State Bar Foundation names new executive director

Leslie T. Hatamiya, a trustee of Stanford University, where she earned her undergraduate and law degrees, was named executive director of the Foundation of the State Bar of California last month.

Hatamiya

Hatamiya, 35, has wide-ranging experience in both the public and private sectors as well as the nonprofit world. She most recently was chief of staff and director of corporate communications at SOMA Networks, a San Francisco-based wireless broadband startup company.

Hatamiya was a Phi Beta Kappa political science major at Stanford. She worked as an aide to then-Sen. Bill Bradley, D-New Jersey, and wrote a book, “Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and the Passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988,” before enrolling in law school. After graduating, she clerked for Judge David Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit. She also served as deputy campaign manager for Bradley’s presidential campaign in 2000.

Hatamiya said her new post offers “a great opportunity to take the foundation to the next level in terms of fund-raising and program activities.”

The foundation supports law-related educational programs and offers scholarships to law students committed to public service.