The Venable Foundation Recognized as Platinum-Level Participant in D.C. Access to Justice’s Raising the Bar Campaign
Washington, DC (November 24, 2020) – The Venable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Venable LLP, is pleased to announce that it has been recognized as a platinum-level participant in D.C. Access to Justice’s 2019 Raising the Bar Campaign. The platinum level is the campaign’s top tier and honors firms that have administered financial support amounting to .11% of D.C. office revenue to local legal services providers. In 2019, the Venable Foundation awarded $341,000 in grants to legal aid organizations in D.C., and more than $600,000 across the country.
To meet the urgent need for increased funding for legal services, the D.C. Access to Justice Commission formally launched the Raising the Bar in D.C. Campaign in December 2010. The campaign’s goal is to substantially increase financial support to the District’s legal services community by establishing benchmarks for law firm giving and annually recognizing those firms that have donated at benchmark levels. Because the benchmarks are based on revenue, the recognition levels are accessible to firms of all sizes.
The D.C. Access to Justice Commission was created by the D.C. Court of Appeals in 2005 to improve low- and moderate-income residents’ ability to access the civil justice system and raise awareness of the need for equal access to justice. The Commission has twenty-four commissioners, including D.C. Court of Appeals and Superior Court judges, past presidents of the D.C. Bar, executive directors of leading legal services providers, corporate counsel, and other community leaders.
The Venable Foundation was established in 1983 to support a wide variety of charitable, civic, and cultural endeavors, and serve public interest law needs in our communities. In the past 10 years, the Venable Foundation has granted more than $25 million to worthy organizations that provide critical support to those in need. These include children’s services and funding for disadvantaged families and individuals; homeless shelters and food programs; community organizations, hospitals, hospices, and local chapters of national health organizations; and educational, artistic, and cultural events and organizations. In 2019 alone, the Foundation awarded $3.2 million in grant dollars to 363 nonprofit organizations in Washington, DC, Baltimore, New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The Foundation is funded by the partners of Venable LLP.
