THE LOUISVILLE BAR FOUNDATION LBF Elects Officers for 2025 Sara Veeneman Judd is the incoming President for the Louisville Bar Foundation for 2025. As Senior Counsel for PPL Services Company, Sara works in-house for Louisville Gas & Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Com- pany. She represents LG&E and KU in all proceedings at the Kentucky Public Service Commission in Frankfort and provides counsel to the utilities on a wide array of issues, focusing primarily on Kentucky regulatory matters. Before joining LG&E and KU in 2015, Sara was a partner at Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, LLP where she spent nine years practicing in commercial litigation. During her tenure at Wyatt, she served on the firm’s Recruiting and Diver- sity Committees. Immediately after graduating from the University of Kentucky College of Law, she clerked for the Honorable Charles R. Simpson, III, U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Kentucky. Sara is a Louisville native and remains active in the community, both professionally and personally. In addition to serving on the board of the LBF, Sara has been a member in the Brandeis Inn of Court. Sara also graduated from GLI’s Inaugural LEAD class, Leadership Louisville’s Ignite Louisville program and the Fund for the Arts NeXt! Leadership program. She served on the Friends of the Louisville Zoo Board for six years, and now serves on the parish counsel for Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Other LBF Officers for 2025 include: Gregory T. Dutton, President-Elect; Joseph C. Ventura, Vice President and Treasurer; Nicole T. Cook, Secretary; Charles H. Stopher, Past President. In addition, four individuals will join the LBF Board of Directors: C. Dean Furman, Dwight L. Haygood, Sarah J. Martin and Ozair M. Shariff. 2024 Grant Recipients Foundation’s grant awards in 2024 reach all corners of the community The Louisville Bar Foundation awarded seven additional grants in the final quarter of 2023, bringing the total amount of funds awarded this year to $201,535. The Louisville Bar Foundation is the charitable giving arm of the Louisville Bar As- sociation, and it makes grants to local not-for-profit organizations for the delivery of legal services to the poor, improvement of the judiciary and law-related public education. Since its founding in 1982, the Foundation has distributed more than $3.6 million in grant funds. The Foundation is supported by charitable contributions from individual attorneys and law firms. INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE (LOUISVILLE) Legal Assistance Clinics for Refugees – $8,000 The International Rescue Committee provides opportunities for refugees, asylees, victims of human trafficking, survivors of torture and other immigrants to thrive in America. Refugees are required by law to apply for ad- justment of status (green card) after being present in the U.S. for one year. The paperwork is often complicated, and the refugees frequently require legal assistance. LBF funds will support regular workshops where pro bono attorneys will assist refugees in preparing the necessary paperwork to comply with the filing requirements. KENTUCKY REFUGEE MINISTRIES Immigration Legal Services – $15,000 Kentucky Refugee Ministries provides legal services to immigrants who have resettled in the Louisville area. Many of these immigrants need to file applications with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for permanent residence status or to petition for asylum. In recent years, the number of requests for legal assistance far exceeded staff capacity, creating backlogs and waiting lists. The LBF grant will provide funds for KRM to strategically build staff capacity to meet this increased need and reduce the backlog and wait time. The grant also provides partial fee subsidies for immigrants who cannot afford to pay the entire cost of preparing and filing these documents. LEGAL AID SOCIETY Doctors & Lawyers for Kids – $15,000 Doctors & Lawyers for Kids is a collaborative effort of the Legal Aid Society, LBA, UofL Pediatrics and Fam- ily Health Centers that assists children from low-income families by training healthcare providers to recognize unmet legal needs that affect patient health and by having free legal services available to families in need. LBF funds will be used to support services to the Smoketown Family Wellness Center and other pediatric settings. (Continued on next page) 2024: By the Numbers 2024 showed a record-breaking amount of grant funds awarded by the LBF in a single year: Number of firms and law departments that join as Foundation Partners with 100% participation. Percentage of LBA members make a $45 chari- table gift to the LBF in 2024. $45k + Total funds awarded in 2024 (previous record was $169,500 in 2023) Number of grants awarded to non-profits Amount of grant funds awarded to LBA for programmatic activities $201,535 22 $15k 45% 26 Amount in contributions to the endowment in 2024 made by Fellows’ Pledges and gifts from supportive lawyers and law firms. www.loubar.org 12 Louisville Bar Briefs
