San Francisco — December 13, 2011 — The California Bar Foundation's Board of Directors today announced the appointment of Sonia Gonzales as the organization's new Executive Director. Ms. Gonzales, who currently serves as the Interim Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, will begin her duties overseeing the Foundation's operations and programs on January 17, 2012.

"We are thrilled to have Sonia Gonzales lead the Foundation at an exciting time in the organization's development," said Douglas A. Winthrop, President of the California Bar Foundation, and Chair and Managing Director of Howard Rice. "She brings a highly unique combination of nonprofit leadership experience; deft organization, communication, and political skills; a thorough understanding of California's legal services community and the private bar; and a deep commitment, consistent with the Foundation's mission, to increase access to justice for all Californians."

After joining the Lawyers' Committee in January 2010 as its Managing Director, Ms. Gonzales worked closely with the board, staff, and membership to reshape the organization's systems, infrastructure, and programs and to create the first new strategic plan in over a decade. She was named Interim Executive Director in August 2011. Before joining the Lawyers' Committee, Ms. Gonzales was Assistant Director of the ACLU of Northern California, where she partnered with the Executive Director in managing operations of the nation's largest ACLU affiliate with a 60-person staff, 50- person Board of Directors and 53,000-person membership. Previously, she worked at Morrison & Foerster LLP in San Francisco and, as a law student, at the National ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.

Prior to law school, Ms. Gonzales served as a political director for a major presidential campaign in 2004 and for the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C., and as a legislative assistant and press secretary in the U.S. House of Representatives. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Centro Legal de la Raza, and was a member of the Civil Rights Task Force for California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris' Transition Team. A member of the inaugural class of Fellows, Ms. Gonzales is a graduate of the OneJustice Executive Fellowship, a one-year leadership and management training program for executives of California legal services organizations, and she also participated in the NYU Wagner School of Public Policy's Lead the Way Fellowship for Women of Color Leaders in the Non Profit sector. She received her J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) and her B.A. from Stanford University.

"I am honored by the opportunity to lead this venerable organization through its next dynamic phase," said Ms. Gonzales. "I am deeply committed to the organization's mission to eliminate barriers to justice and to the legal profession, and look forward to working with the board, staff, grantees and the larger legal community as the Foundation continues to achieve its vision of a just California for all."

Ms. Gonzales succeeds Leslie Hatamiya, who has served as the Foundation's Executive Director since 2004.

The California Bar Foundation is the nonprofit foundation for California's legal community. Dedicated to building a better justice system for all Californians, the Foundation champions full and equal access to the justice system, invests in the next generation of California's lawyers, educates Californians about their rights and responsibilities under the law, and promotes philanthropy throughout the legal community. Funded primarily through the voluntary donations of California lawyers, law firms, and other supporters, the Foundation awards grants to California organizations conducting innovative law-related projects and scholarships to outstanding California law students headed for careers in public interest law or who come from communities under-represented in the membership of the State Bar of California. For more information, visit the Foundation's website at www.calbarfoundation.org.

Media Contact:
Emily Peck
(415) 856-0780 ext. 301
epeck@calbarfoundation.org