During her time at Nebraska Law, Kendra Weston, ’16, never envisioned herself founding a nonprofit. If you were to go back in time and tell her she would soon do exactly that, she would have called you crazy.
“I would have never guessed that this is where I would be at this point,” she said.
Initially focused on immigration law, she pivoted to representing children at the Kids First Law Center in Iowa post-graduation. She is now the executive director of the Lavender Legal Center, a nonprofit organization based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Founded in October 2020, the center provides advocacy and legal representation for LGBTQ people.
Weston established the Lavender Legal Center to fill in the gaps she saw in legal representation in Iowa. Specifically, she recognized a lack of organizations focused solely on serving individuals in the LGBTQ community.
Weston said the intersectionality between this community and issues such as violence and low income pushed her to use her law degree to make a difference. As more needs come to her attention, she continues to add legal services to the Lavender Legal Center.
“The goal is to evolve with our community and the community’s needs,” Weston said.
As the center’s executive director, attorney and founder, Weston wears many hats. The initial transition was somewhat stressful, as she was learning how to balance the multitude of responsibilities on her plate. To avoid becoming overwhelmed, she keeps in mind the impact she can make on the community around her. In one instance, a client had waited a year and a half before searching for an attorney in fear that they would not be accepted.
“If we weren’t doing any of this, none of these people would be getting help right now, or they’d be waiting a really long time for help,” Weston said.
Among the services the Lavender Legal Center provides are family recognition, gender and name marker changes, last will and testament, trans health care and education and youth issues. These services are provided on a sliding fee scale, which relies on the reported income of clients. Although there have been a handful of paying clients, the majority are low-income and pay no fees. In areas where the center is unable to provide specific services, referrals are offered to other legal organizations and resources.
Advocacy is also a large part of the center’s work, as Weston works with other organizations to support LGBTQ individuals. One unique aspect of the center is Weston’s approach as a member of the LGBTQ community herself. This allows her to view her clients’ situations through a specific lens in order to find out what works for them.
Testimonials on the Lavender Legal Center website speak to the impact it has had on the community:
“This just feels so safe. I wouldn’t be comfortable anywhere else. You get it. Because you’re us.”
“I am so so thankful for your representation. You have made such a rough time more manageable.”
“I was so scared to go to an attorney, but also didn’t know where to start by myself. I didn’t know what to do. Then, I found you. Thank you for speaking to me. I feel so much better just talking to you.”
When debating whether to launch the Lavender Legal Center, Weston received support and encouragement from her wife, who told her to go big or go home. She said she recognizes her financial privilege to make such a move, as her safety net and support system afforded her the ability to take a chance on the center. At one point, Weston went 10 months without a paycheck while establishing the center.
Although there were risks involved, in the end, “The reward so outweighed it,” she said.
Weston loves working with law students, who intern and volunteer at the center. She said they are eager to get to work and be inclusive leaders in the community. As a remote organization, the center is more accessible to students in other states. Weston has also received support from attorneys who have reached out looking for ways to help and learn about the center.
“Lots of people want to learn more and understand how exactly an adoption is different for a same-sex family versus an opposite-sex family or why a divorce would look different,” Weston said. “I’ll have attorneys calling me and just picking my brain about things. In the last few months, I have seen more and more attorneys wanting to go from not just being LGBTQ inclusive, but to being LGBTQ knowledgeable, which is great.”
Looking forward, Weston hopes to add more legal services and begin holding clinics across Iowa. Additionally, she would like to expand the capacity of the clinic by hiring another attorney and building a small staff. These expansions rely heavily on funding, the majority of which comes from individual donors and a few grants. Weston hopes to apply for larger grants in the near future in order to double the amount of work the center can handle.
One thing Weston wishes she had known during her time at Nebraska Law is that it is okay to change your mind. After deciding not to go into immigration law, she felt a bit guilty. The work had been a big part of her life, and she felt it had closely aligned with her personal values. Ultimately, she realized she could advocate for both the rights of immigrants and LGBTQ individuals.
“I can be passionate about immigration law and decide to support that in a different way and turn my attention to another passion and another mission,” she said.
Another piece of advice Weston would give her younger self would be to take more chances. She said she would have started the center two years earlier if she had not been so apprehensive.
“I was so afraid of all the bad things that could happen, rather than all the great things,” she said. “Because it really has only been great things.”