The Board of Trustees is deeply grateful to our dedicated CCLA staff, donors and many supporters. In 2024, the Advocacy Center faced and succeeded through multiple challenges and changes.

Through the incredible focus and hard work of our committed staff, we continued to deliver legal services for thousands of clients. In particular, we wish to recognize the leadership of Kara Moskowitz, who has served ably as our interim CEO, assisted by the indomitable Cassidy Estes-Rogers as Interim Chief Operating Officer. At the same time, driven by Kelly Lynn, who while new to her role as Chief Philanthropy Officer, has revitalized our funding efforts. Kelly, ever resilient, persuasive and creative, has worked with Legal Aid of North Carolina to hold our first major fundraising event since 2019, the Access to Justice Breakfast. On February 20, despite snow, to a sold-out audience of 500, the Advocacy Center and Legal Aid presented their combined efforts to serve the underserved.

We are also grateful to our many funders. From IOLTA to Mecklenburg County and the Levine Foundation, and so many others, you have allowed us to deliver on our mission to address systemic inequalities. You have also supported our efforts to empower clients through comprehensive legal representation, advocacy and education.

As board chair, I am thankful to my fellow board members. They have dedicated many hours to oversight, fundraising and governance. We are proud to have significant and complete giving from our board. Our board has also evolved, adding and retaining members with experience serving our client community as well as representatives from Charlotte’s largest employers, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Ally, and many large law firms. Our board now stands at 19 members, each of whom has delivered their talents to serve the Advocacy Center.

Under Kara and Cassidy’s leadership, our operations and finances have also improved. As an example, we have hired Labeebah Doe as VP of Finance and retained Ascend Nonprofit Solutions to support our accounting. Ascend supports the operations of many large nonprofits in Charlotte, including United Way and the Council for Children’s Rights. Importantly, our financial status is stable and improving.

Our search for a CEO is well underway. As we announced in the Fall, we have retained Coleman Lew Canny Bowman to conduct our search efforts. We developed a timeline and have completed key stages of the process. We will continue to update the community as we continue our process.

In sum, the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy continues to provide access to justice for people in our community who need it the most. Here we are pleased to report in detail on the past year’s overall impact of our organization and our successful programs. We also want to share more about the individuals and families whose lives are better today because of the civil legal services provided by the Advocacy Center.

Throughout our efforts to meet our challenges, we have remained true to our mission. We work to ensure people can access health care and public benefits. We help people avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes. We give peace of mind by preparing end-of-life documents. We fight for immigrants and help them receive asylum so they will not be in fear of having to leave the country. We resolve stressful tax disputes so people can be on firmer financial footing. We serve our greater Charlotte community through our legal expertise and efforts to advocate on their behalf.

We are grateful to our partners… our funders… our pro bono attorneys… our staff and board of trustees… It takes all of us to resolve issues that are holding people in our community back. And while we look back to provide you with this impact report, we also look forward to the opportunities to serve even more people in the future with your support. We believe in justice for all.

With sincere gratitude,
Ed O’Keefe
Chairperson of the Board of Trustees