A Legacy Built in Courtrooms & Clinics: Remembering Dale Edwin Sanders

When Dale Edwin Sanders walked into a Whitman-Walker Health free legal clinic for the first time in the early 1980s, he came as a volunteer. He never really left.

Born in Arlington and raised in McLean, Virginia, Dale graduated from the University of Virginia before earning his law degree from American University's Washington College of Law. He opened his law practice in 1976 in Old Town, Alexandria, and within a few years found himself doing important legal work for the LGBTQ+ community.

At the time, the HIV/AIDS epidemic had begun spreading across the Washington, DC region, presenting unique health and legal challenges for anyone who contracted the disease. Employers fired workers on the mere suspicion of AIDS, and life and health insurance companies regularly denied coverage claims. Without employment or financial coverage, many patients were unable to afford proper medical treatment.

Interested in getting involved, Dale sought out Whitman-Walker Clinic (now Whitman-Walker Health) — one of the first clinics providing healthcare to the LGBTQ+ community and patients with HIV/AIDS in DC.

Dale became one of Whitman-Walker's original volunteer pro bono attorneys at a time when the legal landscape around HIV/AIDS was still taking shape, and when people living with the disease had few advocates in their corner.

Dale provided walk-in clinic counseling on legal rights and served as a mentor and trainer for other attorneys taking on AIDS discrimination cases.

“Fear, ignorance, and puritanical journalism made for a toxic stew of discrimination against people with AIDS and, by extension, gay men with or without AIDS who were summarily fired from employment with even the suspicion of AIDS,” Dale later wrote.

“I tried the cases and invariably lost in the trial court, enduring outrageous judicial temperament and prejudices... But we won them on appeal after trial or summary judgment. I mean all of them. At the end of the day, we never lost a case.”

Some of Dale’s court victories set legal precedent that continues to shape employment and insurance law today. Over the decades, Whitman-Walker recognized his contributions with its Gene Frey Award for Volunteer Service and its Founders Award for Pro Bono Legal Services.

In 2024, the organization renamed its annual pro bono award to the Dale Edwin Sanders Award for Pro Bono Excellence, in his honor.

Building a Lasting Legacy for the Future

In addition to Dale’s volunteer work, he was also a major supporter of Whitman-Walker’s work and mission. As Dale was planning his estate plans, his professional advisor introduced him to The Community Foundation, which worked with Dale to create a customized charitable plan that accomplished his wishes and fit within his estate and financial plans.

Through The Community Foundation, Dale established two legacy funds, the Dale Edwin Sanders Fund for SMYAL and the Dale Edwin Sanders Fund for Whitman-Walker, to provide sustainable support for the organizations that he cared about. The Community Foundation helped Dale develop a customized giving strategy and provided guidance to ensure that the funds could make a meaningful impact. As part of that strategy, Dale included his legacy funds in his estate planning and requested that the funds be endowed after his lifetime, ensuring that his commitment to justice and equity would outlast any single courtroom victory.

Dale also worked with The Community Foundation to establish the Dale Sanders Making a Difference Fund, which provides emergency hardship relief for victims of traumatic experiences, ensuring that people across the region have access to the support and the resources they need. 

“Dale understood what mattered most to him,” The Community Foundation’s General Counsel and Senior Philanthropic Advisor Tiffanie Purvis shared. “Ensuring that people receive the care and assistance they need during life’s difficult circumstances.”

Soon after the Make a Difference Fund launched, Dale passed away unexpectedly. Despite the brief period, his fund had a significant impact, awarding more than $30,000 in grants to help community members in need, an impact he was able to experience.

On October 25, 2025, six months after his passing, Whitman-Walker formally dedicated the Dale Edwin Sanders Center for Law & Human Rights, in a special ceremony with Dale’s family at the Max Robinson Center. The Center, which will be funded through an endowment from the Dale Edwin Sanders Fund for Whitman-Walker, will sustain a newly created Sanders Advocate for Justice staff position, expanding the Legal Services team's capacity to defend the rights of those who need it most.

At the dedication, The Community Foundation’s Managing Director of Community Investment, Darius Graham offered the words that perhaps best capture what Dale Sanders built:

"May this Center not only serve as a memorial, but as a mission — a place where law and love come together in service to humanity for decades to come."