The Bar Foundation

Mission & Background

Mission Statement

The Philadelphia Bar Foundation is dedicated to promoting access to justice for all people in the community, particularly those struggling with poverty, abuse and discrimination. The Bar Foundation is the embodiment of the Philadelphia legal community’s commitment to this fundamental principle.

We accomplish this mission by providing grants and technical assistance in support of quality legal services, addressing unmet legal needs and providing education on matters in the public interest.

Why We Exist

The Bar Foundation is the voice of legal services and the legal community's philanthropy in Philadelphia. A highly skilled network of public interest non-profits are supported through our work. These organizations provide legal services to our area's most vulnerable populations. A core activity of the Bar Foundation is attracting donors and funding partners who share our belief that access to justice is fundamental to the American experience.

What Makes Us Unique

The Philadelphia Bar Foundation is one of the few sources of stability for Philadelphia's legal services system. As other funding sources are time-bound or may fluctuate, the Bar Foundation provides dependable support each year to local public interest work. We are committed to fully engaging the legal community. The Bar Foundation strengthens the image of the legal profession and provides rewarding opportunities for individual lawyers to participate.

Our Strength

Because of our unique relationship to the legal community, we are able to provide special insights on public interest issues facing our city, how to best address them and how to develop strategies that result in solutions. Our outreach is city-wide, through which thousands of individual attorneys, law firms and corporations in Philadelphia join together so that everyone, especially the most vulnerable members of our community, has access to justice.

How You Benefit

For the donor community, the Bar Foundation’s grantmaking process ensures that funds are addressing a clear set of legal services priorities and that each grantee meets the highest standards of governance.

For the public interest community, we are a grantor and an advocate, providing support and raising awareness about the importance of legal services and positive impact on people's lives.

For the Philadelphia community, the Bar Foundation is providing a strong network of legal services that are often critical to the health, safety and independence of disadvantaged Philadelphians.

Our Goal

Our goal is to grow in our ability to provide significant and dependable support, training, technical assistance and capacity building to our network of public interest non-profits. These organizations, through Bar Foundation and other support, provide no-cost or low-cost legal services to the poor, the elderly, the disabled, and children who are victims of abuse and neglect.

Click here to view the Philadelphia Bar Foundation's 2007 Annual Report

Click here to view the Philadelphia Bar Foundation's 2008 Annual Report

Click here to view the Philadelphia Bar Foundation's 2009 Annual Report