Y L D P R E S I D E N T ’ S M E S S A G E A l e x a n d r a P a l e r m o – S y n i v e r s e T e c h n o l o g i e s
Continued from page 9
The book club kicked off with a Victory for the Vote luncheon , which took place at the George Edgecomb Courthouse . The event featured an address from Doris Weatherford , a renowned author on women ’ s history and longtime advocate for women ’ s rights . Over 50 attendees enjoyed the luncheon in person while 20 more attended virtually ( photos from this event on page 43 ).
During the subsequent three weeks of March , Bernice Dewlow , a co-chair of YLD ’ s Professionalism and Ethics Committee , and Daniela Mendez , the Campus Director at Cooley , co-moderated the weekly book club discussions via Zoom . For the first session , Judge Claudia Isom , clad in her suffragist sash , led an engaging discussion of Part One of the book . For the second session , the author of Why They Marched , Susan Ware , joined us to moderate the discussion of Part Two . For the third session , retired Hillsborough County Clerk of Court Pat Frank and Hillsborough County Public Defender Julianne Holt discussed their lives ’ work and applied it to the lessons from Part Three . And for the last book club session , we came full circle at the George Edgecomb Courthouse with a discussion of women ’ s rights in a conversation with former Florida Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince , Doris Weatherford , and League of Women Voters member Stacy Yates .
The month was a celebration of the sacrifices made by women who have come before us and a critical discussion of the work still left to be done . The conversations were informative , engaging , and inspiring . In addition to voting rights , we discussed women ’ s rights and equality , racial justice , and due process in the courts . A special thanks to all of the incredible speakers . Each brought relevant experiences and diverse thoughts and opinions that left us all inspired and excited to continue marching on . Second , we thank the book club planning committee . The committee spent hundreds of hours putting together the incredible program . Special thanks to Cooley , HAWL , and the entire YLD Professionalism and Ethics Committee , including Bernice ’ s co-chairs Rebecca Arends and Matthew Parrish , committee members Alexa Cline , Lauren Humphries , Marina Moussa , Samuel Pastor , and David Walsh , and Board liaisons Harold Holder and Marisol Ruiz . Thanks also to Judges Claudia Isom and Samantha Ward for their invaluable contributions . And finally , thank you to the Florida Bar whose Diversity Leadership Grant made this book club possible . Here ’ s to marching on ! n
Authors : Bernice Dewlow – Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court & Daniela Mendez – WMU - Cooley Law School
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PleasesavethedateforthefollowingYLDevent andsignupontheHCBAwebsite :
• YLDStateCourtTrialSeminaronJune3 , 2022 , attheGeorgeEdgecombCourthousewitha YLDNetworkingHappyHourtofollow
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