While women are far more likely than men to choose careers in public interest law, the jury is still out on whether this is a matter of nature or nurture.  Is it because we are socialized to enjoy helping people?  Or because we are less likely to get high-paying jobs with firms?  Most would concede that both are correct, but our guess is that Guild women are too busy changing the world to ponder whether the chicken or the egg came first.

This month’s issue mirrors the complexity of women’s lives in 2010.

In our first article, Hayne Barnwell jumps into the dialogue around Elena Kagan’s nomination to serve as a Supreme Court Justice.  With scathing humor, the article breaks down the equation of discrimination for a sobering perspective on women in the Court.

Next is Mary Lu Mendonça’s piece on women in prison which highlights the work of local women attorneys at MCI-Framingham.

In a contribution from Melanie Zurek, the Executive Director of Abortion Access Project in Boston, we have an analysis of women’s prospects for reproductive choice under health care reform.

Dominique McCadden, the lead State Campaign Coordinator of the Leadership Campaign in Massachusetts, gives as an account of women leaders and activists who are advocating and fighting for  better state policies that would impact climate change.  (The NLG Mass Defense Committee has been working closely with the Campaign since last fall; we’ve provided civil disobedience trainings and now we represent over 200 of the activists who face criminal charges for their activism.)

Last but not least, we have a report from Barb Dougan who reminds us that women are still the authority on throwing a great party.  In her report from our NLG Annual Testimonial Dinner on May 7, she recaptures all the highlights of the event – including a first-ever dinner dance.

The articles in this issue represent only a snapshot of activism by women in the Guild and our colleagues.   We celebrate their achievements while recognizing the challenges ahead in working toward justice for all.

- Mary Lu Mendonça  & Laura Alfring –

By Hayne Barnwell

The rumor mill quickly started churning when President Obama announced his nomination of Elena Kagan for the United States Supreme Court.  A simple, inevitable equation emerged: childless + single + hard-working and ambitious = GAY.  Obama should have called the media’s bluff and asked “So what?”.  Instead, the White House treated the result of this equation as an accusation.  Their response was ironic at a time when Obama and Americans are patting themselves on the back for sending another woman to the Supreme Court.  It only took 220 years to find four women capable of serving on our nation’s highest court!  But even when we proudly send these women there, the media follows their ascent with whispers and rumors seemingly aimed at dragging them back down.  Words like “childless” and “gay” may pack no punch in and of themselves – but underneath these terms are clear discriminatory judgments of the particular woman’s worth in society.

During her own nomination process, Sonia Sotomayor had to endure only a few whispers about her sexual orientation.  These rumors followed the same equation: another childless, single woman known for her career achievements and ambitions.  Unlike Kagan, however, Sotomayor once was married to a man for a brief time and thus was largely spared the “smear” of homosexuality.  Of course, Kagan’s defenders will find plenty of examples of this brand of vitriol in the attacks directed at Justice Sotomayor.  In a speech given at the University of California, Berkely, in 2001, Sotomayor had the temerity to suggest that as a “wise, Latina woman,” she might have a more nuanced understanding of the plight of oppressed people than a white man would.  Instead of highlighting Justice Sotomayor’s meteoric rise from the projects in Brooklyn to a seat on the Supreme Court, public dialogue devolved into a whining refrain:  “Why do Latina women always get the attention?  Why do they think they are better than white men?”

If you are a female living in America today, the coverage of these women’s momentous achievements should confirm that marriage and motherhood are your only acceptable life goals.  By society’s standards, women who do not shape their lives around men and children are uncaring and dangerous.  If you dare call yourself a feminist, you may as well give up on a meaningful life and lock yourself in your solitary home.  Which probably has a basement full of dead cats.

If you are gay, then this process will confirm what you already know – that being gay is still something to hide in America.  Obama may have promised to rescind the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, but he apparently still views homosexuality as a disability.

If you are both, then God help you.

The nomination process behind our new Supreme Court Justices also confirms that sexism remains the best partner of homophobia.  The butchered logic behind both types of discrimination develops into an equation sold as a plausible truth by newspapers and politicians: you are gay because you are not feminine enough to be a real woman (or masculine enough to be a real man).  You are a childless, single woman doing a pitiful job at hiding your homosexuality.

