Barbara A. Chasnoff joined The Chicago Bar Foundation in September 2007 as a Program Associate. As program associate, she works with the CBF’s Associate Director on the implementation of much of the programmatic work of the CBF--including the CBF grants program (which provides grants to over 40 legal aid and public interest law organizations in the Chicago area), fellowships and scholarships, and provides staff support to the CBA Legal Aid Committee, which includes working with the Committee officers to develop programming of interest to legal aid attorneys and organizations for the monthly Committee meetings.

Prior to joining The Chicago Bar Foundation, she worked for five years on the ABA Child Custody and Adoption Pro Bono Project which sought to increase and improve the representation of children in private custody cases nationwide. She developed a Video Training Series with substantial materials for use by pro bono programs to train attorneys to represent children in private custody matters. She also worked with the Project’s mini-grants program, which focused on the developing and supporting the use of best practices in the representation of children by volunteer attorneys. She has a long standing interest and commitment to expanding access to justice for all people. Early in her legal career, she was an Illinois State Appellate Defender. Since moving to Chicago in 1980, she has volunteered at the former Circuit Court of Cook County/CBF Minor Guardianship Desk, CLAIM and as a Child Representative in the Circuit Court of Cook County Domestic Relations Division.

Chasnoff is a graduate of Connecticut College and Washington University Law School. A native of Kansas City, she has lived in Illinois since moving to Springfield in 1974. She now resides in the Chicago area with her husband, Tom Johnson. They have two adult children.