Description

If you can’t join us in person, or you’d like the convenience of watching some of the seminars while out of the conference rooms, you can attend the 2025 NCBF Annual Meeting and Conference Webinar via Zoom.

The 2026 NCBF Annual Meeting and Conference

Cornerstone of Progress: Resilience and Access to Justice

will be held on August 13-15, in Montgomery, Alabama, hosted by the Alabama Law Foundation with all sessions being held at Elevation Convening Center and Hotel. Join us in-person or virtually for presentations, workshops, and discussions led by top professionals and peers. Programming begins at 9:00 AM Friday and concludes at 1:00 PM Saturday.

Elevation Convening Center and Hotel
600 Montgomery Street
Montgomery, AL 36104

NCBF Special Rate: $160
Hotel Booking Deadline: July 12 2026
Special Rate Link: Click Here

NCBF special rates are available until July 12, 2026 using this special link. If you have any issues booking your hotel room during the Annual Meeting and Conference dates at the $160/night NCBF rate, please contact us at info@ncbf.org before you make your reservation to get the special rate.

A complete description of opportunities and a map of the area are available below.

Registration Information*

• NCBF Members: In-Person attendance, $279 per person (early bird) $329 (regular)  | Virtual attendance $125 per person (early bird) $179 (regular)
• Non-Members: In-Person attendance, $379 per person (early bird) $429 (regular)  | Virtual attendance $199 per person (early bird) $259 per person (regular)
• All Attendees: Thursday Meet & Greet at Elevation – Free
• All Attendees: Friday Night Dinner at Central on Coosa Street – $100 per person

The 2026 NCBF Annual Meeting and Conference will be held at Elevation Convening Center and Hotel. See below for maps and details.

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Friday, August 14th

8:30 AM Breakfast Gathering
Continental Breakfast

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9:00 AM Conference Welcome & First-Time Attendee Introductions

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9:30 AM Session 1: (Opening Plenary)- Dr. Melva Tate, President & CEO Tate & Associates Strategic Consulting

Artificial Intelligence is transforming the way organizations communicate,
analyze information, manage operations, and serve stakeholders. For bar
foundations and access-to-justice organizations operating with limited staff
and increasing demands, AI presents opportunities to expand organizational
capacity while maintaining mission focus.

This interactive session moves beyond the hype surrounding AI and focuses on
practical applications that foundation leaders can begin using immediately.
Participants will learn how AI can support donor communications, grantmaking
processes, board reporting, data analysis, administrative efficiency, and
strategic decision-making while also understanding the ethical, governance,
and confidentiality considerations that accompany these emerging
technologies.

Special attention will be given to balancing innovation with responsibility,
ensuring that AI enhances rather than replaces the human relationships,
professional judgment, and mission-driven leadership that are essential to
advancing access to justice.

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11:45 AM Break

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12:00 PM Lunch and Awards

2026 NCBF Partnership for Success Award
2026 NCBF Excellence Award Ceremony

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1:00 PM Session 3: Branding for Bar Foundations

Join Caroline Cassin, Founder and CEO of The Brand Thread, for an interactive session on how strategic branding can amplify the mission of bar foundations and the nonprofits they serve. Through presentation and Q&A, attendees will explore how authentic storytelling, clear messaging, and consistent identity build the trust and credibility needed to mobilize support for civil legal services and access to justice. Walk away with practical clarity on how to communicate who you are, what you do, and why it matters—so the right audiences are inspired to act.

Caroline Cassin is the Founder and CEO of The Brand Thread, LLC, a Lexington, Kentucky-based brand consulting firm. With over 20 years of experience across industries including nonprofits, sports and entertainment, hospitality, consumer packaged goods, healthcare, and manufacturing, Caroline helps organizations clarify who they are, articulate what they stand for, and build brands that drive meaningful impact.

Her career began in New York City, where she managed major department store accounts for two established fashion houses before joining the Professional Golfers Association of America as a founding team member of PGA REACH—the PGA’s philanthropic foundation—where she led all programming, marketing, and fundraising. She later served as Brand Director for Castle & Key Distillery, where she built the brand from the ground up and helped restore a 113-acre historic property that had been abandoned for over 40 years.

Caroline launched The Brand Thread in 2020, bringing her cross-industry expertise to purpose-driven organizations navigating brand strategy, messaging, and organizational identity. As a Certified Practitioner of the HBDI® Assessment and Whole Brain Thinking®, she also works with leaders and teams to harness cognitive diversity and align people around a shared purpose.

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2:15 PM Break

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2:30 PM Session 3: Funding Models and Peer-to-Peer Fundraising in the Legal Community

This session will feature Sang Yup Lee, Carey Shoufler, and Jessie Reeves exploring diversified funding strategies that sustain access to justice, including annual giving, major gifts, and young lawyer engagement. Presenters will also highlight successful peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns such as the Chicago Bar Foundation’s Investing in Justice Campaign and share practical tools that foundations can replicate.

