Mary Kennard to be Honored by the Women's Bar Association

WMACCA congratulates Mary E. Kennard, Vice President and General Counsel of the American University, on her selection as the Woman Lawyer of the year by the Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia and the Women's Bar Association Foundation. 

As CLO at American, Mary advises the university in a wide variety of areas -- employment, security, constitutional rights, intellectual property, gifts and estates, funding, taxation, litigation, general contracts and torts, and many others. She also teaches higher education law in American University’s Washington College of Law and has lectured on that topic at national conferences. As we in WMACCA know, Mary has contributed her time extensively to volunteer and Bar activity. She just completed a one-year term as the President of WMACCA. She has also been the First Vice President of the National Association of College and University Attorneys.
At American University and in her volunteer activities, Mary has taken major steps to promote the advancement of minority and women lawyers. She co-chaired the University's Diversity Strategic Plan. This year, she helped plan a program, sponsored jointly by the WBA and WMACCA, that invited senior women leaders of law firms to meet with senior women in corporate law departments to begin discussing how the groups can collaborate to further the advancement of women lawyers.

Lorelie S. Masters, a partner at Jenner & Block and the current president of the WBA, said Mary embodies the terms of the annual award.  “Mary has set an example for women lawyers,” Masters said. “She is a true generalist in her work at American University. She solves her client’s problems, whatever they may be. She is also a tremendously giving person who always finds time to help other women.”

At the same dinner, the WBA will present the Janet Reno Torchbearer Award to Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The theme of the dinner will be “Creating Pathways to Success for All.” At the dinner, the WBA will officially unveil its report on law firm diversity, focusing on opportunities for women of color.

Founded in May 1917, the WBA is one of the oldest voluntary bar associations in the United States and is dedicated to the advancement of women in the law.

This annual event will be held on May 15, 6 to 9 p.m., at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.  For additional information about the Women's Bar Association and Women's Bar Association Foundation Annual Awards Dinner, including tickets and sponsorship opportunities, please visit www.wbadc.org or contact Suzanne L'Amoureux, Executive Director, at 202-639-8880.