The Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts (WBA) held its Annual Meeting and Reception on March 12, 2026 at Suffolk University Law School.

The WBA is pleased to welcome Margaret A. Caulfield as the organization’s incoming President. Margaret is a transactional in-house attorney in the pharmaceutical and biotech space, with a practice focused primarily on research and development. She has held legal leadership roles at Alkermes, Mural Oncology and Mass General Brigham.

Margaret has been an active member of the WBA since graduating from law school in 2009 and has served on the WBA Board of Directors since 2016. Her involvement has included service on the Gala Committee, Awards and Recognition Committee, and New Lawyers Committee. She has also held key leadership roles as as Co-Chair, New Lawyers Committee (2013–2016) and Co-Chair, Annual Gala Committee (2014, 2015, 2020, and 2021). In 2020, Margaret was selected as a member of the WBA’s Mary K. Ryan Women’s Leadership Initiative Rising Stars class. In addition to her WBA involvement, Margaret joined the board of the WBA’s sister organization, the Women’s Bar Foundation in 2017, serving as its President in 2024. Margaret brings a deep commitment to advancing women in the legal profession and strengthening the WBA’s community across the Commonwealth.

Martha Coakley, the first woman Attorney General in the Commonwealth, was the keynote speaker at the well-attended reception that followed. Martha served on the board and as President in the early years of the WBA and spoke of the work by her and her WBA colleagues to promote women on the bench, assure reproductive rights for all and promote progress for women in the legal profession. She discussed the many current challenges to the rights that women have secured, from voting to political and physical autonomy, emphasizing that those forces trying to remove those rights “can only win if we do not pay attention.” Martha encouraged women attorneys to focus on building friendships, both professional and personal, not only to enrich one’s work, but also to enrich one’s well-being, sharing that she found these relationships in the WBA.

At the annual meeting, the WBA also voted on a slate of officers and elected members of the Board of Directors. The organization welcomes the following new and returning officers and directors for 2026-27.

WBA Officers

President: Margaret A. Caulfield
President-Elect: Elizabeth Keeley, Butters Brazilian, LLP
Vice President of Membership & Statewide Outreach: Jessica Caamano, Goulston & Storrs, PC
Vice President of Operations: Stephanie Lin, Cooley, LLP
Treasurer: Emily Rothkin, Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General
Secretary: Ellen Sullivan, Cambridge Immigration Law, PC

WBA Immediate Past President

Julie D. Palmer, Sharp, Heyman, Dolven & Elkins, LLP

WBA Board of Directors

At-Large Directors

Jessica Babine, Cornetta Babine, LLC
Erica Brody, Brody Hardoon Perkins & Kesten, LLP
Diana Li Chikwamba, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP
Elizabeth Dillon, Southern New Hampshire University
Kim Donlon, Major, Lindsey & Africa
April English, Massachusetts Governor’s Office
Kate Isley, Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General
Alexandra Hassell, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP
Darshana Indira, Smith Kane, LLP
Lisabeth Jorgensen, MetroWest Legal Services
Emily Robey-Phillips, Holland and Knight, LLP
Jamie Sabino, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Brianna Sullivan, Kazarosian Costello, LLP
Jenna Ventorino, Cooley, LLP
Angie Von Pageler, Computershare
Whitney Williams, Middlesex District Attorney’s Office

Regional Directors

Lesley A. Leonessa, Dell EMC (Greater Boston)
Sara Khan, Sigman, Khan & Chubb, PLLC (Middlesex)

The dynamic new board brings dedication and commitment both to advocating on behalf of women in the legal community and on issues impacting women, bringing experience across a wide variety of practice areas in small, medium and large law firms, government, in-house legal departments and nonprofit organizations.

Incoming WBA President Margaret A. Caulfield remarked, “I am honored and humbled to serve as President of the Women’s Bar Association for the coming year. At a time when many of the institutions we rely upon are being tested, the role of the legal profession, particularly women lawyers, feels especially important. The WBA is a community where women support one another, grow as leaders, and show up for the profession and the communities we serve. I look forward to continuing this work together in the year ahead.”

Outgoing WBA President Julie Dick Palmer reflected, “It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as President of the Women’s Bar Association this past year. We faced challenges from our federal government and the world around us, including relentless challenges to reproductive rights and to the rule of law. However, as the WBA has done for over forty-five years, we met those moments with action. Drawing on our collective strength, we stood for the rule of law, we advocated for legislative progress, we created community through countless programs and meetings, and we supported and promoted each other through networking. By showing up and standing up for each other, we not only lifted our spirits, we strengthened ourselves to push forward for a better world, a better Commonwealth and a better community. Congratulations to Margaret Caulfield, our new WBA President, and our new Executive Board and Board of Directors, as well as our Emeritus Board, as they continue our important work.”