Board and Committees

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Current Board Standing Committees Special Committees Board Bios

2008-2009 Board of Directors & Committee Chairs

President		Heidi Schult Gregory
President-Elect		Amy E. Schwartz
Past President		Greta K. Kolcon
Secretary		Julie Anne Gordon
Treasurer		Kathleen Dunivin Schmitt
Program Committee Co-Chairs		Gina M. Sickinger Stephanie McNinch Fix
Nominating Committee Chair Vice Chair		Hon. Gail A. Donofrio Hon. Karen Morris
Media Committee Chair		Susan Schultz Laluk
Judicial Evaluation Committee Co-Chairs		Cynthia J. Carroll Amy R. Cotè
CLE Committee Chair		Linda Lohner Pilato
Legislative Committee Chair Vice Chair		Kimberly Fox Duguay Katherine Courtney
Membership Committee Chair Vice Chair		Sara Stout Ashcraft Shannon O'Keefe
WBASNY Delegates		Greta K. Kolcon Sharon L. Higginbotham Tara R. Johnson

 

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Standing Committees

Continuing Legal Education Committee: The CLE committee organizes and conducts accredited CLE programs for attorneys in Monroe County. The programs treat timely topics with a goal of featuring women presenters or gender-related topics. The committee chooses the program topics, gets knowledgeable and appropriate speakers, compiles materials and works with WBASNY for credit approval and issuance of certificates and conducts the programs. GRAWA will consider hardship requests as noted in the attached document.

Judicial Evaluation Committee: The GRAWA Judicial Evaluation Committee (JEC) compiles information about candidates seeking judicil office and rates candidates to inform the community about a candidate's qualifications. A candidate is an individual seeking judicial office or a political party’s nomination for a race for judicial office in Rochester City Court, Monroe County Court, Monroe County Family Court, Monroe County Surrogate Court, Supreme Court of the 7th Judicial District or such other judicial or quasi-judicial positions as the GRAWA Board of Directors may refer to the JEC. Members interested in participating on this Committee may seek nomination by contacting the Nominating Committee Chair. 

Judicial Evaluation Comment Form (doc)

Judicial Evaluation Comment Form (pdf)

Judicial Candidate's Ratings - May 2008

Legislative Committee: Examines bills introduced in Congress, the State Legislature and local government, and makes suggestions or proposals about bills to GRAWA and WBASNY.

Media Committee: Handles GRAWA’s public relations, including drafting press releases. It also produces the GRAWA newsletter, available online. To share story ideas or submissions, contact Susan Schultz Laluk.

Membership Committee: The GRAWA Membership Committee is responsible for not only recruiting new GRAWA members, but for ensuring that existing members renew. Recruitment takes place in various ways. For more information, visit the Newsletter page, or contact Membership Committee Chair, Sara Stout Ashcraft or call 585-442-0540.

 

Nominating Committee: The Nominating Committee is charged in the by-laws with proposing the nominations for the following positions: President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, Chairs of the Membership, Program, Legislative, Nominating, Judicial Evaluation, Media, and CLE Committees, as well as the WBASNY Directors. The Nominating Committee also helps to promote GRAWA and its members by nominating members for a variety of civic and bar association awards throughout the year.

Program Committee: Plans, advertises and conducts substantive programs, social events and annual functions such as the New Members Reception, Installation Dinner, and Judicial Candidates Luncheon.

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Special Committees

GRAWA Partners With MCBA on "Assistance Committee"

Joyce Berkowitz has agreed to be GRAWA's representative on the Monroe County Bar Association's Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers Committee. This is a lawyers' assistance committee which provides advice and support for colleagues struggling with substance abuse or addiction problems. For more information about the statewide Lawyers Assistance Trust, visit www.nylat.org/index.cfm. To contact Joyce, call 421-9094 or e-mail her at berkolaw48@yahoo.com.

 

Attorneys in Transition Committee: This is a very task-oriented group designed to help each other develop a business plan for changing direction with your career (whether it be going into, or out of a traditional practice).  This year's chair is Laura Taylor.

 

Book Club Committee: Meets several times per year at a member's house to discuss the latest book selection.  This year's chair is Hon. Patricia Gallaher.

 

Diversity Committee: This committee considers issues of diversity as an inclusive concept, encompassing gender, race, color, ethnic and/or national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age and disability.  The committee's current projects include a mentoring program with John Marshal High School Law Academy students and other projects that promote disucssion of diversity issues.  We are also partnering with other orgnaizations to accomplish our goals.  GRAWA's Diversity Committee is co-chaired by Connor O'Brien and Jacia Smith.   Mentoring Partnership Flier

 

Domestic Violence Committee: Comprised of GRAWA members who either practice in, or have interest in, domestic violence issues as they relate to policy, legislation and practice. The group meets four times per year to provide insight to the GRAWA Board of Directors and Legislative Committee representatives for the WBASNY meetings. This year's co-chairs are Shannon O'Keefe and Amy E. Schwartz.

 

Family and Careers Committee: GRAWA's long-standing "Mom's Committee" has expanded into the "Family and Careers Committee," which better captures the breadth and scope of our concerns. We meet monthly and provide members with social and emotional support with respect to the challenges of balancing home life and careers. The Committee hosts substantive discussions regarding issues facing working parents and families. Each year, the Family and Careers Committee is responsible for GRAWA's annual Family Friendly Employer Award. This year's co-chairs are Kathleen Carter and Maria Herrero-Jaarsma.

 

Mentoring Committee: Plans and organizes programs and activities to match newer attorneys with more experienced mentor attorneys. This year's co-chairs are Julie Jordan and Jacqueline Phipps Polito. 

 

Newly Admitted Women Attorneys Committee: Target group is members 32 years of age or younger OR members with less than five (5) years experience.  The committee's purpose is to build relationships to enhance young women attorneys' development and increase and retain membership in teh committee and GRAWA through professional development, mentoring, community service, networking, communication, and social activities.  This year's co-chairs are Julie Bielecki and Katie Courtney. 

 

Non-Traditional Attorneys Committee: Provides non-practicing members with opportunities to network and stay connected with the legal community, as well as to address areas of concern for those returned to practice or seeking alternatives to traditional practice.  This year's chair is Laura Taylor.

Trusts and Estates: A substantive law committee that provides members with legal updates and informal “how to”discussions. This year's chair is Elizabeth Randisi.

Women’s Health Committee: Promotes the awareness of breast cancer and women’s health care issues. It is affiliated with the statewide organization, JALBCA (Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert). This year's co-chairs are Kathryn K. Lee and Leah Goldman.