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NCWBA Member Organizations

Alabama

Alabama State Bar Women's Section

Mobile Bar Association Women Lawyers 

Arizona

Arizona Women Lawyers Association 

California

California Women Lawyers 

Santa Barbara Women Lawyers

Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles 

Women Lawyers of Alameda County

Women Lawyers of Sacramento 

Colorado

Colorado Women's Bar Association 

District of Columbia

Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia 

Florida 

Georgia 

Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys 

Georgia Association for Women Lawyers 

Hawaii

Hawaii Women Lawyers 

Illinois

Women's Bar Association of Illinois 

Iowa 

Kansas

Kansas Women Attorneys Association  

Wichita Women Attorneys Association 

Kentucky

Women Lawyers Association of Jefferson County 

Louisiana

Association for Women Attorneys (New Orleans) 

Maine

Maine State Bar Women's Law Section 

Maryland

Women's Bar Association of Maryland 

Massachusetts

Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts 

Michigan

Women Lawyers Association of Michigan 

Minnesota

Minnesota Women Lawyers 

Mississippi

Mississippi Women Lawyers Association 

Metro Jackson Black Women Lawyers Association

Missouri/Kansas

Association for Women Lawyers of Greater Kansas City 

New Hampshire

New Hampshire Women's Bar Association 

New Jersey

New Jersey Women Lawyers Association 

New Mexico

New Mexico Women's Bar Association 

New York

Women's Bar Association of the State of New York 

New York Women's Bar Association 

North Carolina

North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys 

Oregon

Oregon Women Lawyers 

Oregon Women Lawyers Foundation 

Rhode Island

Rhode Island Women's Bar Association 

South Carolina

South Carolina Women Lawyers Association 

Tennessee 

Texas

Texas Women Lawyers 

Bexar County Women's Bar Association & Foundation 

Dallas Women Lawyers Association
El Paso Women's Bar Association 

Utah

Women Lawyers of  Utah 

Virginia

Virginia Women Attorneys Association

Washington

Washington Women 

Lawyers 

West Virginia 

Wisconsin

National Organizations

Military Spouse JD Network 

Ms. JD

Canadian Bar Association Women Lawyers Forum 

 

Need a membership form or want more information about membership? 

2018-2019 NCWBA Officers and Board

Officers 
President
Angel Zimmerman
Topeka, KS
President-Elect
Jeanne Marie Clavere
Seattle, WA
Vice President-Fundraising and Strategic Partnering
Elizabeth Bryson
New York, NY
Vice President-Membership
Shiloh D. Theberge
Portland, ME
Vice President-Finance  
Nicolette Zachary
Bloomfield Hills, MI
Secretary
Celia J.Collins
Mobile, AL 
Treasurer
Patricia M. Scaglia
Independence, MO
Immediate Past President
Robin Bresky
Boca Raton, FL
ABA Delegate
Marjorie O'Connell
Washington, DC
ABA CWP Liaison
Amanda Green Alexander
Jackson, MS

Board
Kate Ahern
Providence, RI
Mary Margaret Bailey
Mobile, AL
Teresa M. Beck
San Diego, CA
Misty Blair
Pasadena, TX
Katherine Brown
Dover, NH
Jamison Hall Cooper
Bridgeport, WV
Leigh-Ann Durant
Rockland, MA
Gina Glockner
Denver, CO
Chris Chambers Goodman
Malibu, CA
Nicole Knox
Dallas, TX
Susan MC Kovarovics
Washington, DC
Kathleen M. McDowell
Los Angeles, CA
Christine M. Meadows
Tigard, OR
Tami L. Munsch
Kiln, MS
Eliza M. Rodrigues
San Francisco, CA
Lindsey Savage
Kirkland, WA
Breia L. Schleuss
Minneapolis, MN
Diana Theos
Glendale, AZ
Melissa K. Walker
Raleigh, NC  
Sheila Willis
Columbia, SC

Executive Director
S. Diane Rynerson
Portland, OR
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Golden Gate Bridge
We hope to see you in San Francisco August 8-9
May 2019 
President's Message 
by Angel Zimmerman
HAVING FUN MATTERS
As your organizations prepare for summer, don't forget the importance of fun. In the book  Race for Relevance: 5 Radical Changes for Associations (remember we were challenged last year at our 2018 Women's Bar Leadership Summit in Chicago to read this with our boards) we are reminded that as our organizations set in place the elements to thrive, we need to provide what our members want: "Projects that are meaningful; Ideas that help them perform in their work, Initiatives that are interesting; Causes they care about; and Activities that are fun." We remember fun and we come back for fun. Every organization should build into its strategic plan - FUN.

