Representative Dotie Joseph (D- Miami) was honored alongside fellow founders Yolanda Strader, Annika Ashton, Loreal Arscott, Reggie Clyne, and the late Beranton Whisenant, whose son accepted a posthumous tribute on his behalf. Rolling up their sleeves, these bar association presidents planned, organized, and mobilized their respective voluntary bar association–which included the Wilkie D. Ferguson Bar Association, Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Association, the Haitian Lawyers Association (HLA), the Caribbean Bar Association (CBA) and later the Franklin Cunningham Bar Association.