Ava George Stewart, principal of the Law Office of Ava George Stewart located on Chicago’s Near North Side, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Illinois Bar Foundation (IBF), the charitable arm of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), and will serve a two-year term.

The Foundation raises funds for distribution to Illinois nonprofit organizations whose mission is to provide free legal services to those with limited means. It also provides assistance to lawyers who can no longer support themselves due to incapacity. In 2015, the Foundation took on the responsibility of a statewide expansion of the Illinois JusticeCorps to provide trained part-time student volunteers to serve as guides in courthouses. This year, the Foundation will distribute more than $850,000 in funds.

Concentrating in criminal law, George Stewart is co-chair of the Criminal Litigation Committee of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, serves on the DUI Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and is the Illinois Delegate for the National College for DUI Defense. Active in the ISBA, she is chair of its Criminal Justice Section Council; a member of the Assembly, the supreme policy making body of the association; and a past chair of the Traffic Laws and Courts Committee.

A founding member of the Women’s Criminal Defense Bar Association, George Stewart also is a member of the Cook County Bar Association and The Lawyers Club of Chicago.

She received a Bachelor’s degree (1989) and Master’s degree (1998) from Northwestern University, and a J.D. from the University of Illinois College in 2003.

The Illinois Bar Foundation is located at 20 S. Clark St., Suite 910, Chicago, IL  60603. Call (312) 726-6072 or visit www.illinoisbarfoundation.org.