Honors, Awards and More News about Alumni/ae

This fall, the Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association honored Patricia Garin ’84 with the Lelia J. Robinson Award and Laurie Bishop ’08, a partner at Hirsch Roberts Weinstein, as an emerging leader.

As part of her fellowship with Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts, Sarah Nawab ’20 authored a report, “A Different Way Forward,” detailing sexual misconduct against women incarcerated in Massachusetts and the urgent need to remedy the harm that women face in the carceral system. The report makes five recommendations, including increasing independent oversight of how jails and prisons handle sexual misconduct complaints.

Ralph C. Martin II ’78 was honored by the Eastern Bank Foundation with its 2022 Social Justice Award. Martin, who retired in 2022 as Northeastern University’s general counsel and was previously the first Black man to serve as Suffolk County district attorney, was lauded for his inclusive leadership and for dedicating his life’s work to closing gaps, building up communities and advancing social justice. He is now a partner with Prince Lobel.

Professor Deborah Anker ’75, a nation- ally recognized pioneer in the study of refugee and asylum law, has moved to emerita status on the Harvard Law School faculty. Together with Greater Boston Legal Services attorneys Nancy Kelly ’84 and John Willshire Carrera ’85, Anker founded the legendary Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program. Her book, Law of Asylum in the United States, remains the key authoritative text in the field. She was also central to the founding and continuing success of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.

Ann McGonigle Santos ’92 was honored as the 2022 Commonwealth Heroine by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. Santos is associate dean of students as well as disability services coordinator for Suffolk University Law School. “Commonwealth Heroines are women who don’t always make the news, but truly make the difference in their communities, businesses or volunteer endeavors,” says the commission. Santos is a past member of the Wakefield Board of Health and has also served on the town’s Board of Selectmen and Town Council, twice as chair.

Rev. Willie Bodrick II ’20, senior pastor of the historic Twelfth Baptist Church, is now presi- dent and CEO of The American City Coalition (TACC), a neigh- borhood revitalization nonprofit based in Roxbury.

In December, James Morton ’81 retired as president of the YMCA of Greater Boston. During his seven years at the helm of the largest social services provider in Massachusetts, he prioritized breaking down institutional barriers to education and tackling the scourges of poverty and racism.

In recognition of her contributions to the practice of consumer law, New Mexico attorney Karen Meyers ’78 accepted the National Consumer Law Center’s 2022 Vern Countryman Award in November. The prestigious annual award recognizes an attorney whose special contributions to consumer law have strengthened and affirmed the rights of low-income and other vulnerable consumers. Meyers serves as the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Initiative, which she founded in 2019 for the city of Albuquerque. Among her previous positions, she served with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington, DC, and the Consumer Protection Division of the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General, where she won a landmark case against two predatory lenders.

In August, California Governor Gavin Newsom tapped Yana Garcia ’11 to serve as the state’s Secretary for Environmental Protection. Garcia, who most recently served as special assistant attorney general in California, is now overseeing the state’s efforts to fight climate change, protect air and water quality, regulate pesticides and toxic substances, achieve the state’s recycling and waste reduction goals, and advance environmental justice.

S. Mayumi Grigsby ’15 has been elected chair of the 11-member Cook County Commission on Human Rights in Illinois, which she joined as a member in 2021. She is also a member of the board of directors of Planned Parenthood of Illinois and has a day job as chief of staff at the Chicago Foundation for Women.

Sarah Gogel ’13 was recently honored with France’s National Order of Merit in recognition of her outstanding service and leadership through YES Akademia (YAKA), the global, grassroots organization she founded in France to empower young people from marginalized communities through intercultural dialogue, social entrepre- neurship and and exchange programs.

Vanessa Candela ’00 was among those included in Women We Admire’s Top 50 Women Leaders of Massachusetts for 2022. Candela joined Celonis in 2021 as the company’s first chief legal officer. She previously worked with Netcracker Technology, Virtustream and EMC.

Betty Francisco ’98, CEO of Boston Impact Initiative, was named to the Boston Business Journal’s “Power 50: Movement Makers for 2022,” an annual list of Boston-area business people who are making the most impact on the region.