Message from the President, January 2024

Hello GBA Members!

I trust that the holiday season brought joy, rejuvenation, and cherished moments spent with loved ones. As we now embark upon a new year, I am excited about what promises to be an inspiring and eventful second half of our 2023 -2024 bar year.

The upcoming months contain significant events that resonate deeply with one of the goals I seek to achieve during my presidency – to expand upon our shared values of diversity, equity and inclusivity as an association. For example: 

January 2024:  We eagerly anticipate commemorating the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. through a Day of Service event in which the GBA will provide free legal services to the community (see additional details in this newsletter). 

February 2024: We proudly embrace Black History Month by offering our members an opportunity to tour the International Civil Rights Center and Museum (“ICRCM”) immediately before our February Member Meeting, which will be held at the ICRCM as well. At that meeting, we will also announce the inaugural recipient of the Outstanding Young Lawyer Award – an award that will recognize the contributions of a young lawyer to our esteemed association and the legal profession. 

March 2024: Women’s History Month will offer us a chance at our March Member Meeting to honor the indelible mark women have made in our legal profession and society at large through the remarks of several motivational women from the judiciary. 

April 2024: Our last Member Meeting of this bar year will consist of an interactive presentation from a local consulting firm specializing in diversity, equity and inclusion.

Together, let us seize these upcoming events as moments of growth, reflection and unity. Your active participation and engagement will undoubtedly enrich our collective experience and the profession; therefore, I encourage you to mark your calendars to attend these events and many others that will be announced in the upcoming months.

Thank you for your unwavering support and dedication to the GBA. I eagerly anticipate our shared journey in 2024.

All the best,

Gerald L. Walden, Jr.

GBA President, 2023-2024