East Bay Children’s Law Offices is part of a Mental Health Services Oversight & Accountability Committee grant working with parents & caregivers statewide to improve services and support families and strengthen the voices of parents and caregivers in the process. Are you a caregiver? Please fill out this survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/oacparentcaregiversurvey
If you are interested in getting more involved, please contact Jessie Conradi at Jessie.Conradi@ebclo.org.
Many thanks to the Sky Ranch Foundation for their continued support of East Bay Children’s Law Offices. We were honored to have Sky Ranch Foundation Board Vice President Mike Donohoe join as at the Juvenile Justice Center today. Formed in 1961, and building on more than 56 years of tradition, Sky Ranch Foundation is committed to giving at-risk youth a second chance by identifying and offering grants to efficient and effective programs focused on improving the quality of help available to these youth. We are grateful for their partnership.
EBCLO’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Barrie Becker begins as East Bay Children’s Law Offices’ new Executive Director today. She follows Interim Executive Director Susan Walsh, who ably led EBCLO during the search period after EBCLO’s founding Executive Director, Roger Chan, was appointed to the San Francisco Superior Court as Judge last July. “The Board’s focus for hiring a new Executive Director was to locate a candidate with strong non-profit management experience and successful fundraising experience,” says Board President Kathy Siegel. “Ms. Becker excels in both these areas. Those who know her well describe Barrie as brilliant, talented, dynamic, incredibly innovative, hard-working and passionate about working to improve the lives of traditionally underserved children and youth.”
Becker, an attorney who herself helped launch a non-profit called Legal Community Against Violence in 1993, a San Francisco-based organization (now called the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence) and served as its Executive Director for 7 years says, “following Roger Chan, the founding ED, and then Susan Walsh, is a responsibility I do not take lightly.” Becker says she feels supported in that “extremely talented founding senior leaders are staying on, along with a dedicated group of social workers, attorneys, operations professionals and board members . . . I am very fortunate to join this team and build upon such a strong foundation.”
Barrie sharpened her skills as a social entrepreneur by engaging lawyers in drafting and defending local firearm safety ordinances, and partnering with law enforcement leaders to spread training of police on implicit bias and fair and equitable decision-making. Prior to joining EBCLO, Becker served as California Director, for Council for a Strong America and its project Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. One of her proudest accomplishments was helping to create and lead a coalition of advocates who drafted and successfully advocated for new state laws preventing suspensions and expulsions of California students, prioritizing instead strategies to address underlying needs while keeping youth in school. Barrie has guest-lectured on non-profit management and advocacy topics at U.C. Berkeley and University of San Francisco, and is a recipient of The Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation Non-Profit Leadership Award. Barrie earned her B.A. at Yale University, her J.D. at University of California Hastings College of the Law, and her L.L.M. in Taxation from Golden Gate University.
Becker notes that “innovative collaboration between child-serving agencies, community-based and governmental, leads to better outcomes for children and youth. Alameda County courts and agencies serving children, youth and families are often at the forefront of innovation, and I look forward to learning about how EBCLO can bring additional value to this rich mix of providers of critical supports and services for our most vulnerable young people.” Her commitment to advocacy for disadvantaged children and youth stems in part from her experience as a parent of two children who are now heading to college. “My kids had strong support, especially my son, who is legally blind; his educators, special education teachers, medical team, and community support system helped ensure that his disability didn’t limit his self-confidence and dreams for the future. Every child deserves such support, and EBCLO helps ensure that the children and youth of Alameda County get the love and support they need to thrive.”
Becker pledges to focus on continuing to grow, at EBCLO, a culture of trust and transparency, both internally and in partnership with external organizations. “The most valuable asset an organization has is the commitment of a talented team, and my job will be to help unlock the full potential of this already thriving team of professionals.” Siegel adds, “Ms. Becker is ideally suited to work with our extraordinary staff of committed attorneys, social workers and case managers to continue to do the important work they do every day to meet the needs of the children, youth and families we represent in Juvenile and Probate Court.”
The Board thanks Jacqueline Janssen and her staff at Janssen Non-Profit Recruiting for leading us to Ms. Becker.
We are now hiring an attorney into our Probate Counsel for Children program. Looking for someone with at least three years experience representing children. Please see attached job description.
EBCLO is hiring a new dependency attorney. Applications due June 9, 2017 at 5 p.m.
“Last week, 50 local chief judges sent a letter to Brown and legislators seeking – actually begging – for this relatively tiny appropriation.” Read the full op ed article about the need for adequate dependency funding here.
Thank you to the Oakland Bay Area Links for their generous grant to EBCLO. We are honored to be among the organizations supported by this impressive group of women. The Links, Incorporated is an international, not-for-profit corporation, established in 1946. The membership consists of nearly 14,000 professional women of color in 281 chapters located in 41 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. It is one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations of extraordinary women who are committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry. Oakland Bay Area Links was founded in 1950 on the principles of friendship and service. The local chapter has been delivering quality programs and support for the past 66 years and has been a part of advocating for and serving those who need the most help. We are delighted to partner with Oakland Bay Area Links in this endeavor.
Many thanks to long time EBCLO supporters who will match every donation made to EBCLO through East Bay Gives up to $22,500! What is East Bay Gives? It’s a 24-hour-online giving blitz celebrating the generosity of the Bay Area. It takes place May 4th, but if you’ll be too busy posting Star Wars references (May the 4th Be With You), you can “schedule” your donation for midnight starting now.
If you are an insomniac or would just love to help your money go even further, help us win a $3000 prize from East Bay Community Foundation by helping us get the most unique donations between 1 and 2 am on May 4th. Unfortunately, these donations cannot be scheduled in advance, but we’ll send out some reminders to set your alarm clock!
Last year, East Bay Gives successfully rallied over 8,000 donors to raise more than $1 million for nonprofits like ours that make the East Bay region a special place to live, work and thrive. In 2017, East Bay Gives aims to mobilize more than 40,000 people to give $5 million to support hundreds of nonprofits in the East Bay, Silicon Valley, and San Francisco.
Join the fun and help us secure all $22,500 in matching dollars!
Great article covering EBCLO’s budget cuts was on the front page of the East Bay Times yesterday. To read the article and see the video visit: http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/03/13/attorneys-more-funding-needed-to-help-east-bay-foster-youths/
Your donations work miracles.
Make a difference in the lives of others today.