In a 2001 interview with Oprah Magazine, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told the following story to her interviewer: “The National Association of Women Judges, with great foresight it turns out, had a little celebration at the Court when I took my seat. They presented T-shirts to Sandra and to me.  Hers read I’m Sandra, not Ruth and mine was I’m Ruth, not Sandra.  I went through the entire last term, which was my seventh year on the Court, with no one calling me Justice O’Connor.  It took six years!  But to me that was a sign we’ve really made it, that they know there are two women.”  She is right, of course.  The American public has come a long way in its treatment of women and, for the most part, no longer views us as interchangeable non-entities.  Perhaps someday when we consider another woman to serve on the highest court in the nation, we will not see her as fodder for a rumor mill mucked up with discrimination.  Optimism predicts that we will focus on the qualifications that actually matter: her jurisprudence, her ability to interpret the law, and her empathy toward all who seek redress for injustice – whether gay or straight, Latina or white, woman or man.

The NLG recently issued a position paper on appropriate qualifications for a U. S. Supreme Court Justice nominee.  Read the statement, authored by Prof. Zachary Wolfe, at www.nlg.org/news/announcements/nlg-issues-position-paper-exploring-qualifications-for-judicial-nominee/

Hayne Barnwell is a member of the NLG Mass Defense Committee and a criminal defense attorney in Salem.

By Mary Lu Mendonça

Female inmates make up only about 6% of the population in our jails and prisons.  This is perhaps a lucky break for the Massachusetts Department of Correction, which claims to spend a disproportionately large amount of money on them – nearly $10,000 more per female inmate than is spent on men. But despite the extra resources, legal service providers have observed that women in prison get nowhere near what they need.  Many of the people advocating for female prisoners are themselves women – attorneys, legal workers, and law students.  And their work, of course, often gets less attention than it deserves.

Fifteen local attorneys do pro-bono work through the Framingham Project for Incarcerated Women of the Women’s Bar Foundation of Massachusetts.   The project organizes and trains attorneys to provide civil legal help for women currently or recently incarcerated in Massachusetts.  Though the bulk of clients are housed at MCI Framingham, Project volunteers also provide counseling at the South Bay House of Correction, the Boston Rescue Mission’s Kingston House, and Aid for Incarcerated Mothers.  Much like the Guild’s Street Law Clinic program, the project sends small groups of two or three attorneys to conduct informational workshops – or “educationals,” as they are known – on a wide range of topics.

“CORI-sealing is a popular topic right now,” says Sarah McClean, a Boston-based solo practitioner who volunteers for the Project.   McClean got involved with the Framingham Project soon after it began around 1990.  “Members were responding to a lot of requests for help from women in Framingham,” she recalls.  “This is a population in genuine need,” says McClean.  The women’s bar responded by organizing this project so we could provide counseling, referrals, and direct representation.  In 1994, the Project was recognized by the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations for their success in seeking clemency for the “Framingham Eight,” a group of women convicted of murder for killing their abusive partners.  “We collaborated with several other organizations,” says McClean, “and it did a lot to raise consciousness about domestic violence at the time.”

Current co-chair Elizabeth Brusie believes that the recent economic downturn has led to a shortage in volunteers.   Even so, she says, they are able to provide free legal assistance to women prisoners seeking help with clearing criminal warrants, health care, and child custody. “We have attorneys from all walks of the industry who volunteer – people from the big firms as well as legal services.”  Brusie has had difficulty finding volunteers willing to travel as far as Framingham, but notes that no particular area of expertise is needed to get involved.  “When we send out volunteers, we try to assemble attorneys in multidisciplinary teams – for example, I can talk about domestic violence issues while another person may have a lot of experience with housing.”

Over the years, the Project has moved away from offering direct representation and now focuses its efforts on education.  Brusie sees an ongoing and significant need for assisting clients in the area of family law and in dealing with the Department of Children and Families:  “When you take someone away from her child, there is a very visceral reaction.  And many women are incarcerated after being in an abusive relationship.   The problems that come out of family relationships take over and extend to every area of their lives.”

With 80% of female inmates reporting histories of domestic violence, conditions in prison can lead to even more stress.  Bonnie Tenneriello, a staff attorney at Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services (d/b/a Prisoners’ Legal Services), has seen the repercussions of this abuse in her role as liaison to MCI-Framingham.  “Privacy is an ongoing concern,” says Tenneriello.  “Many of the women are not comfortable having male guards in the housing units, where there’s a chance they may be seen undressed.  Women who have been abused in the past are particularly traumatized by this.”  Over the past two years, she notes, Framingham stepped up security efforts in the wake of two inmate suicides and several suicide attempts.

