises: housing instability, family separation, criminal allegations, wrongful convictions, denial of healthcare or benefits, and more. But without stable federal funding, the very service providers that ensure access to justice are at risk of shutting their doors.

NLADA members fight every day to protect communities and restore their access to benefits, education, Medicare, and due process. And yet, funding for communities and families remains drastically under-resourced.  And, there are calls for cuts and complete elimination of many of these federally funded services.  That’s not justice. That’s an injustice for the most vulnerable communities.

Join the Fight.

We are responsible for ensuring justice is available to all, not just those who can afford it.

This is not a partisan issue. It’s a people issue. And it’s time we fund justice like our communities depend on it—because they do.

Your support is vital to the success of the "JustFundIt" campaign. By working together, we can challenge the current narrative, advocate for equal justice, and ensure that legal service providers receive the funding they deserve and protect the critical federal services needed in our most vulnerable communities. Together, we can make a difference.

If you are interested in setting up a recurring donation to NLADA, please contact safeguardjustice@nlada.org for assistance. 

Please check the box below and fill in the information to make your donation to this cause with your personal credit card.

NLADA General Campaign

For more than 111 years, NLADA has provided solution-based and creative leadership to the community of equal justice advocates. We are America's oldest and largest nonprofit association devoted to excellence in the delivery of legal services to those who cannot afford counsel. NLADA has pioneered access to justice at the national, state, and local levels, and works to establish and strengthen the nation's public defense and civil legal aid systems. There is no other legal organization that touches on all the access points of poverty as does NLADA.

Your donation makes this possible. 

If you are interested in setting up a recurring donation to NLADA, please contact safeguardjustice@nlada.org for assistance. 
Please check the box below and fill in the information to make your donation to this cause with your personal credit card.

BPDA

Launched in November 2018, the Black Public Defender Association (BPDA) was created based on the recognition that creating and maintaining a national network of skilled Black public defenders who identify with and come from the communities most disproportionately impacted by the criminal legal system is necessary to fight against and end mass incarceration. Our work is guided by our core values: humanity, Black liberation, excellence, holistic defense, and community.

Since its creation, BPDA has:

LED national conferences focused on race and the criminal legal system
TRAINED public defenders across the U.S. on how to tackle race inside the courtroom and within the legal system
ADVOCATED on racial justice issues in the media, on the ground, and before local and national government leaders
INSPIRED hundreds of Black law students to apply for the BPDA Summer Fellowship Program; each summer, we support a class of BPDA Fellows through unpaid internships by providing summer stipends and professional development training
With your support, BPDA can continue the racial justice work through student fellowship programs, skills and leadership training, national advocacy race and more! Together we will make the promise of equal justice for all a reality!

If you are interested in setting up a recurring donation for BPDA, please contact safeguardjustice@nlada.org for assistance. 
Please check the box below and fill in the information to make your donation to this cause with your personal credit card.

Corporate Donation

For more than 111 years, NLADA has provided solution-based and creative leadership to the community of equal justice advocates. We are America's oldest and largest nonprofit association devoted to excellence in the delivery of legal services to those who cannot afford counsel. NLADA has pioneered access to justice at the national, state, and local levels, and works to establish and strengthen the nation's public defense and civil legal aid systems. There is no other legal organization that touches on all the access points of poverty as does NLADA.

Your donation makes this possible.
Please check the box below and fill in the information to make your donation to this cause with your personal credit card.

Racial Equity Initiative

For more than 111 years, NLADA has provided solution-based and creative leadership to the community of equal justice advocates. We are America's oldest and largest nonprofit association devoted to excellence in the delivery of legal services to those who cannot afford counsel. NLADA has pioneered access to justice at the national, state, and local levels, and works to establish and strengthen the nation's public defense and civil legal aid systems. There is no other legal organization that touches on all the access points of poverty as does NLADA.

NLADA's Community of Advocates for equity and equal justice is uniquely positioned to drive change. We are among the first responders in the justice system. As civil legal aid and public defense attorneys and staff, legal navigators, private bar allies, and members of the impacted community, we witness and fight against the intersectional symptoms of systemic racism every day. We witness the human consequences of these systems and we witness the patterns of these impacts. We know the law and its limitations.

Collectively, we have a deep bench of nationwide experts who work in virtually every legal system as well as other systems that perpetuate racial inequity. Together, we will move the needle forward on racial equity and justice. NLADA members and partners must be equipped with the cutting edge and innovative tools needed to actively and effectively address race equity issues in their offices, courtrooms, policy tables, and in the community. The NLADA Racial Equity Initiative will actively support the transition from racial equity awareness to ACTION and IMPLEMENTATION.

If you are interested in setting up a recurring donation for REI, please contact safeguardjustice@nlada.org for assistance. 

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NLADA VISTA-AmeriCorps

In 2017, the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) partnered with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) to create an innovative pilot program that trains AmeriCorps VISTA members in best practices in Community-Oriented Defense and places them in public defense agencies in order to put these principles into practice and establish systems for ongoing sustainability.  This AmeriCorps VISTA project allows NLADA, for the first time ever, to provide boots on the ground to in-need public defense offices in order to help offices modernize their approach to evidence-based practices, data management, and community partnerships.  Over the course of their 12-month term of service, AmeriCorps VISTA members perform activities such as building community partnerships within their host communities and developing data systems and analysis methods to drive evidence-based practices by their host organizations.    
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Melissa Kupferberg Scholarship Fund

The Melissa Kupferberg Annual Training Scholarship, through the National Alliance of Sentencing Advocates and Mitigation Specialists (NASAMS), recognizes Melissa's life work and commitment to providing indigent persons accused of criminal violations of state and federal law with zealous, client-centered advocacy through providing high quality training for all members of the defense team and promoting best practices for client representation in non-capital cases.

The Melissa Kupferberg Annual Conference Scholarship promotes her life work and her commitment to zealous advocacy, training, and best practices of client representation in non-capital cases for indigent persons arrested in state or federal criminal court cases. Melissa exemplified this mission. Through her persistent hard work and long hours, scholarly work and training, as well as dedication and compassion, Melissa became a shining star in our profession. Melissa worked in the capital and non-capital communities in Arizona and Florida. She did not take the easy road; she traveled many an unpaved road and gently gathered each stone knowing the gems she might find in each person she represented. Melissa always went beyond the call of duty with each person she met, whether client, colleague, or friend. She loved exploring her clients’ lives and was passionate about the mysteries within each of us. She was one of the greatest listeners in the profession. This led clients, as well as friends, to trust her and confide their secrets, knowing they would be safe. Melissa had the uncanny ability to become a cherished part of someone’s life within minutes of meeting her. She embraced life and all it had to offer.

Melissa was Vice Chair of NASAMS and Co-chair of NASAMS annual conferences. She was an active board member. She had co-developed and presented an ethics training for social workers in defenders offices and had planned to concentrate on writing professional articles on the subject. Melissa had also begun to develop a graduate school curriculum on defense-based mitigation training. In the years before she died, Melissa provided training throughout the country for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Office of Defender Services, where she was a greatly sought-after facility member. Melissa nearly completed her co-authored handbook for mitigation investigators, specialists, and social science experts. 
Please check the box below and fill in the information to make your donation to this cause with your personal credit card.