Sang Yup Lee is the Director of Development at The Chicago Bar Foundation. In this role, Sang leads the CBF’s fundraising efforts and oversees all aspects of the CBF’s individual and corporate giving programs. Prior to his career in nonprofit development, Sang was an attorney for the Progressive Law Group LLC, where he worked on class action litigation and consumer rights cases. As part of his community work, he currently serves as the President of the National Conference of Bar Foundations and has previously served as President of the Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago. Sang earned both his B.A. in Psychology and J.D. from the University of Notre Dame.

For 22 years, Carey Shoufler has served as the Development and Law Related Education Director for the Idaho Law Foundation. Carey oversees the Foundation’s fundraising and communication efforts and provides leadership and management for a statewide civic education program for people of all ages.

Jessie Reeves is the Director of Events & Administration for the Illinois Bar Foundation, where she has served in a variety of fundraising roles since starting with IBF in 2015. Currently, Jessie is responsible for developing and implementing the Foundation’s event fundraising, donor and board relations, and communications and marketing plans, and she also administers the IBF’s statewide Lawyers Care Fund, which provides financial aid and other resources to attorneys and their families during times of crisis. Jessie is based in the IBF’s Chicago office and outside of work, loves exploring the many amazing neighborhoods of the city, volunteering with a local animal rescue, and traveling with her husband and rescue pup.

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3:30 PM Break

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3:45 PM Session 5: Supporting Grantees and Responding to Emerging Civil Rights Challenges

Legal services organizations and civil rights advocates are navigating rapidly changing legal and social environments. In this session Erikka Ryan will explore how bar foundations can support grantees through flexible funding, capacity building, emergency support, and long-term collaboration.

Erikka Ryan currently serves as the Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Foundations for the Minnesota State, Hennepin, and Ramsey County Bar Associations,  focusing on both long-term systemic change and day-to-day programming and direct support of diverse attorneys.

Since 2021, she has added the role of staffing the bar’s three foundations that give hundreds of thousands of dollars each year directly to legal aid organizations throughout the state in the pursuit of narrowing the access to justice gap for historically marginalized communities.

Erikka lives and works in North Minneapolis with her husband and toddler, and most enjoys sunny strolls through twin cities parks with her three pups and sipping her way through local coffee spots.

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4:45 PM Conclusion of Day 1 Presentations

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6:30 PM Friday Night Cocktails & Dinner

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Saturday, August 15th

8:30 AM Breakfast Gathering
Breakfast Buffet

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9:00 AM 2026 NCBF Annual Meeting of Members

Sang Yup Lee currently serves as the President of the National Conference of Bar Foundations.

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9:30 AM Session 6: Bar Foundation Program Survey Reveal

This session will unveil the results of a national survey of bar foundations, offering insight into how organizations are structured, funded, and advancing access to justice across the country. Presenters will highlight key trends, benchmarks, and emerging practices.

Sang Yup Lee is the Director of Development at The Chicago Bar Foundation. In this role, Sang leads the CBF’s fundraising efforts and oversees all aspects of the CBF’s individual and corporate giving programs. Prior to his career in nonprofit development, Sang was an attorney for the Progressive Law Group LLC, where he worked on class action litigation and consumer rights cases. As part of his community work, he currently serves as the President of the National Conference of Bar Foundations and has previously served as President of the Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago. Sang earned both his B.A. in Psychology and J.D. from the University of Notre Dame.

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11:00 AM Break

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11:15 AM Session 7: Rural Access to Justice

Rural communities face unique and often deepening barriers to legal services. This session will explore how bar foundations can strengthen rural access to justice through innovative funding models, partnerships, and technology solutions.

Mr. Howell Thomas Heflin, Jr. is a lawyer practicing adoptions, appellate practice, asbestos litigation and 40 other areas of law. Howell received a B.A. degree from University of Alabama in 1976, and has been licensed for 47 years. Howell practices at Law Offices of H. Thomas Heflin, Jr., LLC in Tuscumbia, AL.

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12:15 PM Session 8: Roundtable Discussions and Lunch

Peer Breakout: Foundations with Similar Profiles

Participants will join facilitated discussions with peers from foundations with similar structures, budgets, or staffing models to share strategies and explore solutions to common challenges.

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All our sessions and the Meet & Greet will be held at the Elevation Hotel located at:

Elevation Convening Center and Hotel
600 Montgomery Street
Montgomery, AL 36104

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Our Friday night dinner at 6:30 PM will be held at:

Central Restaurant
129 Coosa Street
Montgomery, AL 36104

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Things to do while in Montgomery, Alabama. Come a few days early or stay a day or more after the meeting.