Judge Carla Baldwin has a metaphor she likes to use when she talks about the Youngstown Municipal Court, where she presides as the first Black female judge elected to serve in the court’s history. “We are the ER of the judicial system,” she said. “We get everything first, and then we have to triage it [...]
Equality Ohio is a statewide nonprofit organization whose mission is to ensure lived and legal equality for LGBTQ+ Ohioans. Through advocacy, community outreach, and civil legal services, Equality Ohio works to create an Ohio where LGBTQ+ people are thriving. The Ohio Access to Justice Foundation supports Equality Ohio through funding for their civil legal services [...]
The Ohio Access to Justice Foundation presents the Presidential Award annually to individuals, law firms, or organizations that have made outstanding efforts to improve access to justice in Ohio. Since 1996, the Foundation has honored leaders in pro bono who play an indispensable role in helping Ohioans address civil legal issues that impact health, safety, [...]
When the Ohio Justice Bus sought volunteer lawyers to help staff legal clinics in Hamilton County, the Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati (BLAC) was at the top of the list. BLAC, an affinity bar association that works to ensure all lawyers and law students have equal opportunity to share in the benefits of the legal [...]
Tenille Kaus is only four months into her new role at The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, where she leads diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and advancement for the nonprofit, but already she has a full plate. Charged with implementing legal aid’s DEI plan and designing strategies to ensure that the nonprofit considers DEI principles across [...]
Since its launch in the fall of 2019, the Ohio Justice Bus has been on the road, delivering justice to Ohio’s most vulnerable communities. To help manage the Bus’s busy clinic schedule and to expand its reach, the Bus is pleased to welcome two new full-time staff members. “We’ve been growing rapidly, working with new [...]
Scott Kovach is the new staff attorney for the Ohio Justice Bus. Kovach is a Capital University Law School graduate and holds a master’s degree in legal studies from Washington University in St. Louis. Kovach is a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army and has served since 2009. Kovach joins the Bus in his first [...]
An innovative program in Springfield funded by the Supreme Court of Ohio is bringing together Clark County Juvenile Court, Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE), and Springfield City Schools to help chronically absent kids and their families get back on the path to success in school. The program, envisioned and developed by Clark County Judge [...]
When CareSource, one of the nation’s largest Medicaid managed care plans, set out to help address social determinants of health (SDOH), the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation was a natural partner. As the state’s access to justice entity, the Foundation understands that civil legal services are particularly effective in improving SDOH, as non-medical factors affect [...]
Crystal Bryant-Agyemang is a fierce advocate, leader, attorney, and public servant with a drive to serve her community. With a background in social work and the law, Bryant-Agyemang is an effective collaborator and organizer, a sought-after leader, and a staunch advocate for Ohioans impacted by the criminal justice system. As Executive Director of the Cleveland [...]
