The CLEO EDGE
Our History
Founded in 1968 when the number of lawyers of color was less than one percent, the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) has worked to increase the number of lawyers from diverse backgrounds for the last half century. Although best known for its Pre-Law Summer Institute “boot camp,” CLEO provides services to high school, pre-law, and law school students which include mentoring, placement assistance, academic counseling and support, scholarships, and bar prep orientation. CLEO has produced more than 10,000 alumni who have excelled in every area of the legal profession to include judges, corporate attorneys, law school deans and professors, practitioners, politicians, and more.
The Occasion
In 2018, CLEO will proudly celebrate its 50th Anniversary of bringing greater diversity to the legal profession. To help commemorate this historic occasion, the organization will host four distinct celebrations during the 2018 calendar year, including three regional receptions in the cities of Houston, San Francisco, and New York, and a culminating gala in Washington, DC, on November 15, 2018.
The CLEO Timeline
50th Anniversary Honorary Committee
Nanette Diaz Barragán
Clarissa Cerda
Paulette Dodson
Al Green
Joseph Kennedy III
Sheila Jackson Lee
Victor McTeer
Karen Roberts
Sandra Phillips Rogers
Leo Romero
Frank E.A. Sander
Bryan Stevenson
Paul Tagliabue
Kellye Y. Testy
Cleophus Thomas, Jr.
Simone Wu
CLEO Board of Directors
Arthur G. Affleck, III
Angela Birch-Cox (Chair)
Elizabeth A. Campbell
Darryl L. Franklin
Phyllis P. Harris
Harold Henderson
Malcolm L. Morris
The Honorable Denise Owens
Yaneris M. Rosa
Pamela V. Rothenberg
Zohra Tejani
Advisory Council
Yvette Gatling
Kevin Gooch
Wilhelm Joseph, Jr.
Natalie Pierce
Dennis Shields
CLEO Staff
Cassandra Sneed Ogden
Leigh R. Allen II
Lynda Cevallos
Bernetta Hayes
Julie D. Long
