Pro Bono s New Frontier

Transcription

1 Pro Bono s New Frontier American Lawyer Magazine Annual Report 2005

2 Dear friends and supporters of Appleseed: This past year has been a time of significant change and progress for Appleseed as we continue to strive for a society in which opportunities are genuine, access to the law is universal and equal, and power is used to advance the public interest. Across the country, Appleseed is working to level the playing field to ensure that everyone has an equal chance. For education. For healthcare. For economic opportunity. For justice. For many people, we are making the American Dream a reality. With 17 Appleseed Centers, we are well on our way to our goal of having an Appleseed Center in every state in which we are needed. In addition to nurturing our established Centers and our newest additions in Louisiana and Mexico, we launched a brand new Center in Washington, and have put together the building blocks of an Appleseed Center in Georgia. Although each of our Centers continues to address diverse issues that matter to their local communities, the national office has become the hub of collaborative projects, coordinating efforts among Centers and driving progress to new communities that are in need. This coming year, we will continue to expand our work that aims to help small businesses provide health insurance for their workers. We will continue our efforts to help parents ensure that their kids have a chance for a good education. And we will continue to develop innovative strategies to bring immigrants into the financial mainstream. As the new co-chairs of Appleseed, we are honored to lead a powerful and growing network that is building a better society on a national scale. We are grateful for your support and time. We have leveraged your contributions many times over. This year alone, we have leveraged over 10,000 hours of pro bono time, valued at over $3.2 million. We know that the best way to achieve big results is to work for the kind of change that transforms entire communities and nations at a time. Marc Fleischaker Co-Chair Arent Fox PLLC Leonard Kennedy Co-Chair Sprint Nextel Corporation

3 Appleseed Grows 2005 has been filled with exciting new advances for Appleseed. Our program successes on health care, education, financial literacy, and election reform, to name a few are described in the pages that follow. We are very proud of the extraordinary growth of our network, with the addition of a new Appleseed Center in Washington and two new Executive Directors in Appleseed Centers in Louisiana and Mexico City. Appleseed s national office provided the seed funding to launch these Centers, the technical assistance to get them off the ground, and the connection to the other Appleseed Centers in order to support and amplify their work. Washington Appleseed is focused on a diverse range of projects from reducing child hunger to tackling disparities in education and improving public transportation. The Center is led by a very distinguished board of directors and its Executive Director, Sue Donaldson, who served for many years as a member and then as President of the Seattle City Council. Monica Taylor joins the staff of Appleseed from the office of Louisiana Congressman Chris John. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Louisiana Appleseed Center is working on reconstruction-related issues, including housing, criminal justice, and employment. Maru Cortazar, who heads the Mexico Center - Appleseed s only Center outside of the United States - comes to us from a long career in human resources at Reuters and elsewhere. Mexico Appleseed is working primarily on projects related to the environment, microfinance, and financial education. In the face of extraordinary need, Appleseed has expanded the number, depth, and impact of our projects and the geographic reach of our network. We are grateful for the opportunity to continue to tackle social justice issues on the ground in communities across the country.

4 National Collaborative Projects Appleseed is assisting in a diverse range of projects that build upon and support the projects of local Appleseed Centers that are helping to ensure a level playing field to economic opportunity, to health care, to a good education, and to justice. Through projects, which leverage the on-the-ground insight of our local Centers with national resources and collaboration, Appleseed is developing new avenues for addressing some of the most serious issues we face. Access to Economic Opportunity: Helping Immigrants Access the Financial System Nearly 60% of Latino immigrants do not have bank accounts, which makes it difficult to save, access credit, buy homes, and move up the financial ladder. Appleseed Centers in Chicago, Nebraska, and Texas are working to provide greater access to financial institutions for immigrants who cannot obtain basic financial services, thus seeking to reduce their reliance on exploitative predatory financing. Appleseed s first-step financial education materials, released this year, have filled a gap in the market for basic information geared specifically towards immigrants, and our innovative credit scoring and service ideas are gaining popularity with mainstream financial institutions. White & Case has provided invaluable support to this project.

