Lenora B. Foote, Esq. Williamsville East High School, Class of 1986 (Inducted 2015)

Judge Lenora Foote is a support magistrate for Erie County Family Court where she hears and decides child and spousal support petitions as well as paternity cases. She received her Juris Doctorate Degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School and graduated from Canisius College as a Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholar, earning a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a minor in Pre-Law Studies.

In 1998, Buffalo Mayor Anthony Masiello appointed Ms. Foote as the first Save Our Streets Coordinator for the City of Buffalo. The program united federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to tackle the illegal and social problems of drug activity in urban neighborhoods.  She also served as assistant corporation counsel under Mayor Masiello, and as general counsel for the City of Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency under Mayor Byron Brown. Ms. Foote was appointed to her current position in 2006. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor at Hilbert College and previously was a paralegal instructor at Bryant & Stratton College.

An active community volunteer, Ms. Foote serves on the True Community Development Corporation, the development arm of the True Bethel Baptist Church. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for Canisius College and the Burchfield Penny Art Center. A leader in her profession, she is Chairperson of the Diversity Committee for the Western New York Chapter of the Women’s Bar Association and serves on the Diversity Committee for the Eighth Judicial District. She is a member and past president of the Minority Bar Association of WNY, Inc. and a member of the Board of Directors of the Minority Bar Association Foundation, Inc.  She is the Immediate Past President of the SUNY Buffalo Law Alumni Association.

As a student at Williamsville East, Ms. Foote played the flute in the Concert Band and in her senior year, was the featured soloist in the spring concert. She considers her involvement in the East Music Department among her most memorable and exciting high school experiences.