Steven Jay Blutza, Administrative Director

Steve graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the City College of New York, with a BA in political science. He then earned his MA and PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. In 1972, he came to Illinois to teach political science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

After several years of teaching, Steve decided to become directly involved with public interest organizations. He worked for the Illinois Public Action Council and then Citizen Action/Illinois, where his focus was establishing businesses (wholly owned by these nonprofits) that simultaneously advanced their goals of empowering working- and middle-class people while providing another source of funding for the parent nonprofit organizations.

Steve served on the Board of Directors of the American Prepaid Legal Services Institute (now the Group Legal Services Association) of the American Bar Association and, for many years, has been on the Board of Directors and Treasurer of the Gamaliel Foundation, a leadership training and community organizing foundation.

Around 2004, Steve and his business partner, attorney Donald Leibsker, began a joint venture with the Clinic known as Legal Advocates for Seniors and People with Disabilities (LASPD). This initiative provides a nationwide alternative to bankruptcy for clients who receive income from non-garnishable sources. To date, LASPD has helped over 10,000 clients.

After more than a decade of working closely with the Clinic on the LASPD program, Steve took on the additional role of Administrative Director on June 1, 2015.