CHAIR

Will A. Gunn
Will A. Gunn is former CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington (BGCGW), a youth organization providing after-school academic enrichment and athletic activities for 35,000 children annually throughout the National Capital Region through its 21 clubs and a summer camp. Founded in 1886, BGCGW is the largest affiliate of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Colonel Gunn joined the BGCGW after a distinguished 25-year career in the United States Air Force and a long history of mentoring and volunteer work with young people through churches and schools wherever he was stationed. Throughout his career, Gunn built, oversaw and managed large, complex legal teams to ensure fair and just representation within the military legal system. Most recently, Gunn was Chief Defense Counsel in the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions where he directed the overall defense effort for detainees brought before military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. While in this post, Gunn built a defense office from the ground up and led a team of 14 military and 20 civilian pool attorneys representing a client base of more than 500 detainees. Prior to this position, he was Executive Officer to the Air Force Judge Advocate General (JAG), where he oversaw the office responsible for organizing, assigning and training more than 2,500 active duty and reserve attorneys and paralegals. He has held a variety of positions as a manager and staff attorney for the Air Force’s Judge Advocate General, at one time leading a 52-person legal team covering an 11-state region that defended several thousand clients and served a total client base of more than 100,000 personnel at 26 installations. From 1990-1991 he was a White House Fellow, serving as a liaison between the White House and Department of Transportation, Department of Veterans Affairs, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Gunn has a deep commitment to helping people. He has been actively engaged in bringing more minorities into the Air Force Academy and working within JAG to mentor and develop young attorneys. He has coached various youth basketball teams, tutored in the Washington, DC and Montgomery, Alabama school systems and directed youth programs through his church. He holds a J.D. (cum laude) from Harvard Law School and a B.S. from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He also holds an M.S. from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and an L.L.M. in Environmental Law from George Washington University. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, Dawn, and three children.

VICE CHAIR

Laura V. Farber

ABA PAST PRESIDENT AND COMMISSION FOUNDER

Karen J. Mathis

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