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BIOGRAPHY

Teveia Rose Barnes is the President of Lawyers For One America and heads its Diversity Center and Pro Bono Law Office in Northern California.  Lawyers For One America assists lawyers, corporations, law firms, law schools, bar associations, civil rights associations, public interest organizations, government agencies, the judiciary and individuals take action and apply their skills and influence to change the landscape for racial and economic justice through a significant increase in diversity at all levels and disciplines within the profession and a dramatic increase in pro bono services, particularly in underserved communities.  Ms. Barnes has been practicing law for more than 27 years and has built a solid reputation as a banking and finance attorney, mentor and architect of successful diversity programs.

The LFOA pro bono law practice focuses on the underserved Greater Bay Area communities, and provides non-litigation commercial and tax law and business education for micro-business owners and civil legal and tax services and advice to the working poor to help them gain economic self-sufficiency.  The LFOA Diversity Center offers programs to significantly increase diversity at all levels and within all sectors of the legal profession.  LFOA's National Institute for Diversity in Law program focuses on preparing students of color, from middle school through law school, for the demands, excitement, and rewards of successful careers in the law.

            Prior to her current work with Lawyers For One America, Ms. Barnes was the Executive Director and General Counsel of the Bar Association of San Francisco, a 9,500-member voluntary urban bar association, which serves its members and the community at large.  She was responsible for maintaining the Association’s Volunteer Legal Services program, the largest and most comprehensive provider of pro bono legal services in San Francisco; the Association’s Lawyer Referral Service, which responds to 80,000 calls a year; the Alternative Dispute Resolution department, which administers the Superior Court Early Settlement Program, the Association’s Fee Disputes program and other arbitration and mediation initiatives; the Continuing Legal Education Department, which directs the work of 34 committees and sections to produce high quality legal education; the Barristers’ Club, which provides services tailored to the needs of newer lawyers; and provides administrative oversight, financial support and housing for the California Minority Counsel Program.

            Ms. Barnes also served as the Associate General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Bank of America, where she was a senior manager and member of the policy committee for the Legal Department.  She also helped launch the bank’s diversity initiative that resulted in the bank receiving awards and recognition for creating an environment where all employees could do their best work.  Prior to leaving Bank of America, Ms. Barnes managed lawyers and advised 15 units of the financial institution, including capital markets, commercial and private banking, investment management, commercial and corporate real estate, corporate trust and international banking. 

            A graduate of Rice University and New York University School of Law, Ms. Barnes spent her early legal career at the New York law firms of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Sage Gray Todd & Sims.  Ms. Barnes also is very active in her community.  She is curently a member of the Board of Trustees of Rice University, the Board of Directors of On Lok, Inc. and the American Conservatory Theater.  Ms. Barnes was formerly a member of the board of  Equal Rights Advocates and the Branson School.  She is the former President of the Board of Directors of Friends of Marin Center, Co-chair of the Advisory Board of the National Multicultural Institute and a member of the Strategic Planning Committee of the Reed Unified Public School District.

            Ms. Barnes has received numerous awards, including being named a 2005 and 2006 "Super Lawyer" by the publishers of Law & Politics Magazine.  Super Lawyers are selected from a survey of their peers and represent the top 5% of the Northern California Bar, The San Francisco Business Times, Women in Business 2002, 75 Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business, Rice University Distinguished Alumni Award for 2001, Distinguished Legal Service Award for 2001 from Corporate Legal Times Magazine, Lawyer of the Year for 2000 from California Lawyer Magazine, Rice University Impact Award, Pioneer in the Profession Award from the California Minority Counsel Program and the Black Woman of Achievement Award from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

        Ms. Barnes is a frequent speaker, including (i) her speech before the 24^th Annual UNIS-UN Conference at the General Assembly of the United Nations in March 2000 entitled, “The Power and the Glory: Finding the Intersection of Individualism and Interdependence in our Global.com Village,” (ii) her speech before the Annual Meeting of The Bar Association of San Francisco on December 13, 2002 entitled, “State of the Bar, State of Our Practice,” reprinted in “Vital Speeches of the Day,” February 1, 2003, City News Publishing Co., (iii) her key note address before the Martin Luther King, Jr. Annual Celebration in Columbus, Ohio in January 2001 entitled, “The Ultimate Measure,” reprinted in “Vital Speeches of the Day”, April 15, 2001, City News Publishing Co. and (iv) her presentation before the NALP 2001 Annual Education Conference entitled, “Talking the Talk & Walking the Walk”, May 2001.  Ms. Barnes is also a frequent speaker before the Financial Women’s Association, Kennedy School, Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, Golden Gate Law School, New York University Law School, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, American Bar Association, Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Bar Association of San Francisco, California Minority Counsel Program, Columbus Bar Association, Houston NAACP, Illinois Bar Association, and other professional associations, organizations and law schools throughout the United States.

        Ms. Barnes’ publications include “Strategies for Developing White Men as Change Agents for Women Leaders,” in “The Difference ‘Difference’ Makes”  Rhode, Deborah L., ed. Stanford Law and Politics, an imprint of Stanford University Press, 2003 and “Bar None: Report to the President of the United States on the Status of People of Color and Pro Bono Services in the Legal Profession”, 2000 produced in July 2000.

        Ms Barnes also produced the video, “Bending the Arc Toward Justice”, highlighting four programs that exemplify the spirit of Lawyers For One America.