Month: July 2025

Philanthropic Leaders Richard L. Berkman and Toni Seidl Donate $900,000 to Advance Legal Advocacy in Pennsylvania 


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JULY 21, 2025 

Contact: Katy Otto, 240-478-9387, [email protected]; Dena Driscoll, 215-760-9919, [email protected] 

Philanthropic Leaders Richard L. Berkman and Toni Seidl Donate $900,000 to Advance Legal Advocacy in Pennsylvania  

PHILADELPHIA – JULY 21, 2025 – Richard L. Berkman, retired Dechert LLP partner and longtime civic leader, and Toni Seidl, lifelong advocate for children, have made a landmark series of charitable contributions totaling $900,000 to three leading legal nonprofits in Pennsylvania: the Public Interest Law Center, Education Law Center-PA, and Juvenile Law Center. These gifts will fuel critical work on behalf of children, youth, and communities facing systemic injustice.  

Mr. Berkman’s distinguished legal career includes decades of national leadership in mass tort litigation, particularly in AIDS and Hepatitis C cases. Equally noteworthy is his commitment to public service, philanthropy, and board leadership across a range of civic, educational, and scientific institutions in Philadelphia and beyond.  

“These organizations are doing the vital, long-haul work of transforming systems that have long failed children and families—especially those who are low-income, Black, or Brown,” said Richard L. Berkman. “Toni and I wanted to make catalytic investments in places that not only litigate for justice, but that shape policy, empower communities, and center dignity. We hope others will join us in recognizing the power of the law when it is in the hands of those who work for equity.”  

Each nonprofit received a major donation to support its ongoing legal and policy advocacy:  

  • The Public Interest Law Center received $300,000 to support its work in education, housing, and environmental justice, as well as its efforts to uphold the right to vote and protect communities from gun violence.  
  • The Education Law Center-PA received $300,000 to expand its legal advocacy for students facing educational inequity.   
  • Juvenile Law Center received $300,000 to continue its work at the intersection of youth justice and child welfare, advocating for a more equitable and developmentally appropriate legal system for young people.  

“We are honored and deeply grateful for Rick and Toni’s generosity and trust,” said Brent Landau, Executive Director of the Public Interest Law Center. “This gift will directly support our work to fight for a more just and inclusive society, and it comes at a pivotal moment in our efforts to build on the momentum of recent legal victories and respond to the new threats to our civil rights.”  

“Rick and Toni’s commitment to justice and educational opportunity is unwavering,” said Deborah Gordon Klehr, Executive Director of Education Law Center-PA. “This investment will allow us to expand our work for students whose rights are too often ignored or violated.”  

“Building on our previous partnership with Rick in litigation challenging conditions of confinement for youth, this generous gift affirms the power of legal advocacy to transform lives,” said Juvenile Law Center Chief Executive Officer Riya Saha Shah. “Rick and Toni’s support will help us continue to lead national efforts to keep children out of harmful state systems and ensure they are treated with dignity, fairness, and compassion.”   

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The Education Law Center-PA (ELC) is a nonprofit, legal advocacy organization with offices in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, dedicated to ensuring that all children in Pennsylvania have access to a quality public education. Through legal representation, impact litigation, community engagement, and policy advocacy, ELC advances the rights of underserved children, including children living in poverty, children of color, children in the foster care and juvenile justice systems, children with disabilities, multilingual learners, LGBTQ students, and children experiencing homelessness. 

Juvenile Law Center fights for rights, dignity, equity, and opportunity for youth. We work to reduce the harm of the child welfare and justice systems, limit their reach, and ultimately abolish them so all young people can thrive. Founded in 1975, Juvenile Law Center was the first nonprofit, public interest law firm for children in the country. As an advocacy organization we now use multiple approaches to accomplish our mission: legal advocacy, policy advocacy. youth-led advocacy, and strategic communications. We strive to ensure that laws, policies, and practices affecting youth advance racial and economic equity and are consistent with children’s unique developmental characteristics and human dignity. For more information about Juvenile Law Center’s work, visit www.JLC.org. 

The Public Interest Law Center uses high-impact legal strategies to advance the civil, social, and economic rights of communities in the Philadelphia region facing discrimination, inequality, and poverty. We use litigation, community education, advocacy, and organizing to secure access to fundamental resources and services. www.pubintlaw.org 

ELC Challenges Harmful Federal Priorities That Undermine Public Schools

ELC submitted public comments June 18, 2025, in response to the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed priorities and definitions for discretionary grant programs. The department aims to prioritize funding for “evidence-based literacy, expanding education choice, and returning education to the states.”


ELC’s comments focus on our concerns that the administration’s stated intent, made clear in their press release, would abandon proven school initiatives like social emotional learning; diversity, equity and inclusion practices; and efforts to recruit and retain diverse educators. Our comments also denounce the department’s harmful “education choice” agenda, which would divert taxpayer dollars away from traditional public schools to private and charter schools that serve fewer of our most vulnerable student groups and often fail to deliver better outcomes.


Finally, our comments underscore the critical role of the U.S. Department of Education in funding public schools, enforcing education laws, and protecting students from discrimination and civil rights violations.

Contact Your Federal Legislators TODAY to Oppose the Budget Reconciliation Bill

The U.S. Senate is poised to vote on a revised version of H.R. 1, the federal budget reconciliation bill, today or tomorrow. If the bill passes, it will move back to the House and be considered for final passage this week.

Please contact Pennsylvania’s U.S.  senators today and urge them to vote no. This bill will have a devastating impact on the health, education, and well-being of Pennsylvania’s schoolchildren. If the bill advances to the House, contact your U.S. representative — and Pennsylvania’s Republican members of the House.

Contact Information:

Suggested Call Script

Hello, my name is [your name], and I live in [your city/town], Pennsylvania. I’m urging you to vote no on the reconciliation bill because it would have a devastating impact on the health, education, and well-being of Pennsylvania’s schoolchildren.

  • Cuts to Medicaid will reduce access to school-based health services and services for children with disabilities.
  • Limiting SNAP eligibility will deny students access to free, healthy school meals and block some children from early childhood programs like Head Start.
  • Consolidating and cutting $4.5 billion in federal education programs will eliminate important funding for at-risk students, students experiencing homelessness, and migrant students. It will also cut funding for literacy programs, English language instruction, teacher training, arts education, and rural schools. Pennsylvania cannot make up for these shortfalls.
  • A national tax credit scholarship program, if included, would have the potential to divert billions annually from K–12 public schools to private schools.

Our children and our state cannot afford this. The bill will undermine opportunities for marginalized students who need the most support, limiting their futures and their lifelong success.

Please vote no and protect the health, education, and well-being of Pennsylvania’s children.