Harvesters of Hope—a nonprofit foundation created to address Alabama’s underserved “legal deserts”—recently received one of 10 annual awards presented by the Association for Continuing Legal Education, or ACLEA, to organizations and professionals in continuing legal education and legal publishing.
The organization formally received the Steven Leleiko Memorial Award for Professional Excellence in Public Interest at ACLEA’s annual meeting in Boston on July 26. The award recognizes organizations that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to the public interest and provide legal services to historically marginalized and underrepresented populations.
“Receiving the Steven Leleiko Memorial Award for Professional Excellence in Public Interest is a profound honor,” Harvesters of Hope Executive Director Tom Heflin said. “This tribute belongs to our entire community—our participants, grantors, board members, and staff—whose daily commitment guarantees that dignity, equity, and opportunity remain within reach for everyone. We proudly share this achievement with the people we serve.”
Heflin and Alabama State Bar President Tom Perry founded Harvesters of Hope in 2025 to encourage new lawyers to establish legal practices in underserved rural Alabama counties. The organization provides those lawyers with mentoring and support while partnering with local leaders, courts and organizations to promote long-term community investment.
Since 2025, Harvesters of Hope has placed attorneys in 10 Alabama counties in need of legal services. Heflin told APR in a written statement that the organization plans to place more lawyers and recent law graduates in eight additional counties by the end of 2026 while continuing its recruitment efforts.
“With law schools almost ready to reconvene, we will be presenting the idea that there is opportunity for lawyers in Alabama’s small towns,” Heflin told APR. “We will work to place additional lawyers in 2027, when many of these law students will graduate and take the bar exam. While our efforts are directed at the graduating class, we will be promoting to those who will graduate in 2028 and 2029. This recruitment will continue for the foreseeable future.”
Heflin added that the organization plans to expand its recruitment efforts to local community colleges and four-year colleges, as well as high school juniors and seniors. Lawrence and Colbert counties have already implemented pilot programs in which local high school students can attend court to learn about the law from judges and lawyers, a model Harvesters of Hope hopes to replicate in communities across the state.
The organization is also seeking partnerships with other professions and agencies to help revitalize Alabama’s small towns beyond the legal profession, Heflin said.
“In order to revitalize our small towns, they will need a healthy and vibrant professional and business community. For our towns to flourish in addition to lawyers, they need accountants, bankers, dentists, doctors, insurance agents, ministers, teachers, and all the other professions,” Heflin told APR. “Part of Harvesters of Hope’s objectives is to engage with other professions and agencies to explore the opportunities for their professions and businesses. Discussions have occurred and will continue.”
“The state and local decision makers and stakeholders are encouraged to recognize and support these businesses and professions. The impact can be game changing,” he added. “In many small towns, efforts for revitalization and economic growth have been ongoing for several years. Harvesters of Hope believes that efforts to place lawyers, as well as other professions and businesses, can only enhance those efforts.”
In addition to its most recent award from ACLEA, Harvesters of Hope’s work was also recognized earlier this year when the organization received Legal Services Alabama’s Taze Shepard Pro Bono Fairness Award. Through its ongoing and planned initiatives, the organization hopes to continue highlighting Alabama’s underserved communities and helping them thrive.
“The bottom line is that these are places to live and there are opportunities for work,” Heflin said. “As we plow the fertile fields of Alabama’s small towns and sow the seeds of professions and businesses, we will harvest a bright and vibrant economic growth. We hope every community will join us!”
