August 3 - August 14, 2010
JTBF Summer Legal Institute ("CLEO Day" - August 10)
DePaul College of Law - Chicago, IL

September 25, 2010
"Road to Law School" Event
Texas Wesleyan University School of Law - Fort Worth, TX

October 16, 2010
"Road to Law School" Event
DePaul University College of Law - Chicago, IL

November 20, 2010
"Road to Law School" Event
Fordham University School of Law - New York, NY

CLEO's 2010 Annual Giving Campaign"

We recently began sending out our 2010 Annual Giving Campaign mailer. This year's mailer was designed to draw attention to what our primary programs are able to accomplish on an annual basis. As stated in the mailer, approximately "700 diverse, low-income or otherwise disadvantaged students" partake in the programs we host each year across the country. And in order to keep the participant cost minimal or, in many cases, zero, we need greater monetary support from former CLEOs and friends in the legal community. We don't want to ever be in a position where we have to turn a "future attorney" away due to limited financial resources. So please, if you haven't given already, please do so at your earliest convenience. The .pdf version of the mailer can be downloaded here. Many special thanks to everyone who has already contributed to our 2010 Annual Giving Campaign!

Well, what are you waiting for??? Join the CMN today!

The CLEO Mentoring Network (CMN) is only a few attorneys away from attaining the "100 mentor" threshold we have actively been pursuing since first establishing the program. We can't begin to tell you how often we're asked by prospective protégés, "When am I going to be paired up with a mentor?" At this point, all we can continue to say is that we are doing everything we can to reach out to professional members of the legal community to try and get them to register as mentors. Thus, if you are willing to help "lighten our load" by one, please click on the link above to learn more about the network and sign up as a participant. Thanks!!!.

If you're one of those CLEO alums (or know of one) that says they never receive any correspondence from the organization, we've got an easy and direct way for you to provide us with your updated contact information. Just log on to the web and visit www.cleoadmin.com/update.cfm. Additionally, if you have any exciting news you would like to share with the CLEO family please provide it in the appropriate space. Many special thanks to those family members who have already provided us with their updated contact information!

Meet a CLEO…College Scholar: Lisa Rodrigues

CLEO Pre-Law Scholar, Lisa Rodrigues, is a senior Philosophy major at New York's St. John's University. As a first generation citizen of the United States, Lisa says that she has "always been motivated to take advantage of the many opportunities" that have been afforded to her since her arrival.

Her passion for social justice and education is what inspired her to pursue a career as an attorney, and, after completing law school, she has her sights set on practicing international law with an emphasis on human rights. Having just attended CLEO's AIE-ASAP Seminar in Los Angeles, Lisa found the seminar to be "both useful and enjoyable because it furnished [her] with an occasion to have all of [her] concerns regarding law school and the application process addressed." We wish Lisa well in her final year of undergrad and look forward to her attending the Six-Week Summer Institute or Attitude Is Essential (AIE) workshop next year prior to her matriculation to law school.

CLEO in the Community

We would like to begin highlighting some of the great things former and current CLEOs are doing in their respective communities to demonstrate the importance of giving back. If you are involved in something in your community that you would like to share with the entire CLEO family, or, if you are looking for volunteer assistance for an existing project or to get one started, please shoot us the details at cleo@abanet.org. Thanks!

The National Bar Association's (NBA) 85th Annual Convention will take place in New Orleans, LA from Sunday, August 8 thru Friday, August 13, 2010 at the New Orleans Marriott hotel. As the nation's oldest and largest organization of predominantly African-American attorneys, the NBA has a membership of greater than 40,000 individuals. The annual convention brings together many of these individuals from all over the country to network and "reconnect" with one another for a perfect balance of professional advancement and recreational fellowship. More information about the convention and the NBA can be found at www.nationalbar.org.