With the Garden State Bar Association’s 50th anniversary coming up in 2025, one lawyer has played a particularly important role in ensuring its legacy of service and advocacy continues amid the challenges of the future.

Natalya Johnson, the association’s 2022-23 president, marshaled the group’s efforts to form a charitable foundation that will help boost its scholarship program. Johnson also presided over formation of a Mental Health and Wellness Committee, which sponsors informational seminars for members. In addition, during Johnson’s presidency, the association, representing Black attorneys in New Jersey, established its own office and meeting space for the first time, in Newark.