AUSTIN, Texas  — The Texas Access to Justice Foundation, the largest state grant funding source of civil legal aid in Texas, has announced that Carlos M. Zaffirini, Jr., of Austin has been appointed to serve on its board of directors. The Supreme Court of Texas appointed Zaffirini to a two-year term expiring in August 2018.

Zaffirini is President and CEO of Adelanto HealthCare Ventures, LLC, a health care finance consulting company in Austin, Texas. Zaffirini, a graduate of the University of Texas McCombs School of Business and UT School of Law, is a member of The University of Texas Chancellor’s Council Executive Committee and the Boards of Directors for the Austin Symphony, People’s Community Clinic, Hispanic Alliance for the Performing Arts, Anti-Defamation League and Mental Health America of Texas. He is active in philanthropic organizations including the Texas Access to Justice Commission, South Texas Food Bank, Rio Grande International Study Center and the Champion of Justice Society, where he created the Carlos Sr. and Senator Judith Zaffirini Access to Justice Initiative, which pays for Texas bar exam review courses for low-income law students that commit to increasing access to justice for low-income Texans.

“We are pleased to have Carlos Zaffirini join us as we work to ensure access to justice for all Texans,” Richard L. Tate, chair of the board of directors of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, said. “His experience in helping disadvantaged Texans will be invaluable to the board as we provide legal aid organizations throughout the state the resources for basic civil legal services.”

The Supreme Court of Texas created the Texas Access to Justice Foundation in 1984 to provide funding for the civil legal needs of poor and low-income Texans. The Foundation annually awards grants to more than 30 nonprofit legal aid organizations throughout the state that help struggling Texans in matters involving employment, housing, domestic violence and family law issues.

The Texas Supreme Court also reappointed Joseph Barrientos of Corpus Christi, Lamont Jefferson of San Antonio, and Jon Levy of Austin to the Foundation’s board of directors, each for a three-year term.  Becky Baskin Ferguson of Midland and Terry Tottenham of Austin have also been reappointed to the board by the State Bar of Texas.

The Texas Access to Justice Foundation is the largest state-based funding source for civil legal aid in Texas and has awarded more than $480 million since its inception. The Foundation board of directors consists of 13 attorney and public members, seven of whom are appointed by the Supreme Court of Texas and six by the State Bar of Texas.

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The Texas Access to Justice Foundation (www.teajf.org), created by the Supreme Court of Texas in 1984, is the leading state-based funding source for the provision of civil legal aid in Texas. The organization is committed to the vision that all Texans will have equal access to justice, regardless of their income. The Foundation administers a variety of funding sources, which are earmarked to assist nonprofit organizations in providing legal aid to more than 100,000 Texas families each year.