Some advocates believe that prison conditions have improved for women in recent years.  Despite the budget crunch affecting most areas of state government, the DOC has increased counseling and educational programming in Framingham.  In 2005, the stories of Framingham inmates got nationwide attention when they were chronicled by author Christina Rathbone’s, A World Apart: Women, Prison, and Life Behind Bars.  And in 2009, the Department of Correction revised their mission statement on female offender management to include “providing gender specific programs which address the unique female offender population utilizing ‘trauma-informed models’.”  But regardless of shifts in public perception, advocates like the women profiled here are rarely recognized for their work.  Brusie, McClean, and Tenneriello already have earned the gratitude of their clients and the respect of colleagues in the progressive legal community.

Mary Lu Mendonça is Executive Director of Suffolk Lawyers for Justice, a group that oversees the appointment of counsel to indigent defendants in Boston.

Our 29th annual testimonial dinner, held on May 7, was a smashing success. Held at the unionized Colonnade Hotel, we couldn’t have asked for a more impressive group of honorees: Soffiyah Elijah and Howard Cooper (lawyer awards), Dan Kesselbrenner (legal worker award) and Charlotte (Charlie) Noss and Josh Raisler Cohn (student awards).  Please click here read their short bios.

29th NLG Testimonial Dinner Award Recipients (l.-r.): Howard Cooper, Dan Kesselbrenner, Jill Soffiyah Elijah, Josh Raisler Cohn, and Charlie Noss.

The dinner MCs Susan Church (l.) and John Salsberg (r.) kept everything under their strong and professional watch.

We also welcomed our honorees’ guests.  Soffiyah was accompanied by her students from Harvard Law School and  co-workers from the HLS Criminal Justice Institute;  Dan was surrounded by a contingent of his fans from the immigration advocacy community.  In addition to Northeastern students and faculty, Charlie and Josh were surprised by unexpected family members who traveled from other states to celebrate their special day.

We were honored to be joined by one of Howard’s clients, the Hon. Leon Kendall, who traveled with his family from the U.S. Virgin Islands to attend. The judge received a standing ovation after Howard described the criminal contempt charges brought against the judge, following his recusal from a case where he had strongly objected to prosecutorial misconduct.

The family of Judge Leon Kendall traveled from the US Virgin islands to celebrate with us.

Among Soffiyah’s guests were (l.-r.) Lee Goldstein; Omar Sierra, Consul General of the Venezuelan Consulate in Boston, and Anna Pierce from the Criminal Justice Institute of Harvard Law School.

We were delighted to have among our guests a large delegation representing the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, as well as Omar Sierra, Consul General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Boston.

en delegates from the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, with Chairman Cedric Cromwell (c.), enjoyed the event with other guests of Howard’s.

Susan Church and John Salsberg joined forces to emcee the dinner program, scoring points for keeping things moving.  Somehow John managed to snag an advance copy of the next day’s Herald, with its full-page photo of Howard on the front. Hey, John, can we auction that off next year?

After years of live auction, this year we switched to a silent auction. Talk about a lot of loot!  Thirty items were offered, including a weekend at L’Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, D.C., museum memberships, restaurant dinners, autographed sports memorabilia, and a $100 gift certificate for a tattoo, which another tattoo lover outbid me on.  Dang!

And we have a winner! Trina Realmuto of the National Immigration Project places a bid on our very successful silent auction.

NLG Massachusetts Chapter co-founders (l.-r.) Jim Miller and Roger Geller remembered Howard Zinn.

On a more serious note, we took a moment to acknowledge the loss of the Guild’s long-time friend and the People’s Historian, Howard Zinn. In a fitting tribute, Roger Geller read the remarks he originally wrote for the 1982 dinner program, when Zinn was the honoree at our chapter’s first annual testimonial dinner. Founding member Jim Miller also spoke about Zinn’s remarkable achievements and influence.

Boogying Down! Dozens of dinner guests flocked to the dancefloor at the first-ever NLG dinner dance. Oh, what a night!

Dancing did not distract our “Jefa,” Urszula Masny-Latos (c.), from keeping a watchful eye on the scene; Halim Moris behind.

