About Ohio State Bar Foundation
The Ohio State Bar Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization promoting philanthropy and encouraging service to create a more just and equitable legal system for all Ohioans.
Focus Areas
Access to justiceCivics educationRacial justiceLegal services and clinicsVictim servicesLegal education for youthWorkforce and worker rights (legal clinics)
Who They Fund
youth and students (including summer law experience and youth government)aspiring lawyers / law students / early-career legal professionalsmarginalized and low-income communitiessurvivors of abuse and sexual violence
About Ohio State Bar Foundation
The Ohio State Bar Foundation’s grantmaking repeatedly centers on civics education and access to justice, with project support reaching legal aid groups, courts, universities, and community organizations across Ohio. A 2025 award of $160,000 to Law and Leadership Institute for a Diversity in Leadership Fellowship shows how the foundation connects legal access with pathways into the profession. Another large 2025 grant, $128,500 to the Ohio Center for Law Related Education, supported civic education, teacher training, and outreach. The pattern is broader than one program area: in recent years, the foundation has also funded victim services, prisoner reentry, legal protection from abuse, youth law experiences, and public education about the justice system. Its awards are project-based rather than operational in the racial justice initiative, and the foundation also runs competitive grant cycles for Ohio nonprofit organizations. The recent grants list shows repeated support for some organizations across multiple years, including Law and Leadership Institute, Ohio Center for Law Related Education, Summer Work Experience in Law Inc, and Pro Bono Partnership of Ohio. Across these awards, the foundation uses grantmaking to support legal services, civic learning, and public understanding of the courts.
What Ohio State Bar Foundation Funds
Civic education is a major theme. The Ohio Center for Law Related Education received $128,500 in 2025 for civic education, teacher training, and outreach, and a separate 2023 grant of $116,000 for civic education and access to justice. The foundation also backed Ohio YMCA Youth and Government with $50,000 in 2025. Access to justice appears through project support for Ohio Legal Help, which received $50,000 in 2023, and Pro Bono Partnership of Ohio, which received $60,145 in 2025 for expanding attorney volunteer engagement. Legal services for survivors and victims show up as well: Legal Aid of Western Ohio Inc. received $50,000 in 2024 for Getting Legal Protection From Abuse, and Ohio Victim Witness Association received $66,111 in 2025 for enhancing access to justice for Ohio’s homicide co-victims. The foundation also funds workforce and legal-pathway programs, including $100,000 to Summer Work Experience in Law Inc. for Summer Work Experience in Law in 2025.
How Ohio State Bar Foundation Gives
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$985K
Total Assets
$61.5M
Total Revenue
$3.9M
Total Expenses
$2.5M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $15K and $50K, with a median of $28K.
25th Percentile
$15K
Median
$28K
75th Percentile
$50K
Geographic Reach
Local3 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
BELINDA BARNES
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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