Registration is now open for our 2017 Women's Bar Leadership Summit:Succeeding with Strength and Savvy, which will be held in the heart of New York City on August 10 and 11.  Here is a preview of some of the highlights:

Events will be kicked off on Thursday, August 10, at Fordham Law School at Lincoln Center, with a Welcome Reception, which will include a screening of the documentary Balancing the Scales, a film featuring candid interviews with a wide range of women attorneys and judges who will share their career perspectives--from young lawyers facing challenges as they start their careers, to mid-level associates striving to achieve professional success, to senior attorneys and judges who have become leaders in the profession. After the screening, Charlotte Rushton, a Managing Director at Thomson Reuters, will lead a panel to discuss the film and ways we can all work to further advance equality in the profession. Panelists will include attorney/filmmaker  Sharon Rowen and  Aracely Munoz, former executive with the Minority Corporate Counsel Association and current Special Counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights. 

On Friday, August 11 we will hold a full day of Summit events in the 30th-floor offices of Thomson Reuters at 3 Times Square, with spectacular views from the Hudson River to Times Square's New Year's Eve Crystal Ball, and featuring extraordinary speakers and panels, our annual Awards Luncheon and a celebratory reception. After opening remarks by distinguished jurist and trailblazer  Hon. Betty Weinberg Ellerin , our first program on Friday will be Women in the White House - A Conversation with Kathy and Kim . This will feature  Kathryn Ruemmler , now a partner at Latham & Watkins and former Chief Counsel to President Obama, and Kimberley Harris , former Deputy Counsel to President Obama, who now serves as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for NBCUniversal. The moderator will be Jessica Brown , Gibson Dunn partner and past president of the Colorado Women's Bar Association. 

Keynoting our Awards Luncheon will be Roberta Kaplan, Paul Weiss partner known for her successful litigation of cases involving Title IX, the sharing economy and same-sex marriage. She is the author of  Then Comes Marriage: United States v. Windsor and the Defeat of DOMA, which was named by Ms. Magazine as one of the top books of 2015.

The NCWBA Public Service Award and Outstanding Member Program Award will be presented at the luncheon. The recipient of our 2017 Public Service Award is the  Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts , for the  Pay Equity Project . Receiving an honorable mention in the same category is the  Women's Bar Association of the State of New York  for the Voter Registration Project . The recipient of the 2017 Outstanding Member Program Award is South Carolina Women Lawyers Association for the  Building Resilience Project .

Strategies for inspiring and supporting men in overcoming obstacles to diversity in the legal community will be the theme of  GOOD Guys 101: Engaging Men in Our Success. Facilitating the program will be Teresa Beck, Lincoln, Gustafson & Cercos partner and NCWBA GOOD Guys co-chair. Sheryl Axelrod, consultant on equality, diversity and inclusion , and Pennsylvania Bar Diversity Team Ambassador, will serve as moderator. Panel members include  Richard Meade, Chief Legal Officer of Prudential International,  William Pacheco, Chief Operating Officer for Legal, Compliance & Public Affairs, Marsh & McLennan, and Nate Saint-Victor, Executive Director, Morgan Stanley.

There will be plenty of time for networking and sharing ideas about effective programs and services for women's bar associations.

Who should attend the Summit? Anyone seeking ideas to energize their women's bar associations, sections or committees, and anyone who wants to stay on top of the latest trends and issues facing women lawyers. This will be a terrific event, in an amazing venue, and we hope you will join us. Cost of registration is $250 and includes all Summit events: the Welcome Reception and Film Screening, Awards Luncheon, and an end-of-Summit reception, where we will be able to enjoy wine and refreshments and mingle with Summit participants as the sun sets and the lights come on in Times Square.

To register, click here.

We have also arranged for discounted rates for a limited number of hotel rooms at the Marriott Marquis, which is just three blocks from the Summit venue. For more information, click here.