Finally, we added a DJ and dancing this year, ending the night on a high note.  DJ Jay Harney from Harney Tunes kept us all happy by switching back and forth between older songs and current hits.  Somehow, Urszula seemed to know them all.  I had blisters the next morning from hoofing it up in my girlie shoes. Now that is the sign of a good party.  (To see more pictures from the event, please visit our Flickr!)

- Barb Dougan -
Co-chair of the Board of Directors and served on the Dinner Committee.

All photos by Tony Benningfield, Thom Cincotta, and Carl Williams.

And in case you missed the April event…

“Life of William P. Homans”

Mark Brodin (right) talks about his new book at the “NLG Presents ...” event. In the audience (l.-r.) Ray Peters, Doug Babcock, Urszula Masny-Latos, Judy Somberg. (Photo by Amanda Reynolds)

Mark Brodin signing his book. (Photo by Sara DeConde)

Longtime NLG member and BC Law professor Mark Brodin related highlights from his newly published book – William P. Homans Jr.: A Life in Court – on the life of Bill Homans, a legendary Boston civil rights lawyer, at Kennedy’s Midtown.

Engaged in the presentation (l.-r.) Sara DeConde, Danny Beck, Mara Voukydis, Alan Jay Rom, and Nadine Cohen. (Photo: Urszula Masny-Latos)

Older Guild members who attended the event shared memories of Homans while young criminal defense lawyers learned for perhaps the first time about the shocking manslaughter conviction – later reversed – of Dr. Kenneth Edelin for performing an abortion in 1973 – the same year as Roe v. Wade.

Happy Hour crowd (l.-r.): Mara Voukydis, Marina Cramer, Halim Moris, Mark Brodin, Nadine Cohen, Judy Somberg. (Photo: U.Masny-Latos)

After the discussion, we all enjoyed simple but tasty free appetizers and refreshing beverages at the Happy Hour.

(l.-r.) Urszula Masny-Latos, Sara DeConde, Amanda Reynolds, and Ray Peters. (Photo: Doug Babcock.)

By Melanie Zurek

With the historical passage of federal health care reform, more Americans are paying attention to questions of access than perhaps ever before – and certainly since Roe legalized abortion 37 years ago.  However, looking critically at the fraught discourse leading up to passage of reform, arguments that one might reasonably expect to hear principally from the right about one of the most common medical procedures in this country – abortion – took position on the center stage of the debate:  most notably the notion that government has greater responsibility to protect taxpayers from supporting a procedure they oppose than it has to support women’s health and fundamental human rights.  How has it come to be that essential progressive answers to questions about the right to health care and the role of government can be so different when it comes to abortion?

Looking toward the health care system itself provides one clue: the isolation and exclusion of abortion within federal policy mirrors the isolation and exclusion of abortion from mainstream medical practice.  Since 1982, a steadily increasing number of abortions are provided by specialized clinics in urban areas.  This isolates not only the abortion procedure, but the women who are having abortions, cutting off both women and providers of abortion care from the millions of other patients and health care professionals who are invested in the health care reform debate.

AAP and several of our colleague organizations are working toward a different vision for abortion care, guided by our conviction that a strong system of care is a diverse system that does not isolate abortion or place sole responsibility on a single type of provider setting. We believe that the broader engagement of health and social service providers will not only lead to more equitable and sustainable access, but that it has political implications as well.  Service delivery engages people at the level of the woman and her story – an essential lens through which to view the ‘abortion debate,’ but one that is difficult to achieve in political discourse.

Organizations within and outside of the reproductive health, rights and justice movement deserve accolades for their hard work to pass health care reform, seeking to improve and expand access to health care without diminishing reproductive decision making and women’s dignity and autonomy.  Nevertheless, sacrifices weigh heavily as we applaud the passage of reform.   It is time that we revisit the intersections between access/service delivery and politics/policy and look not only at the impact of policy on practice, but at how practice has shaped – and could help change – contemporary political realities.

The Abortion Access Project, which was specifically founded in 1992 to protect access to abortion, plays a unique role in the reproductive rights movement because of our singular focus on increasing women’s access to abortion care as a key component of reproductive healthcare and reproductive justice. We address the most difficult gaps in abortion service by diversifying and expanding the medical professionals providing abortion care and catalyzing reproductive justice partnerships and collaborations in areas with the least access to abortion. The goal of our one-of-a-kind model is to ensure that all women, in every area of every state, in any legal or regulatory context, are able to easily access safe abortion.  Interested in learning more about AAP or ways you can support our work?  Visit our website at www.abortionaccess.org

Melanie Zurek is the Executive Director of the Abortion Access Project in Boston.