5 Access to Health Care: Providing Health Insurance To Small Businesses Recognizing that small businesses constitute 99% of employers and that more than 60% of the uninsured are small business employees or their dependents, Appleseed, with pro bono support from Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, is working to make health insurance available and affordable to small businesses. We have surveyed hundreds of business owners on the obstacles to securing health insurance and have developed a menu of specific solutions that can be implemented at the state level. Among the most promising options is allowing small businesses to buy their coverage through Medicaid. Access to Democracy: Ensuring the Effectiveness of State Voting Systems The most recent presidential elections revealed serious problems in the administration of elections, most of which related to states ability to compile and maintain lists of voters. With the pro bono support of Latham and Watkins and in partnership with the Brennan Center, Appleseed Centers in Nebraska, New Jersey, Texas, and Washington have created a user-friendly guide for advocates. The guide outlines the most important policy issues that must be considered when creating a state-wide voter database. A more technical manual, aimed primarily at database experts and state decision-makers actually responsible for implementation, includes the detailed documents necessary for implementation prior to the first federal elections of Access to Education: Ensuring a Good Education for Low-income and Minority Children Appleseed is working to engage parents to help improve the quality of our public schools, with a special focus on ensuring that low-income, minority, and limited English-proficient students are well-served. Recognizing that informed and involved parents, who can support and advocate for their children, are among the most important factors in children s academic success, Appleseed is focusing on how the federal No Child Left Behind Act is working to educate and engage parents. In collaboration with Holland & Knight, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and Columbia Teacher s College, Appleseed will evaluate what information schools are collecting and providing to parents and what effect it is having on parental involvement. Appleseed will publish a report in the winter of 2006.

6 National Collaborative Projects Continued Access to Opportunity: Tribal Partnership Program The Tribal Partnership Program is fundamentally changing the resources available in the Native-American communities, bringing much needed pro bono legal resources to Indian Country. The Tribal Partnership Program continues to match individual Indian Tribes and Native-American nonprofits with large law firms in order to provide legal assistance in the areas in which firms already have expertise. Over the last year, numerous top tier law firms have participated in the Tribal Partnership Program, and the project continues to grow. These tribes, many for the first time, have access to legal representation. Access to Opportunity: Best Practices for Immigrant Policies Although immigration enforcement is a federal concern, immigrant policies and how immigrants are treated in their new communities are largely a matter of state and local policies. Appleseed, in collaboration with Latham & Watkins and Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, has drafted a series of publications benchmarking state and local policies that ensure access to justice, education, work supports, health care, and economic opportunity, and which protect labor rights and increase civic participation. This report will help Appleseed Centers and community allies at state and local levels to develop and reinforce state policies and opportunities that serve immigrants and their communities. Access to Justice: Local Law Enforcement Since 9/11, the federal government has increasingly leaned on local police to enforce federal immigration laws. Not only does this divert resources from critical local criminal enforcement issues, but strains relations between police and immigrants, making it less likely that immigrants who are victims of or witnesses to crime will step forward. Actual practices by local law enforcement can vary greatly from state to state, county to county, and city to city. Appleseed, together with Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, LLP, produced a primer for immigration advocates on the history and legality of local officers enforcing federal immigration laws. The immigration community is already hailing the primer as one of the best resources available in the field.

7 Access to Health Care: Nonprofit Hospital Accountability Appleseed has worked to ensure that the proposed conversion of several multi-million and billion dollar nonprofits to for-profit companies were in the public interest and that the organizations assets, which must be turned over to a public trust, are accurately valued. Building on this work and with the help of Schulte Roth & Zabel, LLP, Appleseed is examining how nonprofit hospitals whose tax exemption obligates them to provide charitable care to those in need are fulfilling their duty. Access to Health Care: Mental Health & Criminal Justice Three times as many people with mental illness are in the criminal justice system than in the mental health system, and as many as one in five Americans in jail is seriously mentally ill. The roots of this problem are deep and complex. Appleseed Centers are undertaking a comprehensive review of the mental health/criminal justice system to identify the problems and opportunities for reform. With the help of King & Spalding, Appleseed will publish an authoritative report with recommendations for improving the system. Access to Opportunity: Small Business Work Supports Initiative Many low-wage workers, who work full-time or more than full-time, still live in poverty and are eligible for public benefits tax credits, health care, food stamps, and child care that could help them stay in the workforce and out of crisis. However, barriers of information, stigmas, and inadequate funding have kept many eligible workers from accessing these programs. Appleseed Centers in Nebraska, South Carolina, Washington, and Alabama are working with small businesses to educate them about the role of public benefits programs in supporting and retaining their workers and to provide materials, models, and tools for advocacy to ensure that workers and businesses get the support they need.

