NCBF Excellence Award
Established in 2015, the NCBF Excellence Award recognizes an outstanding contribution to law-related philanthropy by an individual.
Award Nominations
The NCBF Excellence Award recognizes an outstanding contribution to law-related philanthropy by an individual. This award is a wonderful opportunity to recognize a bar foundation staff member or volunteer for a job well done.
Criteria & Deadlines
This award is meant to recognize bar foundation volunteers, employees, and others within member bar foundations. Please note, an individual nominee need not be a dues-paying member of the NCBF (to allow for past bar foundation staff members and volunteers to be considered). Current members of the NCBF Board of Trustees are ineligible.
All NCBF members are invited to submit nominations for this award. Nominations will be reviewed by the NCBF Awards Committee. Nominations should be in the form of an emailed letter with links or a letter with attachments describing the nominee and how the individual has made an outstanding contribution to law-related philanthropy, and the impact of this contribution.
The deadline for nominations is June 30, 2023. Nominations should be directed to: NCBF Awards Committee at awards@ncbf.org .
The following distinguished members have received this recognition:
The 2023 Excellence Award was presented to Bob Glaves. Bob's journey with the NCBF (National Conference of Bar Foundations) exemplifies his dedication to the cause. Even after serving as president, he continued to actively contribute, offering his wealth of knowledge and expertise to support various projects and mentor board members. His enduring commitment to NCBF has made him an invaluable resource and an inspirational figure for those he has worked with.
Since assuming the role of Executive Director of The Chicago Bar Foundation in 1999, Bob has been at the forefront of transformative change. He has orchestrated an impressive tenfold increase in annual grants and fundraising, catalyzing groundbreaking access to justice initiatives. Bob's visionary leadership has brought Chicago's legal community together, driving meaningful progress.
The 2022 Excellence Award was presented to Andrea Stone, who recently retired as the Texas Bar Foundation Executive Director. Andrea’s bar organization career began with the Texas State Bar before moving to the Texas Bar Foundation and becoming its Executive Director about two decades ago. Her leadership and expertise moved the bar foundation to its current position as the largest charitably funded bar foundation in the nation.
Andrea's participation and involvement in NCBF led her to exemplary service as a committee member, a board of directors member, and officer positions, including a stellar tenure as president. Her NCBF leadership culminated with having the Texas Bar Foundation host the 2020 mid-year meeting in Austin, the last of those events for NCBF.
2020 - Patricia Winthrop has been an active volunteer for the Arizona Bar Foundation for nearly 20 years, assisting in numerous projects to promote law-related education and to provide legal assistance to Arizona's most vulnerable populations. At the request of the Arizona Bar Foundation, Pat was proactive in starting a medical-legal partnership in conjunction with St. Vincent de Paul, a non-profit entity devoted to serving the poor and homeless. She is a mentor for The Challenge Foundation, a dedicated supporter and volunteer for the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, a non-profit organization that provides free legal and social services to detained adults and unaccompanied children in Arizona. Pat also has been an effective fund raiser for other non-profit legal service entities. Additionally, in lieu of accepting any compensation for her part-time work over the last five years with the Center for Divorce Education, an entity that helps parents and children deal with the difficult process of divorce and separation, Pat negotiated a direct monthly donation from the Center to the Arizona Bar Foundation. To date, those donations have exceeded $50,000. Aside from her passion for the Arizona Bar Foundation, Pat is a 30-year breast cancer survivor, was a Keystone Kop 19 years ago in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Holiday Parade and is a member of a local Irish step dancing troupe.
2019 - David White is a long-standing Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Foundation (KCMBF) board director and veteran, having served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve for 27 years as a Lieutenant Colonel and recipient of the Legion of Merit. Dave used his experience to help KCMBF lead the initiative to form Military Matters in an effort to increase veterans’ access to legal and other support services, as well as to raise awareness of the problems faced by the veteran and military population as they reintegrate into civilian life. Dave’s military experience and connections, coupled with an unwavering dedication to the formation of the program, have resulted in tremendous success over the past three years. Military Matters officially launched in 2016, and under Dave’s leadership has facilitated more than 600 veteran referrals and partnered with five official community partners in Greater Kansas City to link veterans with a network of over 150 volunteer attorneys. Military Matters community partners include the Kansas City VA Medical Center, Kansas Legal Services, Legal Aid of Western Missouri, United Way of Greater Kansas City, and Veterans Community Project.
2018 - Debbie Gross, Chancellor, Philadelphia Bar Association. Debbie Gross is a true trailblazer in her support for Philadelphia's public interest legal community and the advancement of access to justice. For more than 10 years, she has been a resilient advocate for the Philadelphia Bar Foundation's work, donating more than $150,000 to the Foundation during that time. As a Trustee, she has participated in the Grants Committee, the Finance Committee, the Annual Benefit Committee, the Development Committee, and many ad hoc Task Forces. During her Foundation Presidency, she dedicated time and resources to the 50th anniversary fundraising efforts, which included hundreds of personal phone calls and meetings with law firms on behalf of the Foundation.
2017 - Hon. Debra Walker, Cook County Circuit Court judge. Debra has a strong history of leadership in both bar foundation and bar association circles, having served on the NCBF Board of Trustees, as president of the Illinois Bar Foundation, and president of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois. She chairs the Commission on Professionalism of the Illinois Supreme Court.
2016 - Colonel (USAF Retired) Martin, former Executive Director of the Arkansas Bar Association and the Arkansas Bar Foundation. Bill was active in the NCBF, having served two terms on the NCBF Board of Trustees and three years as NCBF Treasurer. He was designated an NCBF Trustee Emeritus for his continuous and long-standing support and involvement in the organization. He continues to remain active in bar work, serving on the boards of both the Pulaski County Bar Association and the Pulaski County Bar Foundation, which he helped found.
2015 - Thomas R. Tinder, Executive Director of the West Virginia Bar Foundation and a former NCBF president, who continues to be active in the NCBF. In his acceptance remarks, Mr. Tinder noted that "faith, friends and family are the true essence of life."