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The Boulder County Bar Foundation is a Colorado-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded and funded by the Boulder County Bar Association. The Boulder County Bar Foundation is committed to core values of community, stewardship, generosity and adaptability

Our Mission 

Our mission is to advance justice in Boulder County, increase understanding of the law and the judicial system, provide access to legal services for the poor, homeless, and immigrant populations, support training for the next generation of attorneys, and assist those turning to the legal system for help.

Our Leadership

The Boulder County Bar Foundation is lead by a dedicated Board of Trustees comprised of members of the BCBA. The Board of Trustees serve a three-year term, exercising fiduciary responsibility for gifts, governing the Foundation, and awarding grants to deserving nonprofit partners and causes.. Also serving is our Executive Director, who is elected by the Board of Trustees. Laura Ruth is the current Executive Director of the Foundation. 

Carolyn Steffl - President has been representing Colorado special districts and municipalities since 2003, primarily as general counsel and also as water counsel. She serves as general counsel to a number of water and sanitation and metropolitan districts with elected citizen Boards, ranging from very small districts to one of the largest water and sanitation districts in the state. Her wealth of experience, enthusiasm, and dedication to her clients allows her to provide excellent and efficient legal services.

Lizbeth Parker is the coordinator of Boulder County’s federal abuse in later life grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women. She coordinates training and community outreach efforts among law enforcement, judiciary, agencies serving older adults, and throughout the community. Prior to this position, Liz worked as a Specialist in the Community Protection Division of the Boulder County District Attorney’s office, and practiced law for over 20 years, working primarily on complex commercial litigation, federal securities fraud, and employment matters.

Kurt Hofgard and Hofgard & Associates, P.C. in Boulder have focused exclusively on estate & trust planning and probate administration in the same location for the past 27 years at 28th and Arapahoe. Kurt holds a Bachelor of Arts in Western American History with Honors from Stanford University, and he graduated from Northwestern School of Law, Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon with honors. Kurt is a member of the Colorado Bar Association, the Boulder County Bar Association (Business and Estate & Tax Sections), and the Boulder County Estate Planning Council

Debbie Taussig was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado. She attended Boulder High School, received her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado Boulder, and her juris doctorate from the University of Denver. Debbie has over 20 years of experience as a personal injury attorney and owns her own Boulder-based law firm--Debbie Taussig Law.  


  Laura Ruth is the Executive Director of the Boulder County Bar Foundation.



Our Cause

Our Board and donors are passionate about giving back to Boulder County - the place we call home. Through the Foundation, BCBA members harness their collective resources to make a positive impact not only on the legal community, but also on individual lives and Boulder County as a whole. We believe in access to legal services for all, and we are committed to supporting causes that benefit those struggling in our community.

The Foundation raises funds, manages an endowment, and distributes grants for legally-related organizations and projects in Boulder County. Our grant awardees are proven local partners that champion social justice, help train new attorneys, and support expanded legal access and understanding.

Grant Recipients 


J-SUP Logo


Volunteer With Children | Boulder Voices for Children


Bridge to Justice





Immigrant Legal Center of Boulder County



If your organization is interested in being considered for a grant from the Foundation, please click here to complete the application form.  Applications are due annually by the middle of September and are typically considered by the Board of Trustees in October of each year.

Our Fellows

For decades the Foundation was supported by a network of committed Fellows who donated annually. Although we are now focused on raising funds through events and campaigns, we honor the past contributions of our Fellows and celebrate the strong foundation they have given the Foundation.

Life Benefactor Fellows (donated $2,500 to $5,000)

Christopher Brauchli

Gerald Caplan

James Carpenter

Mark Carson

Jessica Catlin

James Christoph

Bruce Dierking


Peter Dietze

H. McGregor Doty

Bruce Fest

Wallace Grant

William Gray

William Meyer

William Neighbors


Gary Palumbo

Glenn Porzak

John Purvis

Andrew Simpson

Gerald Sloat

William Trine


Sustaining Life Fellows (continued support past obligation)