Happy Hour

The NLG Massachusetts Chapter’s Happy Hour -  for Guild members and non-Guild members – takes place on the 2nd Wednesday of every month, 6:30 – 8:00pm, at Kennedy’s Mid-Town Pub (44 Province St., 2nd Fl., Boston, close to Suffolk Law School), and follows the NLG Presents… event (see below).  Next Happy Hour will be on June 9, 2010.  Please join us.

Summer Retreat

This year’s NLG Summer Retreat will be on Wednesday, August 4, from 3 to 8 pm.  We will be again hosted by Judy Somberg at her house in Inman Square, Cambridge.  The Retreat is an annual gathering of Chapter members to discuss our current work and to make plans for the next year.  Besides great snacks and beverages, we will serve light dinner (most likely tasty pizza.)

Street Law Clinic Report

The following Guild members conducted trainings for law students and/or clinics for members of Boston area community organizations and agencies:

April 7: Workers’ Rights clinic at ABCD Winterworks in Boston, by Deborah Roher.
April 8: Legal Observer training for a Just and Stable Future Campaign in Boston, by Jeff Feuer.
April 14: Tenant/Landlord Dispute clinic at ABCD Winterworks in Boston, by Jeff Feuer.   •   Civil Disobedience training at Clark University in Worcester, by Jeff Feuer & Lee Goldstein.
April 15: Civil Disobedience training for Northeastern students in Boston, by Carl Williams.
April 29: Legal Observer training for Pride Parade in Northampton, by Carl Williams.
April 30: Workers’ Rights clinic at Cambridge Community learning Center, by Mark Stern.
May 1: Legal observing at the Pride Parade in Northampton, by Neil Berman.
May 7: Tenant/Landlord Dispute clinic at Youth Build in Boston, by Neil Berman.
May 12: Legal observing at a pro-Palestinian rally at  the Boston Library, by Urszula Masny-Latos.
May 14: Immigration Law clinic at Youth Build in Boston, by Manfred Wiegandt.

OFFICE MANAGER FOR GUILD LAW OFFICE

Small Guild law office in Central Sq.,Cambridge, seeks self-motivated, college-educated individual for a full-time position as an office manager/front desk staff person. A candidate must be detail-oriented, well organized, and have familiarity with accounting, billing and legal concepts.   Salary in mid-20’s with full health and dental insurance coverage. Send a resume and a cover letter by 6/11 to Jeff Feuer at feuer.gandf@verizon.net.

By Dominique McCadden

Dominique McCadden April 22, 2010, presenting the Climate Courage Awards to legislators, business, and community leaders.

Women activists have played a key and influential role in the success of The Leadership Campaign over the past year.  In the fall of 2009 The Leadership Campaign kicked off, mobilizing faith and community groups to join hundreds of students demanding 100% Clean Electricity in Massachusetts in the next 10 years. The Leadership Campaign has motivated hundreds to commit to non-violent civil disobedience, attracted over 100 media hits in state and regional media, and garnered the support of over two dozen legislators by “sleeping-out” on the Boston Common and on campuses, refusing to sleep in houses, dorms and apartments powered by dirty electricity. In December, leaders from the House and Senate Global Warming Committees introduced – with 15 co-sponsors – legislation to move the state toward 100% Clean Electricity in the next decade by creating an Emergency Task Force that would recommend policies on how to achieve the vision.  Our Campaign has been endorsed by over two-dozens organizations, including the Mass. Council of Churches, the Mass. Climate Action Network, the Mass. Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Sustainable Business Network, the Mass. Coalition for Healthy Communities, Religious Witness for the Earth.

Over the past year The Leadership Campaign has watched strong women organize college campuses, religious communities, and their own neighborhoods across Massachusetts, inspiring and leading others to take a stand.  Marla Marcum, the Faith and Community Outreach Coordinator has played an invaluable role in organizing faith communities across Massachusetts.  Currently a Th.D. Candidate in Ecological Ethics at Boston University School of Theology, as well as the Chair of the Climate Change Task Force for the New England conference of the United Methodist Church, Marla has dedicated everything she can to fighting climate change and has stood as a role model to others across the movement.  She has shown the campaign the power of bringing different groups of people together to fight for a common cause.

