The Annual Access to Justice Awards will be honoring two individuals and an organization for their service to the people living in poverty within Northwest Ohio along with the featured Keynote speaker Erin Gruwell.
Erin Gruwell is a teacher, author and education reform activist who has been fighting for nearly two decades for social justice reform. She first gained national attention when in 1998 she along with her 150 students appeared on the ABC special Prime Time Live. Her students referred to as the Freedom Writers came from many different backgrounds of poverty, gangs and violence but with Erin Gruwell’s guidance all 150 students graduated from High School and moved onto achieve Higher Education.
Then in 1999 Gruwell and the Freedom Writers published their book The Freedom Writers Diary which held the #1 New York Times Bestseller and later would get a feature motion picture film adaptation. After her growing success she continues to use her platform to fight for equity and inclusion with her nonprofit organization known as The Freedom Writers Foundation. She will share her story and more at this year’s Access to Justice Awards Ceremony.
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The 2024 Public Interest Law Award recipient will be the Honorable Michelle Wagner, the presiding and administrative judge of the Toledo Municipal Court. The Honorable Ian B. English will be receiving the 2024 Community Advocacy Award for leading the Treatment Court a specialized docket certified by the Ohio Supreme Court.
Mom’s House, lead by Executive Director Christina Rodriguez, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing guidance and services to at risk single parents to help provide safe and stable environments for their families will also be receiving the 2024 Community Advocacy Award.
This event will take place at The Pinnacle in Maumee on Thursday June 20 with festivities starting at 6 pm followed by a public reception and then dinner and awards to start promptly at 7 pm.
For more information about this event, you can contact Carmen Vega-Pérez at 419-930-2515 or by email at [email protected].