WEST VIRGINIA BAR FOUNDATION
ANNUAL REPORT
JULY 1, 2010-JUNE 30, 2011

The 2010-2011 fiscal year was one of momentous changes for the Bar Foundation—no longer administering the IOLTA program after 19 years of distributing more than $13.5 million to provide free civil legal services to low income citizens, negotiating the sale of the State Bar Center and the Lawyer Disciplinary Board buildings and experiencing very significant reductions in major streams of income with corresponding decreases in staff support and office operation expenses.
The diverse fifteen member Board of Directors placed more focus on making grants to worthwhile charitable entities in West Virginia and succeeded in making more grants (7) for more money (almost $33,000) than at any time in its 23 year history, including the institution of a new Bar Foundation Public Service Scholarship to a deserving student at the WVU College of Law. Twenty-nine total grants have been awarded since 2004 for more than $118,000.
There was another impressive Bar Foundation Fellows Dinner which honored 4 Judges and 13 lawyers who exceeded the high standards and criteria for the award. They joined less than 300 other Fellows out of more than 5,000 judges and lawyers in the state.
The fiscal year ended with a balanced budget and the Board again received a clean audit report from the independent auditor for the previous 2009-2010 fiscal year.
Important communications and interaction with Bar Foundation members were continued through the delivery of the twice monthly Bar Brief email messages and the use of the Bar Foundation’s website—wvbarfoundation.org
The active Strategic Planning Committee recommended and the Board approved new fundraising initiatives and educational events to improve the administration of justice in the state.
The Officers and the Board members contributed their leadership and governance skills in approving the necessary policy decisions during quarterly Board meetings, special meetings, numerous email communications and telephone conference calls.
The Board elected three excellent individuals to serve as Officers for the 2011-2012 year—President Joe Long (Bluefield), Vice President Steve Nord (Huntington) and Secretary/Treasurer Tracey Weber (Weston)— and five Board members were elected or re-elected to serve three year terms:
Michael Aloi-Fairmont-Second term
Dean Joyce McConnell-Morgantown-Second Term
Tracey Weber-Weston-Second Term
Kathy Santa Barbara-Martinsburg-First Term
David Webb-Keyser-First Term