About Us
Mission Statement of The Bankruptcy Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility Consortium
The Bankruptcy Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility Consortium is a network of bankruptcy related judiciary, government, and professional organizations, including NCBJ, *USTP, NABT, NACTT, NAFER, AIRA, ACT12, ACB, ABA, ABI and NACBA. The Consortium will: act as a repository of opportunities and resources of the member organizations’ continuing efforts to achieve a diverse bankruptcy community, promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, and facilitate opportunities for current and future bankruptcy practitioners.
Work Groups
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- Access and Careers Committee
(webinars, information, internships/jobs) - Communications & Technology
(ownership of web development & content, marketing-related activities) - Outreach & Engagement
(law school engagement, panel discussions)
- Access and Careers Committee
Consortium Participants
American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI)
With almost 10,000 members, the American Bankruptcy Institute (abi.org) is the nation’s largest association of bankruptcy, insolvency and restructuring professionals. ABI members include attorneys, judges, lenders, turnaround specialists, accountants, professors, bankers, students and others. ABI is committed to serving its members and the global restructuring community with best-in-class conferences, comprehensive continuing education, effective legal research, and dynamic networking opportunities. In 2019 ABI formed its Diversity and Inclusion Working Group to address issues with diversity, including racial diversity, within ABI, its leadership and our industry. Its mission is to develop recommendations to increase diversity within ABI and its leadership, to help create opportunities for diverse ABI members, and otherwise to promote diversity within ABI and within the restructuring profession. To learn more about ABI’s diversity initiatives visit diversity.abi.org.
American Bankruptcy Institute Contact Information:
Eve H. Karasik, ABI Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion
Levene, Neale, Bender, Yoo & Golubchik L.L.P.
2818 La Cienega Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90034
Phone: 310.229.3350
Email: [email protected]
ABA Business Bankruptcy Committee of the Business Law Section (ABA)
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/business_law/
The Business Bankruptcy Committee is the nation’s largest organization of business bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers. It is one of several substantive committees of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association. Its mission is to be the preeminent resource of the section dealing with business bankruptcy cases, corporate restructuring, and insolvency matters by offering leading educational programming and initiatives for the study of bankruptcy policy and procedure. The committee enjoys a team of dedicated volunteer leaders that serve on various subcommittees and task forces responsible for developments in such varied topics as chapter 11 cases, executory contracts, trustees and examiners, appeals, municipal bankruptcies, pro bono services and the engagement of new and young professionals.
ABA Business Bankruptcy Committee of the Business Law Section Contact Information:
Henry Kevane
Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP
One Sansome Street, Suite 3430
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: 415.263.7000
Email: [email protected]
American College of Bankruptcy (ACB)
https://www.americancollegeofbankruptcy.com/
The American College of Bankruptcy, founded in 1989, is an honorary public service organization of insolvency professionals who are invited to join as Fellows based on a proven record of the highest standards of expertise, leadership, integrity, professionalism, scholarship and service to the bankruptcy and insolvency practice and to their communities. The College facilitates the effective domestic and cross-border application of bankruptcy and insolvency laws and the administration of justice in the courts through, among other activities, conducting professional educational programs, sponsoring the publication of scholarly reports, and maintaining the National Bankruptcy Archives. Through its affiliated American College of Bankruptcy Foundation, the College establishes and funds scholarships and grant awards and facilitates the provision of legal aid services to the indigent. In March 2021, the College established its Select Commission on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to develop a comprehensive plan for instilling mindfulness regarding all aspects of diversity, equity and inclusion. Fellows of the College actively promote those values through the resources and endeavors of the College itself and the Foundation. The College’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, established in March 2022 as a permanent standing successor to the Select Commission, continues to execute the DEI Commission Mission Statement and promote positive, systemic change in the College and the insolvency community.
Association of Chapter 12 Trustees (ACT12)
Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors
Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA)’s mission is to unite and support professionals providing business turnaround, insolvency, and bankruptcy services, foster an understanding of the related business environment, sponsor relevant education programs, and to administer certification through the Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA) and Certified in Distressed Business Valuation (CDBV) technical programs.
To this end, AIRA brings together professionals from a broad range of practices and disciplines including financial advisors, accountants, CPAs, investment executives, appraisers, legal professionals, academics, turnaround advisors, bankers, C suite executives, and government professionals, among others, to further the quality of practice and recognize professionals for their excellence in these specialized services.
Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors Contact Information:
James M. Lukenda
1314 Center Drive Unit B-132
Medford, OR 97501
Phone: 312-804-7879
Email: [email protected]
International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation
IWIRC is committed to the connection, promotion, and growth of women in insolvency and restructuring professions worldwide. Since 1993, IWIRC has been connecting women worldwide through a global membership of more than 2.300 attorneys, bankers, corporate-turnaround professionals, financial advisors, and other restructuring practitioners. The organization provides its members with relationship-building, educational, career enhancement, and promotional opportunities. Be Informed. Be Inspired. Be Connected. For more information, visit us at www.iwirc.com.
International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation Information:
Rosa Evergreen
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP
601 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington DC USA, 20001
Phone: 202-942-5572
Email: [email protected]
Just The Beginning - A Pipeline Organization
Just the Beginning – A Pipeline Organization was founded as a not-for-profit organization of judges, lawyers, and other citizens dedicated to developing educational programs for students from middle school through law school. Our mission is to encourage students of color and from other underrepresented groups to pursue career and leadership opportunities in the law. Our vision is a legal profession in which lawyers and judges reflect the backgrounds and perspectives of the populations they serve. We provide our students with exposure to a wide variety of legal careers and leaders. We believe you can become what you can see. We help our students build legal, professional, and leadership skills and employ those skills in legal environments because you learn more when you do more. We connect our students with our extraordinary network of lawyers, judges, partners, and alumni who are committed to passing the torch by providing inspiration, encouragement, and support.
Just The Beginning – A Pipeline Organization
Cristina M. Figueroa, JD
Program Director
Just The Beginning – A Pipeline Organization
1 South Dearborn St., 20th Fl., Chicago, IL 60603
312-661-5552
[email protected]
National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees (NABT)
The mission of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the NABT (the Committee) is to increase awareness of and sensitivity to diversity, equity and inclusion issues and values among persons and institutions in the insolvency profession, including bankruptcy judges and trustees, NABT members, and financial advisors and attorneys servicing bankruptcy trustees. The Committee is dedicated to leading the way in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in the bankruptcy trustee practice for attorneys, law students, accountants, trustees and other professionals in the myriad roles and capacities in which they serve. The Committee intends to achieve these objectives through a variety of programs and initiatives, including webinars, networking with diverse members of law schools, and generally educating professionals on the economic and moral value of creating and maintaining work environments in which all persons of all backgrounds feel safe and fully supported in achieving their professional goals.
National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees Contact Information:
Aja Favors
Favors Law Firm, LLC
PO Box 395
Oak Lawn, IL 60453
Phone: (312) 618-4137
Email: [email protected]
National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT)
NACTT Inclusion & Acceptance Resource Page
https://www.nactt.com/page-18071
The NACTT was founded by 34 Chapter XIII trustees (now referred to as Chapter 13 trustees) in 1965. Currently, there are a little less than 200 Chapter 13 standing trustees serving in the 50 states and Puerto Rico. Today, the NACTT has grown to more than 1,000 members, consisting of trustees, bankruptcy judges, lawyers for debtors and creditors, certified public accountants, and other insolvency related professionals. Our organization is dedicated to the highest standards of practice and education related to Chapter 13 bankruptcy and these form the focal point of the NACTT’s annual seminars. Members of the NACTT receive the NACTT Quarterly, the official publication of the organization, as well as reduced rates on NACTT seminars. The Quarterly emphasizes local and national developments in Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees Contact Information:
Pamela Simmons-Beasley
Chapter 13 Trustee
250 Berryhill Road
Suite 402
Columbia, SC 29210
803-779-5180
[email protected]
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA)
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys Contact Information:
Carol Colliersmith
Law Firm of Carol Colliersmith
PO Box 2256
Smyrna, GA 0
Phone: (404) 815-1600
Email: [email protected]
National Association of Federal Equity Receivers (NAFER)
NAFER recognizes the need for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the receivership community and is committed to fostering a professional forum in which all individuals are welcomed, respected, supported, and enabled. In early 2021, NAFER created the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee to develop an actionable plan to promote these values consistent with NAFER’s mission of delivering excellent education, networking, and receivership opportunities to the receivership community.
National Association of Federal Equity Receivers Contact Information:
Paula Durham
J.S. Held LLC
3101 N. Central Ave.
Suite 670
Phoenix, AZ 85012
602-279-7505
[email protected]
National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ)
https://www.ncbj.org/default.aspx
Our mission is to promote the interests of United States Bankruptcy Judges generally; to utilize our expertise on issues of bankruptcy law and procedure to improve the administration of the bankruptcy system; to foster scholarship, collegiality and diversity among members of the bankruptcy bench and bar; and to provide opportunities for education and networking for bankruptcy judges and the bankruptcy community at large.
National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges Contact Information:
Hon. Sandra Klien
US Bankruptcy Court, C.D. of Cal.
