“Now is the Time to Step Up” — SDCBA Board Elections and Other Volunteer Opportunities
By Stacey A. Kartchner
As Immediate Past President of the SDCBA and Chair of the Leadership Outreach Committee (“LOC”), I have the privilege of collaborating with an exceptionally talented and amazing group of individuals to recruit potential candidates for the 2026 Board of Directors election. If you want to dedicate your time and talent to creating real change and making a meaningful impact within the legal community, you can do so by serving on the Board.
There are five seats available on the SDCBA Board of Directors in the upcoming 2026 election – four at-large seats and one East County Division seat. If you are interested in running, you will need to submit a self-nomination form confirming that you meet the following requirements:
- You have been an active SDCBA Attorney Member for at least three of the past five years;
- You have been licensed to practice law for at least seven years;
- You have no disbarments, suspensions, resignations, or felony convictions within the last seven years; and
- You have demonstrated leadership experience by (i) chairing an SDCBA Section, Committee, or Division, (ii) serving on another nonprofit’s board, or (iii) having similar experience as determined by the LOC.
Although you must self-nominate by August 1, 2025, at 5:00 p.m., you will have the option to withdraw your nomination before the official candidate list is published to the membership on August 29, 2025, at 5:00 p.m.
Currently, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary are being challenged, and funding is being drastically cut from the budgets of courts and many of our organizations (e.g., defense, prosecution, and nonprofit organizations). These issues, among others, directly affect how we serve our clients, our ability to practice law, the future of our profession, and the freedoms and livelihoods of many. In times like these, it is especially important for lawyers to step up and lead.
Serving as an SDCBA Board member offers numerous benefits and opportunities, including being at the forefront of defending the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. It also helps improve access to justice through various programs offered by the SDCBA, involves creating new policies, and issuing public position statements on law-related issues that can significantly impact our community and educate the public. Additionally, it includes collaborating with the courts and other justice stakeholders, along with many other efforts aimed at creating positive change. Still, one of the most fulfilling benefits of serving as a Board member is knowing that your hard work might help improve the lives of our clients, colleagues, the courts, and our community. Moreover, you get to accomplish this alongside an outstanding and highly gifted internal team that diligently works to implement Board policies and strengthen our community every day.
In these uncertain times, and with so much work that needs to be done, it is essential that our Association remains strong and that we build a diverse, governance-focused Board of Directors committed to ethics, civility, collaboration, and integrity above all.
If you are interested in running for a seat on the SDCBA Board of Directors, please contact me at skartchner@klinedinstlaw.com. To view the election timeline and to access our online library of videos on how to run for a Board seat, please click here.
Alternatively, if you are not ready to run for the Board yet, I encourage you to consider volunteering in another capacity. At SDCBA, you can volunteer for a section, committee, division, mock trial competition, one of the SDCBA Community Impact programs, or various other volunteer opportunities that you can explore here.
However you choose to give back, your involvement matters. As the great RBG once said: “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” Now is the time to step up.
