An Interview with Paul Nordstrom

President of the Charitable Foundation of the Energy Bar Association

A. Karen Hill

The Energy Bar Association established a Charitable Foundation in 2002 and Paul Nordstrom is its first President. This interview explores how the Charitable Foundation came to be, what successes it has achieved in its first year of activities, and what challenges lay ahead.

Q. The Charitable Foundation is about to complete its first full year of operation. How has the first year gone?
A. We’ve had a great first year. Our goals were to get organized, get people involved, get a start on our charitable endeavors and establish a financial base. I think we have accomplished a lot in each of those areas.

Q. Let’s start with the Foundation’s charitable endeavors. Tell us about them.
A. The Foundation has done quite a few things in its first year and has other ideas in the conceptual or planning stage. We participated in several outings with Operation Caulk to weatherize local homes. We have taken over the EBA’s program for sponsoring FERC interns and have sponsored an intern who is presently at the Commission. In the area of financial donations, we have made significant contributions to My Sister’s Place, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, to cover the annual utility bill of one of its facilities, and to Habitat for Humanity, to cover materials and supplies for its housing for the poor projects. In addition, the Foundation contributed to Operation Caulk for materials and supplies.

Q. What projects are you planning or considering for the future?
A. We have a major event scheduled for May 1, the Saturday immediately after the Annual Meeting. We will have a home building project with Habitat for Humanity. Up to 25 EBA members may participate with Habitat in building a home for a low income family here in the District of Columbia. We hope we have a full turnout for this rewarding event on May 1.

We expect to have more outings throughout the year with Habitat and hope to expand these to other cities where the Association has members. We also are considering a significant expansion of the internship program, as well as the possibility of scholarships and educational grants. While most of these activities will be energy-related, we are also considering engaging in general charitable projects, such as an event with organizations like Martha’s Kitchen.

Q. How has fundraising gone?
A. Our initial fundraising efforts have been tremendously successful. We have received numerous individual contributions from EBA members and substantial “seed contributions” from the EBA and the Foundation of the Energy Law Journal. The Charitable Foundation also hosted a holiday gala reception in conjunction with the EBA’s Mid-Year Meeting in early December, raising funds through sponsorships and ticket sales.

Most notable, however, was the success of our Founders’ Campaign. Twenty-four law firms and corporations contributed or pledged between $5000 and $20,000 and 16 individuals contributed or pledged $2000 to become Founders of the Foundation. These contributions totaled $212,000 – an amount that far exceeded even my wildest expectations. The Foundation is deeply grateful to its Founders, its individual contributors, its gala sponsors and the Association and Journal Foundation for their generous support in helping us get our new organization off the ground.

Q. What fundraising plans do you have for this year?
A. The Foundation will be sponsoring its first annual Golf Tournament on April 30, the day after the EBA’s Annual Meeting. We expect to host our second annual Fundraising Gala in conjunction with the Mid-Year meeting this fall. And, of course, we will always welcome further individual contributions.

Q. You must feel enormous satisfaction at the huge success the Charitable Foundation has been from its inception. How did the Foundation come to be?
A. Credit for the Foundation goes to a number of committed EBA members. To the best of my knowledge, the idea arose during Jennifer Waters term as president of the EBA in 1997. Membership in the Association was lagging and Jennifer formed a Membership Committee to reverse the trend. Members of that committee contacted the Federal Communications Bar Association for ideas. They discovered that one of the most well-regarded and popular activities of that Bar was its charitable foundation. Serious consideration of the EBA forming such a foundation occurred in 2001-2002. That year, I was serving as President of the Association, Jackie Simmons was vicepresident and Dick Morgan was president of the Journal Foundation. All three of us had served on the original committee that sought to increase membership and had been captivated by the thought of forming a charitable foundation for the EBA. An ad hoc committee of volunteers from the boards of the Association and the Journal Foundation was established to explore whether to form a charitable foundation and identify its mission and potential activities.

Q. Do you recall who served on that ad hoc committee that recommended establishing a Charitable Foundation?
A. I do. Dick Morgan, Bill Mogel, Thom Hirsch, Steve Huntoon, Earle O’Donnell represented the Journal Foundation Board and Harvey Reiter, David Doot, Rich Bonnifield, Antoine Cobb and myself represented the EBA Board. That committee recommended to the EBA Board that the Association establish a charitable foundation. In December 2001, the EBA Board formally authorized creation of the Foundation.

Q. What was the purpose for establishing the Charitable Foundation?
A. The Foundation was created essentially for two reasons. One, to provide charitable assistance to needy people and organizations to satisfy energy related needs. The second purpose was to give members of the energy bar an opportunity to come together to give back to their community in a way that is related to the field of energy and their profession. In my view, the principal beneficiaries of the Charitable Foundation are the donees of our contributions and service, to be sure. But also, the EBA participants and the Association itself will benefit a great deal from participating in the Foundation’s activities.

Q. What happened next?
A. The next year was devoted to establishing the legal authority for the Foundation. It was incorporated in April of 2002 in the District of Columbia, and it received its 501(c)(3) tax status from the IRS in October 2002.

Q. How were the leaders of the Charitable Foundation selected?
A. Jackie Simmons, as president of the EBA, along with Barbara Heffernan, president-elect, sought volunteers and selected those they believed would be dedicated to getting the Foundation off to a strong start. They chose several members from the EBA Board and the FELJ Board, as well as members at large of the Association. Under the Foundation’s bylaws, the president of the Association serves ex officio on the Board of the Charitable Foundation.

Q. Who were the members of the first Board of Directors of the Charitable Foundation?
A. Those individuals who formed the Board of Directors of the Charitable Foundation during its first full year are Stan Balis, Anne Bomar, Rich Bonnifield, Linda Breathitt, Lisanne Crowley, David Doot, Joan Dreskin, Derek Dyson, Barbara Heffernan, Karen Hill, Steve Huntoon, Rich Meyer, Earle O’Donnell, Jeff Petrash, Harvey Reiter, Jennifer Waters and myself. Jackie Simmons, Kevin Downey and Geeta Oberoi also served brief appointments at the beginning of 2003.

Q. What were the goals of the Board that first year?
A. The Board’s aims were to get the organization up and running with a committee structure, serious fund-raising efforts and a selection of charitable activities and service projects.

Q. What committee structure did the Foundation develop?
A. The Foundation has organized its activities around the following committees: Charitable Activities, Fundraising, Annual Event, Communications and Legal. Two or more board members serve on each committee and membership in each committee is open to members of the Association.

Q. What do you see as challenges for 2003 and beyond?
A. The principal focus for Board going forward will be identifying appropriate charitable endeavors and increasing membership participation in the Foundation. We are looking hard not only at specific worthwhile activities and organizations to support, but at identifying where the Foundation can provide value in the chain from original donee to ultimate recipient, as well. We also are eager to attract EBA members to participate actively on our committees and in our service projects and fundraising activities. To that end, I urge everyone to participate in the Golf Tournament on April 30 and our house building project on May 1.

Ms. Hill is a Board Member of the Charitable Foundation of the EBA.