Gregory Evans Knoll served as the CEO/Executive Director/Chief Counsel of the Legal Aid Society of San Diego for 50 years helping thousands of people during his lifetime. Gregory attended the University of Missouri on a basketball scholarship. He later transferred, finishing his undergraduate studies at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. He earned a law degree from Rutgers University School of Law, where he studied under future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and later interned at Newark Legal Services. These experiences led Gregory to dedicate his life’s work to addressing the harsh realities of poverty, systemic racism, and discrimination.

Knoll revolutionized the delivery of public health care to low-income people. Under his leadership, LASSD founded the Consumer Center for Health Education and Advocacy Program. He was one of the founders of the Health Consumer Alliance, a coalition of 10 Legal Aid organizations throughout the state that provide health consumer advocacy services and education statewide. Gregory served as either the Chair or Co-Chair of the Joint Professional and Consumer Advocacy Committee for the Healthy San Diego program and the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission. He was the first active Legal Aid director to be appointed to the California State Bar Board of Trustees.

Gregory received numerous awards during his time of leadership of LASSD, including the San Diego County Bar Association Outstanding Attorney of the Year Award, Loren Miller Legal Services Award, the San Diego Barrio Station’s Cesar E. Chavez Social Justice Award, San Diego County’s Martin Luther King, Jr., Drum Major for Justice Award, and the San Diego Law Library’s Bernard E. Witkin Award.