PROGRAM OFFERINGS
On Monday, June 10 at 4:00 pm EDT, you and your members are invited to a free half-hour teleconference by Maddy Martin of Smith.ai on the topic of Mentoring Millennials. For more information, click here. And we hope to see you in San Francisco on August 8 and 9 for our 2019 Women's Bar Leadership Summit. (See more information below.)

TIP FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION
Use your surveys to find what your members do to have fun. Try a craft night, movie outing, or an ice bucket challenge- type event and share videos across your bar. These events do not have to appeal to the entire bar. I have been very pleased to see women's bar associations creating small group outings and viral threads (share picture posts). These smaller group activities have actually strengthened the bar as a whole.
One of my favorite memories as president of the Kansas Women Attorneys Association was the suggestion to have a "Destination CLE." We rented a full coach bus that was easily paid for by the price of CLE. We loaded in one town and did a half hour CLE on quick law practice management tips and stopped at the next town and picked up more people and did a bingo ethics CLE (prizes included) on the way to a huge outdoor outlet mall. Once we got there everyone was on their own or in groups for a couple hours to shop and eat. We then matched back up on the bus and shared our finds, enjoyed each other's company and had homemade cookies on the way back home. Try it, you'll like it!


TIP FOR YOU
One of my favorite serendipitous finds several years ago was the book Happy Women Live Better. I somehow bought the book just for fun because the author was wearing a yellow (my favorite color) sweater on the cover. In the book, Valorie Burton discusses 13 happiness triggers. After reading it, I started the path she described and last year created another company on top of my law firm where I have found one of my greatest sources of happiness - life and business coaching for women. Happiness is a skill. One of the happiness triggers is play. This summer plan at least three fun events for yourself (fun as you define it, not how others define it.)

CHALLENGE
Share with us a fun event your bar association has done. We would love to see your pictures and write-ups. 

Answers to Your Questions:
Rainmaking While Female
Prior to our May 22 teleconference, we received an unprecedented number of thoughtful questions from registrants. Our presenter,  Kimberly Rice  of KLA Marketing Associates, prepared a series of brief videos addressing many of the questions. Please take a moment to review these videos, as she has woven responses to several questions into each segment.
  1. Key Pointers for Developing Rainmaking Skills While Female
  2. Common Mistakes Women Make When Rainmaking and Growing a Prosperous Business
  3. TIME - How to Prioritize Allocation for Growing a Prosperous Business
  4. Special Rainmaking Tips for Female Introverts
  5. How to Grow Your Practice When You've Been in the Practice for More than 10 Years
  6. Solo and Small Law Firms Rock: Learn How
  7. Women Must Ask for What They Want, Professionally
  8. Do Too Many Professional Paths Lead Back to Self Confidence?
Women's Bar Leadership Summit 
San Francisco August 8-9
Registration is now open for the 2019 Women's Bar Leadership Summit: Accelerating the "Change" Reaction. Share ideas with other leaders of women's bar associations, hear about issues of greatest concern to women in the legal profession, all while enjoying plenty of opportunities for networking with old and new friends in the City by the Bay. Click here for more information.

Join us on Thursday, August 8 at 3:30 pm for a GOOD Guys program at Morrison & Foerster, 425 Market Street, featuring Professor Joan C. Williams on the topic of "bias interrupters" and a panel moderated by Christin Joy Hill of Morrison & Foerster which includes Simon Davis, President of the Law Society of England & WalesMatt Fawcett, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer of NetApp, and Captain Thomas F. Leary of the US Navy's Judge Advocate General's Corps. The panel discussion will be followed immediately at 5:00 pm with a reception.

On Friday, August 9, our program will be held at the Marines' Memorial Club & Hotel, 609 Sutter, from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm. Highlights of the day include the following:

NEW WAYS TO WORK TO ACCELERATE CHANGE
Dina Eisenberg, Neha Sampat and Suzie Scanlon Rabinowitz will help us to learn how to build and manage teams of professionals working remotely, using innovative technology to create  alternative career paths, and how technology can work to enhance or obstruct a sense of belonging.
 
