Pro-bono and Community: Focusing on What Matters Most

When nonprofits have access to trusted legal guidance at no cost, they can stay focused on what matters most: helping people thrive.

For Gwen, a client of the Georgia Justice Project, Koch’s pro bono legal services couldn’t have come at a more urgent time. After serving time in prison, she knew she needed to turn her life around, and set out to do it, earning a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration and master’s degrees in religious studies and divinity. But despite her achievements, she still struggled to find full-time employment due to her criminal record. “I missed out on a lot of great jobs,” she said. “It’s that stigma that’s attached to it, I guess.”

Just last year, when she applied to be a counselor at a youth detention center, Gwen got as far as interviews for the position — and then no further. “They loved me,” she said, recalling that they were going to hire her, “but when my record came back, they couldn’t.”

Before Michael’s 28 years at Georgia-Pacific, he had worked for the state prosecutor’s office. Practicing law for nearly four decades, he knew about the barriers that people like Gwen face after they’ve served their sentences, but he felt hopeful for Gwen’s chance for a pardon. “It’s the right thing for us to do, both as Georgia-Pacific and as a larger Koch company,” Michael said.

Every three weeks, Michael and Gwen met at Georgia Justice Project’s headquarters, poring over documents and drafts for hours on end. They submitted for her pardon earlier this year, only to find the COVID-19 pandemic had slowed the process with the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. But in early August, her letter finally came: after three attempts, Gwen’s pardon was finally approved. She could move on with her life.

“I’m still in awe,” Gwen said.

Michael is now looking at new changes in Georgia state law that would allow Gwen to get her records sealed, which would open the door to even greater job opportunities.

“I’m not the same person today that I was 15 years ago,” Gwen said. “I’m glad I don’t have it hanging over my head anymore.”

To date, the pro-bono initiative has provided more than 12,000 hours of free legal services and expanded to more than 350 nonprofits, addressing everything from poverty to foster care to substance abuse and beyond.