255 E. Temple Street
Suite 1582
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-894-7741
[email protected]
Executive Office for U.S. Trustees (EOUST) *
The United States Trustee Program is the component of the Department of Justice responsible for overseeing the administration of bankruptcy cases and private trustees under 28 U.S.C. § 586 and 11 U.S.C. § 101, et seq. We are a national program with broad administrative, regulatory, and litigation/enforcement authorities whose mission is to promote the integrity and efficiency of the bankruptcy system for the benefit of all stakeholders–debtors, creditors, and the public. The USTP consists of an Executive Office in Washington, DC, and 21 regions with 90 field office locations nationwide.
*Executive Office for United States Trustees Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
https://www.justice.gov/ust/employment-opportunities
*Ex Officio Member
IDEA Consortium Leadership
Michael Sabella
Chair
Michael Sabella is Counsel at BakerHostetler, practicing in both its Restructuring & Bankruptcy Group and its Securities and Governance Litigation Group. He assists debtors, creditors and interested parties in a variety of industries on all aspects of representation on bankruptcy issues, including claims recovery, secured transactions, real estate, international insolvency, and corporate insolvencies. Additionally, Michael represents corporate officers and directors in litigation that challenges their actions and roles in connection with the management and operations of their businesses.
Michael also devotes time to assist pro bono clients. He has handled names changes for transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary clients, immigration cases, asylum applications, and matrimonial proceedings for women, as well as impact litigations and amicus briefs for different human rights and interest groups. He is also committed to increasing diversity in the legal profession, having organized, moderated, and spoken on panels about this issue. He is also a frequent speaker and writer on matters relating to bankruptcy practice and director and officer liability defense.
Michael is currently serving as the Chair of the American Bar Association’s Business (ABA) Law Section’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and as a member of the Practicing Law Institute’s Diversity Council. He is also the Editor-in-Chief for the ABA’s Business Bankruptcy eNewsletter and the Co-Chair of the ABA’s Consumer Bankruptcy Committee. He is a former Commissioner on the ABA’s Commission on Disability Rights as well as the former Chair of the ABA’s Business Law Section’s Lawyers with Disabilities Involvement Subcommittee.
He was the recipient of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s “40 Under 40” Award in 2021, Chambers USA’s 2019 Diversity and Inclusion’s “Future Leader – LGBT+ Equality” Award, The National LGBT Bar Association’s “Best LGBTQ+ Lawyers Under 40” in 2019 and was selected as a New York Super Lawyers “Rising Star” from 2015 through 2022.
Pamela Simmons-Beasley
Immediate Past Chair
Pamela Simmons-Beasley is a standing Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee for the District of South Carolina. Prior to accepting appointment as a Trustee in January, 2016 she practiced primarily in the field of consumer bankruptcy law for 21 years. She received her BA from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia and her law degree from the University of South Carolina. She is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, member of the South Carolina Bar, South Carolina Bankruptcy Law Association (SCBLA), the J. Bratton Davis Inn of Court and the National Association of Chapter Thirteen Trustees. She is a past president of the SCBLA and recipient of the William E. S. Robinson Public Service Award of the SCBLA. This award was given in recognition of her volunteerism with the CARE Program, which is a national initiative of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court designed to provide education to high school and college students on the consequences of consumer credit abuse through on-site presentations. She serves as a team captain for the Prisma Health Midlands Foundation’s campaign to raise awareness and funds in the fight against breast cancer and sits on the Board of Homeless No More, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eradicating family homelessness. She currently serves as co-chair of the NACTT Inclusion and Acceptance Committee and the DEI Consortium.
Eve H. Karasik
Vice Chair
Eve H. Karasik is a business restructuring and bankruptcy attorney who focuses her practice on the representation of business entities in a variety of industries. In addition to representing corporate debtors, Ms. Karasik has represented creditors’ committees, equity committees, post-confirmation liquidating trusts and Bankruptcy Code section 524(g) trusts, assignees and assignors for assignments for the benefit of creditors, receivers and creditors in state and federal receiverships, and significant creditors and litigation parties in cases pending around the country. She began her legal career at Stutman, Treister & Glatt P.C., a nationally recognized bankruptcy boutique where she practiced until May 1, 2014 when the firm had to close its doors.