William Ahlstrand

Christopher Archer

David Archuleta

Ruth Becker

Thomas Beckmann

Patricia Bellac

Paul Benedetti

George Berg

Daniel Bernard

Howard Bernstein

Lynn Bird

Stan Black

James Brantz

Susan Bryant

James Buchanan

Richard Bump

W. Cotton Burden

Karen Burns

Mari Bush

Mike Bynum

Ed Byrne

Clifford Calhoun

Joel Cantrick

James Carpenter

Jim Carrigan

Sheila Carrigan

Jessica Catlin

Adam Chase

Virginia Chavez

David Cheval

Homer Clark

Steven Clymer

Christine Coates

Michael Cohen

Robert Cooper

Richard Dana

Joel Davis

Dorothy Dean

Michael Dominick

David Driscoll

Anton Dworak

G. Lane Earnest


W. Harold Flowers

Lenore Fox

Alan Friedberg

Melody Fuller

John Gaddis

Tracy Gann

Kathleen Gebhardt

David Getches

Jonathan Goodman

Dan Hale

Earl Hancock

David Harrison

Kurt Hofgard

David Hughes

Kimberly Hult

Donald Humphrey

Richard Irvin

Steven Jacobson

Steven Jeffers

Jack Jevans

Elaine Johnson

Dale Johnson

W. Bruce Joss

Ronald Jung

Jeffrey Kahn

Daniel Kapsak

Cynthia Kennedy

Julia Knearl

Jon Kottke

William Kowalski

Lynn Kuykendall

Judy LaBuda

Mark Langston

Conrad Lattes

John Layman

Edward Lehman

Richard Lirtzman

Eric Love

William Love

Richard Lyons

Dolores Mallard

Cinthia Manzano


Gilbert Marchand

E. Gregory Martin

Richard McLean

John Mehaffy

Shelly Merritt

John Wayne Miller

A.Jack Mills

Michael Miner

James Montgomery

Laura Moore

Raphael Moses

Ann Mygatt

Darren Nadal

Richard Nehls

P. Randolph Nicholson

Joan Norman

Keith Olivia

Stuart Ollanik

Russell Osgood

David Perlick

Court Peterson

Joe Riddle

Martha Ridgway

Marshall Riggs

Peter Rogers

Richard Romeo

Richard Samson

Barry Satlow

Robert Schuetze

Mark Shapiro

Andrew Shoemaker

Gerald Sloat

Paul Smith

Sharon Svendsen

Leonard Tanis

Cameron Tyler

Bruce Warren

M. Gwyneth Whalen

John Wittemyer

Ruth Wright

Jill Zender

Keith Zook


Life Fellows

Jon Banashek

Robbie Barr

Seth Benezra

Howard Bittman

Jonathan Boonin

Anne Byrne

Paul Bursiek

Keith Collins

James Cooke

Carmen Danielson

Glenn DeAtley

Jean Dubofsky

Frank Dubofsky

Peter Enichen

Leonard Frieling


Patrick Furman

Carol Glassman

Miriam Goodman

Bradley Hall

H. Lawrence Hoyt

Winthrop Johnson

Karl Kumli

Robert Lanham

Rachael Lattimer

Larry Lee

Christopher Leh

Richard Levy

Joel Maguire

Don Margolis

Jennifer McCallum


Elizabeth Meyer

Steven Meyrich

Kathleen Morgan

Michael Repucci

Barre Sakol

Stefanie Selden

Chuck Sisk

Andrew Spiegel

Steven Taffet

Deborah Taussig

J. Todd Tenge

Michael Thomson

Stanlee West-Watt

Daniel Vigil

Marsha Yeager


Fellows

Derek Anderson

Karl Anuta

Lisa Battan

William Benjamin

Gary Berg

Maria Berkenkotter

Anna Bond

Abby Boyd

Stephanie Brennan

Scott Brenner

Steve Briggs

Elizabeth Brodsky

Steven Bushong

Ellen Cadette

Eve Canfield

Douglas Christman

Steven Closky

Neal Cohen

James Cooke

Linda Cooke

Kenneth Curtis

Jack Donenfeld

Ben Doyle

Maureen Espinoza

Constance Eyster

Renee Ezer

Christina Fiflis

Christopher Ford

Alexander Garlin


Stan Garnett

David Gehr

Cameron Grant

Julia Guarino

David Hill

Judson Hite

Robert Hoover

Asimakis Iatridis

Ruth Irvin

Daryl James

Gail Johnson

Renita Jolley

Melinda Kassen

Tucker Katz

James Klein

Glen Krahenbuhl

Jeffrey Larson

Michael Laszlo

Theodore Laszlo

Whiting Leary

Andrew Lee

Thomas Leland

Mark Loewenstein

Jennifer Lorenz

Matthew Machado

Joshua Maximon

Kevin McDowell

Cynthia Mitchell

Mary Claire Mulligan

Fern O’Brien


Scott Osgood

Bridgette Paige

Scott Patten

Hugh Pixler

Timothy Rastello

Adele Reester

Timothy Reynolds

Ann Rhodes

William Roberts

William Rogers

Giovanni Ruscitti

Bruce Sarbaugh

Georgiana Scott

Norma Sierra

Craig Small

Abigail Smith

Todd Stahly

John Stavely

Beat Steiner

Lee Strickler

Kathleen Sutherland

John Taussig

David Thrower

Helen Towlerton

Susan Vanderborgh

Star Waring

Alice Warren-Gregory

Trevor Willard

John Yeager




3269 28th Street, Boulder CO 80301 | 303.440.4758 | Click here to email




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