2017 NLADA Annual Conference

As we work collectively to fulfill the promise of justice for all and transform disadvantaged and disenfranchised communities, maps and visual data can be critical to our efforts. To create them we need a tool not usually found in a lawyer’s toolbox: Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. And, to harness the power of GIS, we need an effective communications strategy. In this session, we will explore access-to-justice initiatives that integrate mapping and GIS with strategic planning, impact advocacy, and effective communications. After hearing about success stories involving both legislative and civil legal advocacy, audience members will break into small teams for a brief exercise in which they together consider a problem they are confronting and what data could be collected or utilized to help identify a solution, show legal aid’s impact on the problem, or tell a story to help galvanize support.