Salena Copeland is the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Association of California (LAAC) and spends much of her time coordinating statewide legislative and administrative advocacy, while also supervising a small staff who work to support the entire Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) legal aid community through trainings, online coordination and resource-sharing, and member discounts. Her biggest recent success is as a major organizer in the effort to increase the Equal Access Fund, a fund that supports nearly 100 California legal nonprofits. The efforts resulted in a $5 million increase in the funds at the same time LAAC and others were pushing for the extension or repeal of a sunset on a separate $7-9 million/year fund. That campaign was also successful.

Salena, a Texan by birth, but Californian by choice, is a 2007 graduate of Stanford Law School, a member of the State Bar of California Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services, a co-chair of the California Commission on Access to Justice Rural Task Force, a member of the Amicus Committee of the Access Commission, an active member of the Bench Bar Coalition, and the 2010 recipient of the Bench Bar Coalition Legal Services Provider of the Year Award. She also serves on a number of statewide planning committees dedicated to improving access to justice for low and moderate-income Californians, including the Campaign for Justice. She lives in the East Bay with her partner, Matthew Liebman (SLS JD ’06), and their children.