8 Assets Liabilities and Net Assets Audited financial statement for the year ending June 30, 2005 Assets Cash and cash equivalents 1,107,510 Unconditional promises to give 187,833 Prepaid expenses 14,432 Total Current Assets $1,309,775 Fixed assets net 2,445 Investments 455,365 TOTAL ASSETS $1,767,585 Liabilities and Net Assets Current Liabilities Due to Centers 82,305 Accounts payable and accrued expenses 50,207 Total Current Liabilities $132,512 Net Assets Unrestricted 492,719 Temporarily restricted 1,142,354 Total Net Assets $1,635,073 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS $1,767,585

9 Support Revenue and Expenses Audited financial statement for the year ending June 30, 2005 Support and Revenue Contributions temporarily restricted 579,519 Contributions unrestricted 1,138,341 Investment income 40,788 Rental income 4,800 Donated Services 3,233,513 Total Support and Revenue $4,996,961 Expenses and Distributions Program Distributions Grants to Centers 216,501 Allocated program expenses 3,870,988 Management and general expenses 257,197 Fundraising 270,189 Total Expenses and Distributions $4,614,875 CHANGE IN NET ASSETS $33,761 NET ASSETS BEGINNING OF PERIOD $458,958 NET ASSETS END OF PERIOD $492,719 A full audit for the fiscal year 2005 is available upon request. In-kind Supporters Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP Covington & Burling Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP Debevoise & Plimpton LLP DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary LLP Holland & Knight LLP Jones Day Kilpatrick Stockton LLP King & Spalding LLP Kirkland & Ellis LLP Latham & Watkins LLP Levine Blaszak Block & Boothby LLP Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw LLP Perkins Coie LLP Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP Raben Group LLC Schulte Roth Zabel LLP Shearman & Sterling LLP Sullivan & Cromwell LLP Walker Associates Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP White & Case LLP Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP

10 Appleseed Board of Directors Marc Fleischaker (Co-Chair) Arent Fox PLLC Leonard Kennedy (Co-Chair) Sprint Nextel Corp. Jack O Kelley (Vice President) Katzenbach Partners LLC Malcolm Rich (Vice President) Chicago Appleseed Center Sara J. Cavendish (Treasurer) Marshfield Associates Stephen Gates (Secretary) Conoco-Phillips Inc. Kevin Arquit Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP Frank Bailey Sherin & Lodgen LLP Alicia Batts Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky LLP David J. Bershad Milberg, Weiss, Bershad & Schulman LLP David Broderick McCarter & English, LLP Brooks Burdette Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP Ronald Cami Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP Diana Daniels The Washington Post Company Gary Epstein Latham & Watkins LLP Peter Erichsen The J. Paul Getty Trust Jack Focht Foulston & Siefkin LLP Michael Freed Much, Shelist, Freed, Denenberg, Ament & Rubenstein P.C. A.H. Gaede Jr. Bradley Arant Rose & White LLP Willis Goldsmith Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue Ralph Gonzalez Citigroup Inc. Edward Gray Morrison & Foerster LLP Stanley Grossman Pomerantz, Haudek, Block, Grossman & Gross LLP Steve Hanlon Holland & Knight LLP Larry Harris Draft Net Eileen Hershenov Consumers Union Ted Hester King & Spalding LLP Jonathan Hiatt AFL-CIO Ann Kappler Fannie Mae Richard Ketchum New York Stock Exchange, Inc. Eric S. Koenig Retired, Microsoft Corporation Forrest N. Krutter Berkshire Hathaway Group Inc. Henry Levine Levine, Blaszak, Block & Boothby LLP Harold Levy Kaplan Inc. Michael Lowenberg Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP Robert Mallett Pfizer Inc. Timothy Mayopoulos Bank of America Herbert E. Milstein Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C. Milo Mumgaard Nebraska Appleseed Center Cecilia Muñoz National Council of La Raza

11 A.G. Newmyer III U.S. Fiduciary Advisors, LLC Melanie Nussdorf Steptoe & Johnson LLP Morgan O Brien O Brien Associates R. Bruce Rich Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP Matthew Richardson Wyche Burgess Freeman & Parham, P.A. James Rogers Latham & Watkins LLP Clifford Sloan Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Charles Smith Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP & Affiliates Kerry Sulkowicz The Boswell Group LLC Lucia D. Swanson Retired, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc. Ronald Tabak Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP & Affiliates Allan Van Fleet Vinson & Elkins LLP Eugene Weil Milestone Merchant Partners, LLC Eric Zahler Loral Space & Communications Founding Directors Robert L. Bachner Phillips Nizer LLP Gail Erickson Retired, W.R. Grace & Co. Robert E. Herzstein Miller & Chevalier Mark Joelson Law Offices of Mark Joelson Edward M. Levin Retired, Department of Commerce Richard J. Medalie Law Offices of Richard J. Medalie Robert Mundheim (President Emeritus) Shearman & Sterling LLP Ralph Nader The Center for Study of Responsive Law Ralph I. Petersberger Retired, McDermott Will & Emery Bertrand B. Pogrebin Grotta, Glassman & Hoffman, P.C. Philip F. Zeidman DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary LLP Without people nothing is possible; without institutions, nothing is lasting. This is the underlying approach that informs the Appleseed agenda to broaden the scope of justice in America. Compassion initiates reform, embodying initiatives within a robust framework of legal process and oversight, that become part of the social fabric lending them permanence.

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