BALIF Foundation to seek nominations for the First Annual Julius Turman Award. This year will mark the 40th anniversary of BALIF's founding, and we're spending that year celebrating and reflecting on four decades of work organizing LGBTQI lawyers in the Bay Area to advocate for a more just world. As a way of recognizing and supporting emerging leaders in our community, the BALIF Foundation has established an annual award intended for Law Student Advocates.

The Julius Turman Award will be granted by the BALIF Foundation to one law student each year who has shown outstanding commitment to advocacy for LGBTQ individuals, especially for the more marginalized communities of color and trans individuals. The recipient must be currently a member of BALIF, enrolled at a Bay Area Law School, identify somewhere on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, and must be available to receive the award at the BALIF Gala on March 6, 2020. The awardee will receive a stipend of up to $1,500 to be used in support of attending Lavender Law or another appropriate conference or purpose (as identified by the award recipient and award committee). BALIF is working on and may be able to offer additional benefits at the Lavender Law Conference as part of the Julius Turman Award.

As a BALIF member, we hope you'll take this opportunity to lift up the voices of emerging leaders in our community by submitting a nomination. To submit a nomination of yourself, or someone in your community, please complete the nomination form here. Nominations must be received by Friday, January 31, 2020 to be considered. Finalists for the award will be invited to participate in an interview in early February.

If you have any other questions about the Julius Turman Award, please feel free to write direction to the lawstudentrep@balif.org.