benefit a voluntary bar association,
and they were able to connect and
share ideas about how to negotiate
those assets to the betterment of
their associations.”
Immediately prior to the Leadership
Institute, the Atlanta Bar executive
director also has a chance to meet
peers at a two-day Chief Staff Ex-
ecutives Retreat hosted by NABE,
where executive directors from bar
associations of all sizes gather.
“For us, as executive directors, it’s
one of the
few times
we can talk
about is-
sues that
our associa-
tions face,
like mem-
bership de-
cline, best
messaging
for the asso-
ciation, and
staffing,” Terri said.
The Chief Staff Executives Retreat
includes a boot camp for new exec-
utive directors, as many come into
the job without experience specific
to the legal field. Fortunately for
the Atlanta Bar Association, when
Bryant began as executive director
over six years ago, she was already
familiar with the demands that law-
yers face day-to-day, having spent
the previous 13 years as the execu-
tive director of the children’s literacy
nonprofit organization Everybody
Wins! At one point, Everybody
Wins! had attorneys in 14 of its
18 board position, drawing many
volunteers from local law firms,
including Kilpatrick Townsend,
Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, and
Alston & Bird.
“We’d recruit volunteers to go into
Title 1 schools with a high per-
centage of children below reading
level. The volunteers would read
aloud to a child at lunch time and
serve as informal mentors. Alston
& Bird alone had 54 volunteers in
the program. It’s a big commitment
for anyone to do that once a week.
Now I know even more about law-
yers’ schedules, and I know how
that is hard to do,” Bryant stated.
Attending the
conferences
allows Bryant
to share her
knowledge with
new and expe-
rienced direc-
tors. Currently,
she’s produc-
ing a program
as a member of
NABE’s Profes-
sional Development Committee,
scheduled for this August, about
building and maintaining a strong
culture in a bar association. “We’re
taught all the time about the pres-
sures that lawyers face. When I
have a staff of 15 who are serv-
ing people who are stressed, the
stress has to go somewhere. As an
executive director, what is my role
in equipping my staff? You need
to use your intellectual resources
to figure out how to manage your
time more efficiently and deal with
the calls and demands.”
programs generally last two to three
days, and are held in various loca-
tions - this year conferences will be
held in San Francisco, Scottsdale,
Austin, and Chicago. Knowing the
benefits of the experience, Bryant
particularly appreciates the presi-
dents’ time commitment.
“I hope that membership can ap-
preciate the efforts that our vol-
unteers make into prospering and
progressing the association at a
time when membership is drop-
ping, because we’re so connected
through phones and computers.
There’s nothing that can substitute
real life connections, which is what
the Atlanta Bar affords to lawyers
in the greater Atlanta legal com-
munity. The people who are lead-
ing the bar are making sacrifices
to do so, and I’m so appreciative
of the talents and commitment of
those who sit on our boards and
use their spheres of influence for
the advancement of the bar as a
whole.”
Attending all four conferences is
not always easy for Atlanta Bar
presidents, whose schedules are
pinched by bar duties, work obli-
gations, and family demands. The
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association THE ATLANTA LAWYER
19