In late June 2021, the ACC Tampa Bay Chapter launched a successful and rewarding Street Law program with students from three Pace Centers For Girls locations in their footprint (Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Polk).
The mission of Pace is to provide girls and young women an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training, and advocacy. Over the course of two weeks, volunteer ACC attorneys exposed the young women to the law through a contract module that culminated in a mock negotiation involving a concert dispute.
Besides providing an understanding of how contracts and negotiation impact their daily lives, the program allowed the students to have a positive interaction with the legal community and to build valuable skills through communication, advocacy, and public speaking.
It was exciting for ACC Tampa Bay to see the growth of the students over the course of the program as they built confidence and found their voice.
The program wrapped up with a career fair and graduation ceremony where the students heard powerful and inspiring remarks from ACC President and CEO Veta T. Richardson and Grow Financial Federal Credit Union Chief Legal Officer Dierdre White. Following these remarks, students had the opportunity to discuss their interests and aspirations in small breakout rooms with volunteer attorneys.
Thanks to the generous contributions of ACC Tampa Bay sponsors and member organizations, each of the graduates received multiple bags of swag. ACC Tampa Bay will look to enhance its program and successful partnership with the Pace Center for Girls next year.
Watch the ACC Foundation interview with Street Law Inc.'s executive director to learn more about the program.
