Women's Bar Association Selects Newest Class of Rising Stars for Women's Leadership Initiative

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Jennifer Saubermann, President, Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts

                   Margaret E. Talmers, Executive Director, Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts

                   jsaubermann@womensbar.org / (617) 973-6666 / mtalmers@womensbar.org

WOMEN’S BAR ASSOCIATION SELECTS NEWEST CLASS OF RISING STARS FOR ITS WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE

BOSTON, MA – January 7, 2020 – The Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts (WBA) has kicked off its sixth Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI), a program that brings together senior women attorneys and up and coming stars of the legal profession for leadership development and mentoring. The program is chaired by Erin Higgins, Partner at Conn Kavanaugh Rosenthal Peisch & Ford, LLP, and Meredith Ainbinder, Deputy General Counsel of Emerson College, along with Mary Ryan, Partner at Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP, as Senior Chair.

The WLI was launched in 2009 by a group of leaders in our legal community eager to give back to the next generation of promising women attorneys. WLI alumni include Attorney General Maura Healey and other high-ranking government attorneys, law firm partners, and accomplished in-house attorneys.

The WLI is designed to provide participants with large-scale networking, group mentoring, and one-on-one career development opportunities.  Each event leverages the experiences of accomplished women attorneys in Massachusetts interested in cultivating the next generation of women leaders.  From no-holds barred Q&A sessions to events introducing participants to leaders in the Massachusetts legal and business communities, the WLI provides participants with opportunities to work with their role models and one another, build their networks, and further their careers.  

The 2020 Class includes women practicing in firms, government, and in-house, touching a wide variety of sectors/industries including the criminal justice system, higher education, legal services, and the financial services and biotechnology industries.  With a record number of applicants this year, it is clear that the desire for leadership training and building connections with accomplished women lawyers is strong.   

Congratulations to the 2020 Women’s Leadership Initiative members:
 

Azure Aronsson, Hogan Lovells LLP

Jessica Babine, Cornetta Babine LLC

Saraa Basaria, Todd & Weld LLP

Elizabeth Monnin-Browder, Hirsch Roberts Weinstein LLP

Margaret Caulfield, Alkermes

Meghan Cooper, Peabody & Arnold LLP

Michelle Detherage, Robins Kaplan LLP

Courtney Groh, Holland & Knight LLP

Amalia Jorns, Northeast Legal Aid

Nita Kumaraswami Klunder, Office of the Attorney General

Stephanie Lin, WilmerHale

Elizabeth McEvoy, Barrett & Singal

Maggie Morgan, Greater Boston Legal Services

Emily Musgrave, Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky & Popeo, P.C.

Rebecca Neale, Law Office of Rebecca G. Neale

Amy Sennett, Catalant Technologies

Naomi Shatz, Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein LLP

Emily Sy, State Street Bank & Trust Company

Allison Lukas Turner, Latham & Watkins LLP

Destinee Waiters, Suffolk University Office of the General Counsel

Jennifer Watson, Liberty Mutual

Whitney Williams, Middlesex District Attorney's Office
 

The following women have committed to serve as mentors:
 

Nancy Cremins, Advisor and Former Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel, Globalization Partners

Lisa Cukier, Partner, Burns & Levinson LLP

Jay Kugler DeYoung, Principal, Fish & Richardson, P.C.

Susan Finegan, Member, Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky & Popeo, P.C.

Jennifer Furey, Director, Goulston & Storrs, P.C.

Lisa Goodheart, Partner, Sugarman Rogers Barshak & Cohen, P.C.

Renee Inomata, Partner, Casner & Edwards LLP

Mary Jeka, Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Tufts University

Samia Kirmani, Principal, Jackson Lewis, P.C.

Marianne LeBlanc, Principal, Sugarman & Sugarman, P.C.

Carmen M. Ortiz, Counsel, Anderson & Kreiger LLP

Donna Patalano, General Counsel, Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office

Lizette Pérez-Deisboeck, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, Battery Ventures

Paige Scott Reed, Partner, Prince Lobel Tye LLP

Marian Ryan, Middlesex County District Attorney

Sara Jane Shanahan, Partner, Sherin and Lodgen LLP

Kristin Shirahama, Partner, Bowditch & Dewey LLP

Abim Thomas, Vice President, Fidelity Investments

Lisa M. Tittemore, Partner, Sunstein Kann Murphy & Timbers LLP

Jayne Tyrrell, Executive Director, Massachusetts IOLTA

WBA President Jennifer Saubermann remarked, “As a past graduate of the WLI program I am keenly aware of the wealth of knowledge that mentors are able to bestow to their mentees through this program, and the positive influence this can have on a woman’s career.  I am thrilled that we are able to provide this experience to a new class of already accomplished women.  The WBA is very grateful to Meredith Ainbinder, Erin Higgins, and Mary Ryan, and the outstanding mentors they have lined up, for their willingness to lead a new class.  Programs like the WLI are integral to changing the practice of law by fostering the growth of women into leadership positions across all areas of the law, and the WBA is proud to offer this program to its members.”

About the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts

Founded in 1978 by a group of activist women lawyers, the Women’s Bar Association boasts a large membership of women lawyers, judges, policy makers, and law students across Massachusetts.  The WBA is committed to the full and equal participation of women in the legal profession and in a just society. The WBA works to achieve this mission through committees and events and by developing and promoting a legislative agenda to address society’s most critical social and legal issues.  Other WBA activities include networking and professional development, drafting amicus briefs, studying employment issues affecting women, encouraging women to enter the judiciary, recognizing the achievement of women in the law, and providing pro bono services to women in need through its sister organization, the Women’s Bar Foundation.  For more information, visit www.womensbar.org.

WOMEN’S BAR ASSOCIATION OF MASSACHUSETTS | 105 CHAUNCY STREET | BOSTON, MA 02111 | 617.973.6666