We encourage individuals, firms and companies to become Summit sponsors. For details and options for  sponsoring the Summit,  click here . We also want to thank our "early-bird" sponsors: 

Financial Sponsors:
Gold:

New York Women's Bar Association

Silver: 
Alexander Law, PA

Elizabeth A. Bryson

Munger Tolles & Olson LLP
Bronze:

Jeanne Marie Clavere

Cuba Cultural Travel

FindLaw
Military Spouse JD Foundation

Sutliff & Stout 
Diana Theos PLLC

Zimmerman & Zimmerman PA

In-Kind Sponsors:

Platinum:

Thomson Reuters and the Legal Executive Institute

Fordham University School of Law

Silver:
Gibson Dunn

One of the wonderful pleasures of serving as President of the National Conference of Women's Bar Associations is the ability to attend events that empower women's leadership. The Women's Power Summit on Law & Leadership held April 26-28, 2017 by the University of Texas School of Law Center for Women in Law at Austin, Texas was no exception.  T his fifth   biennial invitation-only event brought over 300 leaders together from the private and public sectors to increase the power of women in the workplace. T his year's speakers included some of the most influential leaders of our time, including activist Gloria Steinem , Senior Advisor to President Obama Valerie Jarrett , journalist Tina Brown , former U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe , ABA President Linda Klein , and former U.S. Ambassador for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer .

Relationships Matter

My favorite takeaway and overarching theme of the Summit was "relationships matter." Ironically, only a few months ago while updating my firm's printed materials, one of the creative folks asked "What's the key to leadership?"and I immediately responded "relationships." Many of these powerful women emphasized the importance of developing relationships in the practice, the bench and the community. In a word, the Women's Power Summit was "affirming." More specifically, for me it was affirming the power that we have within to impact others through our relationships.

We hope that you will continue the conversation and develop relationships by attending the NCWBA's Women's Bar Leadership Summit: Succeeding With Strength and Savvy in August.

Join the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice in a complimentary webinar series: The Social Journey: Using Social Media to Enhance Your Career. First up, on Thursday, June 8 from 12:30-1:30 pm EDT is Finding a Topic: Women as Weapons of War and Ted Talks.  Carla Laroche, Law Fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, will interview  Sara Elizabeth Dill, Director of ABA Criminal Justice Standards and Policy,regarding her recent Tedx talk on the use of women as weapons of war.

On Thursday, June 22, 12:30-1:30 pm EDT, the topic will be The Side Hustle: Making Social Media Work Outside of Work with Paula Edgar, focusing on social media campaigns and backlash.

This year the Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia celebrates its 100th birthday, making it part of a very elite group of women's bar associations which have been in existence for 100 years or more. The others are the National Association of Women Lawyers (established in 1899) and the Women's Bar Association of Illinois (established in 1914). Associations planning to mark significant birthdays may be inspired by the scope of the celebration. In addition to a gala dinner earlier this month, work is being done to increase the historical archives and to share that information more widely. Click here to learn more about the centennial celebration and the history of the organization.

Here's information from Joan Williams and the Center for WorkLife Law for both individuals and organizations on bias interrupters: incremental steps and strategies to improve the workplace.

Joan C. Williams

What are the potential negative consequences of new member campaigns? Is your bar association annoying your members with too many one-size fits all Eblasts? These and other questions are addressed in the May/June issue of Bar Leader. 

Are you a member of the NCWBA listserv? The listserv is an interactive resource for lawyer referrals and listings for unique jobs for lawyers and law faculty. It is a place to share questions about best practices for women's bar associations and announcements of possible interest to you and members of your associations. To join the NCWBA@yahoogroups.com list, send an email to Diane stating your name, interest in joining the list, and your affiliation with a women's bar association. You'll receive an automated invitation. When you click on "join mailing list," your list membership will be complete. Questions? Email us.

Our membership year runs with the calendar year, which means that this is the right time to send in your organization's membership dues for 2017. Dues for 2017 have not increased, and are based on your organization's membership numbers. We rely on your membership dues and active participation in order to strengthen women's bar groups throughout North America.  Click here to download a membership form  to send in with your dues check. If you prefer to pay by debit or credit card,  click here .