Ms. Karasik has a breadth of experience representing entities in wide variety of industries,. Some of her debtor representations of note include: Valley Economic Development Corporation (Los Angeles, CA, Loan Origination and Servicing), Marshall Broadcasting, Inc. (Houston, TX, Media), Cornerstone Apparel, Inc. (Los Angeles, CA, Retail), Anna’s Linens, Inc. (Los Angeles, CA, Retail), Associated Third Party Administrators and Allied Fund Administrators LLC (Los Angeles, CA, Benefits Administration), Imperial Capital Bancorp, Inc. (San Diego, CA, Bank Holding Company), Utah 7000, LLC, et al (Salt Lake City, UT, Luxury Real Estate Development), Resort at Summerlin, et al (Las Vegas Nevada, Gaming); Gold River Hotel & Casino, et al (Las Vegas, Nevada, Gaming), Falcon Products, Inc., et al (St. Louis, MO, Furniture Manufacturer), Clark Retail Group, et al (Chicago, IL, Gas Station and Convenience Stores), MJ Research, Inc. (Reno, NV, Bio Tech), Cell Pro, (Seattle, Washington, Bio Tech); and U.S. Aggregates, Inc., et al (Reno, NV, Mining). Her creditor and equity committee representations include PHI, Inc. (Dallas, TX, Oil and Gas Logistics), New Meatco Provisions, LLC (Los Angeles, CA, Food Distribution), Circus and Eldorado Joint Venture, et al. (Reno, NV, Gaming), Riviera Holdings Corporation, et al. (Las Vegas, NV. Gaming), Eurofresh, Inc., et al (Phoenix, AZ, Food Producer and Distributor), USA Capital First Trust Deed Fund (Las Vegas, NV, Real Estate Investment Fund), Aladdin Gaming, Inc. (Las Vegas, NV, Gaming), and Amerco (Reno, NV, Retail/Trucking).
James M. Lukenda, CIRA
Secretary
Over his 40 plus-year career Jim Lukenda has worked in a variety of industries and assisted clients ranging from small privately held businesses to large multinational corporations. His experience spans numerous industry categories including construction and contracting, communications and publishing, energy, consumer products and distribution, transportation, real estate, hospitality, retailing, and electronics.
From 1989 to 2019, Jim worked exclusively with clients on matters related to distressed operating situations including assistance with operations assessment, debt restructurings, mergers, acquisitions and dispositions, fraud investigations, and other financial consulting, litigation, and workout assignments. Jim was a founding managing director of Huron Consulting in 2002.
In 2020 Jim became the Executive Director of Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (“AIRA”). Prior to becoming AIRA’s Executive Director he served the Association’s membership in the capacities of president, chairman, and as a board member.
Jim received his BSBA, cum laude, from Georgetown University. He maintains a current license as a Certified Public Accountant (New Jersey and New York), and is a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA).
Jim has been a speaker on issues related to bankruptcy, reorganizations, and financing and accounting matters before organizations such as AIRA, ABI, ACG NJ, INSOL, Foundation for Accounting Education, New Jersey Society of CPAs, NYCFMA, PLI, The George Washington University National Law Center Government Contracts Program and The Bank Lending and Banking Law Institutes.
Jennifer Brinkley
Treasurer
Jennifer Brinkley is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Inspire Association Management Company, LLC. Since 2004, Jennifer has worked alongside associations to carry out their mission. Her expertise in association management enables her to effectively handle all the moving parts of an association.
Her superpowers include: communications and marketing, volunteer recruitment and onboarding, membership and revenue growth, association governance, event planning, financial management and strategic planning. Her “not-so-secret” pleasures include spending time with her family, football, reading, and playing a pretty mean game of Texas Hold’em.
She is inspired by the excitement of a new volunteer, the dedication of an experienced leader and the wonders created by the combination of those voices.
Hon. Frank J. Santoro
Member of the Bankruptcy Bench
The Honorable Frank J. Santoro was appointed as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge on February 21, 2008, sitting in Norfolk and Newport News, Virginia. His term as Chief Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia commenced on December 13, 2019.
He received undergraduate degrees, with honors, in political science, and economics and finance from Allegheny College in 1976, where he was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his J.D. degree from the Marshall Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary in 1979.
Prior to his appointment, Chief Judge Santoro was the managing partner of Marcus, Santoro & Kozak, P.C., located in Portsmouth and Chesapeake, Virginia, where his practice concentrated in bankruptcy, corporate reorganizations and corporate finance. He served as standing Chapter 13 Trustee beginning in 1987 and also a Chapter 7 Panel Trustee from December 1981 through May 1990. He was a former law clerk to Judge Hal J. Bonney, Jr. He has been a frequent speaker at seminars and is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. In 2003, Chief Judge Santoro was selected by his peers as the outstanding bankruptcy lawyer in Virginia.
Chief Judge Santoro stays busy with his children and grandchildren. He is active in a variety of civic organizations and is an official USTA Ironman.