New York Women's Bar Association

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

New York Women’s Bar Association (NYWBA)

What it is
- A nonprofit organization based in New York City.
- Focuses on improving the status of women, educating and advancing women lawyers, and promoting fair administration of justice.
- Achieves this through committees, continuing legal education programs, and evaluating judicial candidates.
- Works with the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY) to review and comment on proposed laws and policies affecting women and children at state, federal, and international levels.

Founders
- NYWBA was founded in 1934 and incorporated in 1935 as a WBASNY chapter.
- Eleven founders signed the incorporation: Beatrice Fliegel, Doris Silver Freeman, Lillian B. Garrell, Estelle Ruth Grollman, Margaret Fuller Karlin, Minnie Kelter (Goldberg), Lauretta Rose, Hilda G. Schwartz, Florence Perlow Shientag (Frankel), Freda Spinard (Baileson), and Rose Lehman Stein.

History
- NYWBA formed after several founders were denied membership by the New York City Bar Association.
- The 1935 incorporation stated a mission to “define and elevate the status of women.”
- First annual reception was May 25, 1936, at the George Washington Hotel, welcoming 50 new women lawyers (women were not yet allowed in many bar association facilities).
- In 1937, the NYC Bar allowed NYWBA to hold a reception at its building; by 1938 the City Bar voted to admit women members, with many NYWBA founders among the first women sworn in as City Bar members.

Leadership (2022–2023)
- President: Magnolia D. Levy
- Vice Presidents: Jocelyn L. Jacobson, Melissa Ephron-Mandel, Sabrina E. Morrissey
- Treasurer: Lissett C. Ferreira
- Recording Secretary: Vivian Rivera Drohan
- Corresponding Secretary: Morgan F. Mouchette
- Immediate Past President: Amanda B. Norejko
- WBASNY Officer: Deborah G. Rosenthal (President)

More information
- Official website: nywba.org