(l-r) Mairead Kennelly and Marla Marcum speaking on April 21, 2010, at Earth Day Climate Rally.

Women on campuses across the state have proven to be some of the strongest and most passionate leaders.  Katie MacDonald, Western Mass. Campaign Coordinator and a student at UMass Amherst, has been able to build support and ties across numerous campuses and encourage others to step into leadership roles. An impressive activist since high school, Katie has been organizing and working to influence the Massachusetts legislature since her first days of college.  A favorite speaker at rally’s, Katie’s enthusiasm and energy is contagious and the student movement would be at a loss without her.

Jamaica Kelley, a graduate student at Simmons College and State Legislative Coordinator, has been able to build strong relationships with numerous representatives, senators, and aides in the statehouse, which has allowed the campaign to gain legitimate support and traction.  Jamaica has been able to develop her team of students into strategic thinkers who know the ins and outs of the statehouse and are near professionals at training others to lobby and gain support of their legislators.  The legislative process can often prove boring, but her positive and hopeful attitude has been inspiring and necessary over the past year.

In November of 2009, as current State Campaign Coordinator, I testified to the Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change, along with NASA’s James Hansen, economist Frank Ackerman and Reverend Roy Cederholm.  After testifying, several people complimented me on my passion and integrity, one saying  “only a woman could have spoken so truthfully and passionately about her hope for a clean and just future for her children.”

Dominique McCadden is the Mass.  Campaign Coordinator for the Leadership Campaign.

As we look at the state of the world today, we as Guild members know that it is not just fate that has dealt a mean blow to some people of the world more than others, but rather specific political, economic, and development policies that have favored the rich over the poor.

In Haiti, it was not just a devastating earthquake that caused hundreds of thousands to die, but also a history of neoliberal policies (which are also reflected in current US relief efforts) that caused such immense consequences.  Blaine Bookey, Development Director for the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti and an attorney with the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, Haiti, details this history and goes on to describe an initiative of Guild lawyers to coordinate a just legal response.

Mass Chapter member Brook Baker, from Northeast-ern University School of Law and Health GAP (Global Access Project), who has been active in campaigns for universal access to treatment, prevention, and care for people living with HIV/AIDS, explains how International Monetary Fund policies have intensified the global health crisis in general and the AIDS pandemic in particular.

Turning to the plight of Palestinians, NLG Vermont member James Marc Leas documents that Israel’s massive attack in Gaza a little over a year ago – Operation Cast Lead – was not needed to stop Hamas rocket fire, as the rocket fire had ended months earlier as a result of a negotiated ceasefire.  Instead, he argues, it was a war of aggression.

Looking at ways to address some of these policies, Susan Scott, co-chair of the NLG International Committee and board president of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute (of which Ann Fagan Ginger is director emeritus), describes two ways that Guild members and others can use international human rights treaties to address inequities here in the US, first by undertaking campaigns to get the US to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and second, by participating in the Universal Periodic Review process.

Lastly, Mass Chapter board member Bonnie Tenneriello profiles board member Jeff Feuer as part of our continuing series on Mass Chapter sustainers.

-      Judy Somberg     -

(l-r) Newly elected NLG Board Members Thom Cincotta and Chrissy Foot with Tony Benningfield.

At the March Annual Meeting, the Massachusetts Chapter of NLG elected its new Officers and Board of Directors.  Barb Dougan and Neil Berman were re-elected to serve as Chapter Co-Chairs;  Patricial Cantor and Jeff Petrucelly were re-elected as Treasurers.  In addition to re-elected members (Laura Alfring, Tony Benningfield, Hillary Farber, Jeff Feuer, David Kelston, Mary Lu Mendonça, Halim Moris, Judy Somberg, Bonnie Tenneriello, and Carl Williams), the Board is thrilled to welcome its new members: Thom Cincotta (Political Research Associates), Christine Foot (federal attorney), and Stephen Hrones (Hrones & Garrity).

Our guest speaker, Jerry Tisme (sitting right) of GBLS discusses with us "Haiti's Long Road to Recovery."

We would like to thank Ilana Greenstein, Myong Joun, Eleanor Newhoff, and Carl Williams, who stepped down from the Board, for their invaluable service and contribution to the Guild.  The Chapter has benefited enormously from their service on the Board.  Thank you.