Betty Balli Torres

Betty Balli Torres has dedicated her professional career to public interest work serving as an advocate for civil legal services for the poor. She has served as the Executive Director of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, the largest funding source for legal services to the poor in Texas, since 2001. Betty started her legal career as a staff attorney at Legal Aid of Central Texas. She has held various public interest law positions, including: Executive Director of Laredo Legal Aid Society, Inc., Legal Director of Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas, Managing Attorney of Legal Aid of Central Texas and as a staff attorney at Advocacy, Inc. Betty has served on many local, statewide and national committees, boards and task forces related to access to justice.

She is a Past President of the National Association of IOLTA Programs and Immediate Past Co-chair of the Board of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees. She serves as Co-Chair of the ABA’s Working Group on Unaccompanied Minors and serves on the boards of Management Information Exchange (MIE) and ProBonoNet. She serves as Chair of the Hispanic Issues Section of the State Bar of Texas and is a member of the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force. Betty is a recipient of the Distinguished Lawyer Award (Austin Bar Association), Tower of Justice Award (Texas Legal Services Center), Outstanding Public Interest Attorney Award (Travis County Women Lawyers Association), the Regina Rogoff Award (Austin Bar Association), the “Nonny” Award for Outstanding Nonprofit Leadership in Austin, the “Star of Justice” Award (Texas Access to Justice Commission), the prestigious Harold Kleinman Award, the Community Service Award and Chair’s Award (Hispanic Issues Section-State Bar of Texas) and the ABA’s Grassroots Advocacy Award.