PHOTOS
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The Founder
John W. Kozyak Foundation Founder and Managing Director Founder of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, PA For more than twenty years, John W. Kozyak has been promoting black law students and minority lawyers. He has worked to create new relationships, new opportunities and financial sources to help minorities succeed. John designed the mentoring program to take minority law students and connect them with a mentor in the area of law that they are interested in pursuing. Each year, John pairs hundreds of potential mentees with established lawyers and judges who have offered their time and resources to provide mentorship opportunities to their mentees. Mentors help guide ...
THE FOUNDATION
For the past seventeen years, John W. Kozyak and the law firm he co-founded, Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, have played a major role in the promotion of minority law school students in the community. The Foundation provides minority students the opportunity to be mentored by some of the best and most respected lawyers in the mentee’s field of interest. The foundation hosts several networking events. The 7th Minority Mentoring Picnic attracted more than 3,000 judges, attorneys, guest and minority students from every law school in every Florida and some from as far as California and New York. The Foundation helps set ...
PARTICIPATE
The Foundation relies on participation by its sponsors, mentors, and others who donate their time, money and skills in order to make the Foundation and all of its events successful. We are looking for mentors who are interested in mentoring young minority law students. Many lawyers have found the mentor/mentee relationship personally and professionally satisfying. Unfortunately, we need to raise money to put on the annual picnic and other events. Sponsorship opportunities are available and John Kozyak or Detra Shaw-Wilder would be delighted to put interested parties in contact with law firms, accounting firms and bar associations, which have previously been sponsors, to disuss the ...
THE PICNIC
The Kozyak Minority Mentoring Picnic is an annual event which is currently in its 8th year. The picnic has grown exponentially each year and is well attended by many judges, established lawyers and law students from every school in Florida. The picnic is sponsored by many businesses, multiple voluntary bar associations, a bank and numerous law firms. Many sponsors rent tents where it is easy for students to meet lawyers, judges and potential employees. We have a “Leaders and Legends” tent where some of the very best lawyers in the country have shared their experiences. For example, former Attorney General ...
The Board
John W. Kozyak Foundation Founder and Managing Director Founder of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, PA John W. Kozyak is a founding partner of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton and co-chairs the firm’s bankruptcy practice. John regularly plays a major role in bankruptcy courts across the nation, representing business owners, lenders, creditors’ committees, and major creditors, and he has been appointed a trustee and receiver in major cases. John grew up in southern Illinois outside of St. Louis and moved to Miami in 1977. His wife, Barbara Silverman, is also a lawyer and Director of the foundation. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Detra P. Shaw-Wilder Associate Managing Director Former President of the Gwen ...
Online Payments
Sponsor Level Platinum Plus . . .$10,000.00 USD Platinum . . .$7,500.00 USD Gold . . .$5,000.00 USD Silver . . .$2,500.00 USD Bronze . . .$1,500.00 USD Supporting . . .$750.00 USD Bar Association: 101 or more members . . .$750.00 USD Bar Association: 100 or less members . . .$500.00 USD Sponsor Name Your Name ______________________________________________________________________________________ Tents are ONLY available with a sponsorship and cannot be purchased alone. Tents are on a first come first serve basis as only a limited amount are permitted by the park. All tents are 10' x 10'. TENT PACKAGE 1 tent, 1 table & ...
MENTORING WORKS
We hope these comments from mentors and mentees will help further explain the program and give you some ideas for being a better mentor or mentee. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Jennifer Cornwell, Esq. Student at Florida Coastal School of Law, 2L March 2012 - I am writing to ask you to support Mr. Kozyak's foundation and annual picnic. Not only does Mr. Kozyak talk the talk, but he walks the walk. I am a minority student who completed a brief form at the picnic. As a result, Mr. Kozyak contacted me himself: he actually wanted to help. He gave me honest feedback about my resume and answered ...
The Mission
The Kozyak Minority Mentoring Foundation’s mission is to provide assistance and support to minorities interested in pursuing legal careers, mentoring programs, networking opportunities and limited financial aid. The Foundation takes primary responsibility for finding experienced lawyers and judges to mentor black law students at every law school in Florida and working with other voluntary bar associations to find mentors for all minority law students. John Kozyak, the Foundation’s founder, grew up in a totally segregated, community and was in high school when the 1974 Civil Rights Legislation was implemented. He has had a long-time commitment to creating opportunities for minority students. He ...
For the past seventeen years, John W. Kozyak and the law firm he co-founded, Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, have played a major role in the promotion of minority law school students in the community. The Foundation provides minority students the opportunity to be mentored by some of the best and most respected lawyers in the mentee’s field of interest. The foundation hosts several networking events. The 7th Minority Mentoring Picnic attracted more than 3,000 judges, attorneys, guest and minority students from every law school in every Florida and some from as far as California and New York.
The Foundation helps set up and administer the minority mentoring program at the University of Miami School of Law. The foundation also works with and assists all law schools in Florida to help coordinate mentorship opportunities and participation in our networking events, such as reception and the mentoring picnic. John also started a minority mentoring program for black law students at his alma mater, Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.
Although much of John Kozyak’s early efforts have been to provide mentors for black law students, the mentoring picnic provides opportunities for all minority students. The Foundation has close ties to the Cuban-American Bar Association (“CABA”), the Florida Association of Women Lawyers (“FAWL”), Haitian Lawyers, Caribbean Lawyers Association, the Gay & Lesbian Lawyers Association, Florida Muslim Lawyers, the National Hispanic Bar Association and many other voluntary bar associations. John personally matches most black law students in Florida and works with other associations to find good mentors for other minority students.