LEVERAGING MENTORING TO ACCELERATE CHANGE IN
YOUR BAR ASSOCIATION AND THE PROFESSION
Ida Abbott, who has been instrumental in teaching lawyers techniques for effective mentoring, will guide us in learning how we can best embrace new and emerging types of "modern" mentoring. Attendees will have the opportunity to strategize in small groups facilitated by outstanding mentors.
 
A CONVERSATION ABOUT WOMEN OF COLOR IN THE BAR WITH PAST ABA PRESIDENT PAULETTE BROWN
Past NCWBA President Amanda Green Alexander sits down with Past ABA President Paulette Brown  to discuss accelerating change for women of color in the bar.

At the Awards Luncheon, we will honor outstanding programs of some of our member organizations: the Colorado Women's Bar Association, the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York, Ms. JD, and Women Lawyers Association of Michigan. Keynoting the luncheon is NYU Law Professor Nadine Strossen, first female president of the ACLU, past Margaret Brent Woman Lawyer of Achievement recipient, and author of  HATE: Why We Should Resist it With Free Speech, Not Censorship. Each Summit registrant will receive a copy of her book.

The Summit will conclude with a networking reception hosted by Hanson Bridgett LLP, 425 Market Street.


The registration fee once again is $250 thanks to our generous sponsors. For sponsorship opportunities, which includes registration  click here for more information. Questions? Email us.
Share With Your Networks:
Legal Network for Gender Equity and the TIME'S UP Legal Defense Fund
You can help people facing sex discrimination  ̶including sex harassment  ̶at work, in school, and in health care: Join the Legal Network for Gender Equity and the TIME'S UP Legal Defense Fund. 
 
The Legal Network for Gender Equity is free to join and connects those facing sex discrimination with legal assistance.  Attorneys in the Legal Network for Gender Equity agree to give a free initial consultation to individuals coming through the Legal Network. Some attorneys also provide lower rates or pro bono assistance. The Legal Network also offers legal trainings on sex discrimination and harassment and other resources. To learn more:click here.
 
The TIME'S UP Legal Defense Fund provides monetary assistance in selected cases of workplace sex harassment and related retaliation. Click for more information.
Us Too? 
Bullying and Sexual Harassment in the Legal Profession
By now you may have read an article or two summarizing the findings of the International Bar Association's survey of bullying and sexual harassment in the legal profession. The online survey was conducted in English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish, and the 6,980 respondents were from 135 countries.The study illuminated the global scope of bullying and sexual harassment in the profession--a problem that isn't significantly diminished by well-intentioned workplace policies and training. Download the complete report here.
The Power of Gender Equality to Transform the Business of Law
An International Symposium--London, June 20-21
A two-day conference in London on June 20-21 will bring together legal professionals to identify steps needed to achieve gender equality in the workplace, as well as to mark 100 years of women being admitted to practice law in the UK. For more information and to review the agenda, click here.
Welcome Kelly Karstaedt,
 NCWBA's New Executive Director
After a months'-long nationwide search, we are delighted to announce that Kelly Karstaedt has been selected as our new executive director. Kelly is an attorney in Jacksonville, Florida. She is a 2008 graduate of Florida Coastal School of Law. Her experience as executive director of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Jacksonville Chapter, and the Jacksonville Justice Association has given her a sense of what it takes to manage a bar association. In addition, she has served on numerous nonprofit boards, including that of her local chapter of Florida Association for Women Lawyers.

Kelly will be working together with Diane Rynerson during June and July to ensure a smooth transition. Both Kelly and Diane hope to see you at the Women's Bar Leadership Summit in San Francisco this August!
Our Listserve: WomenBarLeaders_ncwba.org
Our interactive listserve for those active in women's bar groups is  WomenBarLeaders_ncwba.org. This is a "low-traffic" list where you can ask for lawyer referrals, publicize information of national interest to women lawyers or learn about job postings. If you have questions, concerns, want to be added to the group, taken off the listserve or want to subscribe using a different email address, please contact us .
National Conference of Women's Bar Associations | info@ncwba.orghttp://www.ncwba.org
PO Box 82366
Portland, OR 97282