Alone We Can Do So Little, Together We Can Do So Much

November 2, 2018

If we had to identify one thing that has made the CBF a powerful force for good over our first 70 years, that famous quote in the title from Helen Keller sums it up well.

The concept of partnerships is part of the CBF’s DNA. The CBF’s very existence owes to our legal community coming together around our profession’s common cause: working to ensure the legal system is fair and accessible to everyone regardless of who they are, where they are from, or how much money they have. While there is no doubt that each of us has the power to do big things on our own in this cause as individuals, working together we can truly change the world.

Thousands of individual supporters, hundreds of law firm and corporate supporters, and many other dedicated partners make the CBF’s work possible. Our legal community contributes in many ways to bring the CBF’s mission to life through monetary support, pro bono, advocacy, and other in-kind contributions. The Investing in Justice Campaign, the Justice Entrepreneurs Project, and the Circuit Court Pro Se Advisory Committee are just a few of the most prominent examples.

With the legal community’s strong support as our foundation, the CBF then partners with a wide range of other organizations and entities to make an even greater impact.

While it would be impossible to list all of the dedicated partners the CBF works with beyond our immediate supporters, they include:

• The CBF’s dozens of outstanding pro bono and legal aid organization grantees;
• Our fellow access to justice funders like the Lawyers Trust Fund, the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation, the Chicago Community Trust, the Polk Bros. Foundation and the Illinois Bar Foundation;
• Other foundations and federal, state and local government entities we partner with on specific initiatives, such as Cook County, the Serve Illinois Commission and the Legal Services Corporation;
• Our court partners at the federal, state and local levels, highlighted by the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice, the Access to Justice Division of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, and the federal Pro Bono Advisory Committee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District.
• Our many advocacy partners at the federal, state and local levels, like the Illinois State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association.
• And lastly, our partner in all of our work from the start, The Chicago Bar Association.

Thanks to the dedication of our legal community and our many other great partners, the CBF has become the largest and most influential voluntarily supported bar foundation anywhere, and is widely considered a national leader in access to justice and legal innovation. Thank you for making our work possible!