| Welcome to the two new co-chairs of the Women of Color Committee: |
Sa'adiyah Masoud | Donovan Hatem LLP
Two Seaport Lane
Boston, MA 02210
617.406.4648
smasoud@donovanhatem.com |
Christine Wee | CPCS
189 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02141
Ph: 617.868.3300
cwee03@yahoo.com |
First Committee Planning Meeting
When: Wednesday, September 17th at 6:30pm
Where: East Ocean City, 27 Beach Street, Boston (Chinatown)
RSVP: Email Sa'adiyah Masoud at smasoud@donovanhatem.com by Wednesday, September 10th
Black Heritage Trail Tour and Museum Visit
Saturday, September 20
Co-sponsored by the Women of Color Committee and the Rosa Parks Committee
- Date: September 20, 2008
- Time: 10:00 AM to appx. 11:30 AM
- Walking distance: 1.6 miles
- Free
Departure location: Robert Gould Shaw Memorial
on Beacon Street, across from the State House in Boston.
Tour finishes at Museum of African American History at 46 Joy Street in Boston
This tour will be conducted by a park ranger from the Museum of African American History. The tour will stop at the various buildings and locations important in the long history of the African American Community in Boston since before revolutionary times.
before September 13, 2008
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Roxbury Youthworks Inc.’s Female Focus Initiative
Are you interested in using your professional expertise to help make a real difference in the lives of at risk youth in the Boston community, but haven’t been able to make a long-term commitment? The Women of Color Committee (WOCC) invites you to inspire, lead by example and join us for our next planning meeting to develop a series of interactive programs for the Roxbury Youthworks Inc.’s Female Focus Initiative.
RoxburyYouthworks Inc. is a community-based non-profit organization whose mission is to combat the roots of juvenile delinquency in the inner city neighborhoods of Boston. Roxbury Youthworks Inc. has created Boston’s only adolescent re-entry program, specifically designed for girls, called the Female Focus Initiative. To offer teen girls the opportunity to envision a future that is not confined to the limits of their community and circumstances, the WOCC has agreed to design special programming events for the Female Focus Initiative with the goal of capturing their interests and to broaden their horizons and that cover a wide array of topics, such as:
Education
- Tour colleges
- Assistance with applying to college
- Informal discussion with college professors and college graduates
Finance
- Tour Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
- Informal discussions with finance professionals (CFO, CPA, broker, etc.)
Law
- Tour of courthouse or prison
- informal discussions with a Judge, lawyer and a police officer
Health
- Tour a maternity ward and special units for chemically dependent infants
- Informal discussion with gynecologists to address health issues unique to females
Career Development
- Interviewing skills and workplace conduct workshop
- Career forum to expose the girls to different career fields
Cultural/Arts
- Museum of Fine Arts
- Ballet
Animals
- Informal discussion with Veterinarian or Zoo personnel
Library
- Introducing the girls to the library as a gateway to the world
Confidence Building
- Toastmaster model of public speaking
Author/Attorney Cupcake Brown
(Successful attorney who’s life started off much like these girls and wrote about it in her book “A Piece of Cake”)
- fund-raising to pay for speaker and books
If you would like to participate in the development of such programming or have any questions, feel free to contact Angel Kelley (akelleynewyork@aol.com) or Essence McGill (emcgill@foleyhoag.com). If you are not able to attend and are willing to host a tour or be a speaker at an event, we really want to hear from you. Please contact Angel or Essence to find out about other opportunities to get involved.
Making a Difference for All Women
Whether she works in the private sector, public interest, government or academics, a woman of color legal professional encounters special challenges, inequities, and joys. The WBA’s Women of Color Committee is a forum to address these issues in a supportive and secure environment. Here, women of color attorneys and law students share their experiences, draw on each other for support, advice, and mentoring to develop a professional network.
Women of Color Committee’s Mission Statement
It is our goal and mission to promote women of color in the legal profession for their multitude of successes and to honor them for their personal and professional accomplishments. We, as women of color and attorneys by profession, strive to publicize our diverse cultures. We hope our contributions to our communities will help to ensure the number of women attorneys of color will soon increase.
We are women of color first and attorneys second, but we are also mothers, daughters, wives, sisters, aunts, and grandmothers. We are often caregivers, teachers, breadwinners, role models and cultural leaders. These are not responsibilities that we seek out, but are responsibilities that fall upon us, because we are women. Nonetheless, these are the responsibilities that we fulfill on a daily basis and for these reasons we celebrate all women.
As a part of the Committee’s goal to educate the legal community about the achievements of women of color attorneys in different aspects of the legal profession, we sponsor an annual program entitled “Pioneering Women of Color.” This event showcases the accomplishments of women of color attorneys in different aspects of the legal profession. The panelists also discuss the unique issues they encounter in the practice of law.
Join the Women of Color Committee Discussion!