Georgia Appleseed Announces Good Apple Award Honorees
Atlanta, GA – March 12, 2009 - Georgia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice proudly announces its inaugural Good Apple Award recipients are Teri P. McClure, UPS Senior Vice President and General Counsel, and Frank S. Alexander, Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law. The Awards will be presented at a dinner on Thursday, April 16, 2009 at the Park Tavern Garden Tent at Piedmont Park beginning at 6:30 P.M. There is a charge.
The Good Apple Award recognizes distinguished pro bono leadership that exemplifies the values and goals expressed in Georgia Appleseed’s mission, seeks to effect change by addressing difficult social justice problems with systemic solutions, and levels the playing field for children, the poor and the marginalized.
Teri P. McClure is UPS Senior Vice President and General Counsel, overseeing legal, compliance and public affairs activities worldwide. A 1988 graduate of Emory University School of Law, she began her legal career practicing labor and employment law in Atlanta and in 1995 joined UPS.
Though her corporate responsibilities are extensive, Teri’s service to the community is equally prevalent. She serves on the boards of the UPS Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Junior Achievement Worldwide, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, and the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights.
In her role as Co-Chair of the Georgia Supreme Court Equal Justice Commission’s Committee on Civil Justice, Teri has worked hard to strengthen Georgia’s civil justice system by developing, coordinating and supporting policy initiatives to expand access to the courts for poor and vulnerable Georgians.
Sharon Hill, Georgia Appleseed Executive Director and former Fulton County Juvenile Court Associate Judge noted, “Teri’s work to improve Georgia’s legal system is a goal shared by Georgia Appleseed. Through its JUSTGeorgia collaborative project, Georgia Appleseed is working to increase access to justice by seeking adoption of a comprehensive rewrite of Georgia’s juvenile code, a set of laws that impact thousands of Georgia children, families and communities each day. We are proud to salute Teri as a Good Apple working to improve our legal system for the benefit of Georgians statewide.”
Frank S. Alexander is Professor of Law and Founding Director, Center for the Study of Law and Religion, of Emory University School of Law. Frank has focused his scholarship, his practice and his pro bono work in the areas of property law, real estate sales and finance, state and local government law, law and theology and federal housing policies and homelessness. Frank holds a J.D. and a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard University.
Frank’s interests and work intersect with those of Georgia Appleseed around one important hurricane: Katrina. In 2006, Georgia Appleseed embarked on a Katrina-related collaborative study to understand the continuing impact on Katrina evacuees one year after the storm in six destination cities, including Atlanta. Based in its research, Georgia Appleseed learned that Katrina created new problems and revealed old ones.
In his capacity as Interim Dean, Frank Alexander helped address a new problem when he opened Emory University School of Law’s doors to displaced law students from Tulane and Loyola so they could continue their legal education that had been interrupted by the August, 2006 storm.
In 2008, Georgia Appleseed launched its Heir Property Project to address a long-existing problem revealed in new light through Katrina. Heir property issues affect many low-income and elderly property owners in Georgia who face possible loss of their land when it is ‘inherited’ or passed to family without benefit of a will to establish clear title. Georgia Appleseed seeks to bring structural reform that will benefit low income property owners statewide. In his capacity as a nationally renowned real property legal expert in the area of low income and affordable housing, Frank has lent his time and legal talents to dealing with the problems associated with heir property.
Sharon Hill explained, “Frank Alexander’s scholarly expertise, his pro bono work around heir property, and his sensitivity to seeking justice at every level are tribute to his impact on our community and his worthy recognition as a Good Apple.”
