Charles Houston Bar Association 71st Annual Gala

Rooted & Rising
The Charles Houston Bar Association's 71st Annual Gala Dinner & Awards
Saturday, December 5, 2026 · Henry J. Kaiser Center, Oakland

CHBA's roots go back to 1910. Black lawyers in the Bay Area, shut out of mainstream bar institutions, formed what was then known simply as the "Law Club," a place for mutual support and collective resistance. That spirit of community, resilience and purpose lives on in everything CHBA does today.

Today, CHBA is a thriving organization of judges, attorneys, public officials and law students. We are united by the mission of Charles Hamilton Houston himself: a lawyer must be a social engineer, not a bystander. Our members have been at the forefront of civil rights litigation, voting rights advocacy, pipeline programs for aspiring lawyers, and meaningful access to legal services for underserved communities.

Join us for a Welcome Reception at 5:30PM, followed by dinner, dancing and an awards program starting at 6:30PM under this year's theme, "Rooted & Rising," honoring leaders who carry that legacy forward. Proceeds support CHBA's programs and its Scholarship Fund for the next generation of advocates.