On May 25, the Women’s Bar of DC honored Nancy Duff Campbell as the 2010 Woman Lawyer of the Year. Nancy Duff Campbell is the founder and president of the National Women’s Law Center for over 30 years. She founded the National Women’s Law Center at a time when there were few legal rights organizations advocating for women and particularly low income women. Campbell has spent her lifetime fighting for civil rights, poverty laws and women’s rights. Early on in her career, she recalls leaving New York to travel to Selma, Alabama to assist in the fight for civil rights. She recalls meeting and briefing Martin Luther King, Jr. about the violent activities of the Selma police towards the peaceful and nonviolent marchers. Over the past 30 years, she’s fought for changes in poverty law and welfare rights, notably for passage of laws permitting welfare recipients to move to another state without losing their benefits.
In addressing the over 1500 attendees, she reiterated a theme worth mentioning over and over again. In referencing the recent book of Dorothy I. Heights, Campbell challenged the audience of many women, judges and lawyers to get on purpose and stay on a specific purpose with your life.
Congratulations to Nancy Duff “Duffy” Campbell as the 2010 Woman Lawyer of the Year.
Are you on purpose with your life?