NAWL Rising List

Since 2021, the NAWL Rising List recognizes early- to mid-career attorneys committed to NAWL’s mission by either advancing women in the profession or advocating for women under the law.

2026 Recipients

Click each recipient's headshot to learn more about them.

Headshot of Melissa A. Anyetei.

Melissa A. Anyetei
Partner,

White & Case LLP

Headshot of Flor Diaz-Wayt.

Flor Diaz-Wayt
Assistant Public Defender,

Office of the Public Defender, 2nd Judicial Circuit

Headshot of Alla Digilova.

Alla Digilova
Partner,

Haynes and Boone, LLP

Headshot of Leah A. Druckerman.

Leah A. Druckerman

Counsel,

Venable LLP

Headshot of Josh Fougere.

Josh Fougere
Partner,

Sidley Austin LLP

Headshot of Nikaela Jacko Redd.

Nikaela Jacko Redd
VP, WM Reg. Counsel/Policies & Procedures Compliance Officer,

Morgan Stanley

Headshot of Norly S. Jean-Charles.

Norly S. Jean-Charles
Senior Associate,

Loeb & Loeb LLP 

Headshot of Anu Joglekar.

Anu Joglekar
Member,

Cozen O’Connor

Headshot of Cristal Lambert.

Cristal Lambert

Assistant General Counsel,

ETS

Headshot of Brittany J. Maxey-Fisher.

Brittany J. Maxey-Fisher
Intellectual Property Attorney, Maxey-Fisher, PLLC

Headshot of Cáitrín McKiernan.

Cáitrín McKiernan

Partner,

Steptoe LLP

Headshot of Rebecca M. Scaife.

Rebecca M. Scaife
Senior Associate,

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP

Headshot of Jessica D. Thomas.

Jessica D. Thomas

Founder and Principal Attorney, Thomas Law Firm, PLLC

Headshot of Kelly Hope Yin.

Kelly Hope Yin
Associate,

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Headshot of Erica S. Youngerman.

Erica S. Youngerman
Of Counsel,

Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP

  • 2025 Recipients

    Katelin Anderbery

    General Counsel & Head of Compliance

    Flexi-Van Leasing


    Alexandria Casperson

    Assistant Attorney General

    Michigan Department of Attorney General


    Carla M. Castello

    Corporate Counsel

    Dick's Sporting Goods


    Jenn French

    Partner

    Lynch Carpenter, LLP


    Jasbir Kaur Khalsa

    Assistant General Counsel

    Microsoft


    Janet J. Lee

    Shareholder

    Banner Witcoff


    Anna Lloyd

    Executive Director

    Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms


    Melanie MacBride

    Chief Grants & Operations Officer

    The Chicago Bar Foundation


    Moya Novella

    Global Privacy and AI Policy Counsel, IBM Adjunct Professor of Privacy and AI Law,

    Albany Law School 


    Avani Patel

    Supervising Senior Program Manager (Illinois Court Help), Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts

    Special Projects Manager, Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession


    Michelle Pernicek

    Partner

    Kutak Rock LLP


    Nikita A. Ramaswamy

    Partner

    Triangle Tweener Fund


    Lauren Roseman

    Partner

    Fisher & Phillips, LLP


    Roya Samarghandi

    Chief Advocacy & Innovation Officer

    The Chicago Bar Foundation


    Nicole M. Smithson

    Principal Attorney

    Oakland County Indigent Defense Services Office


    Marlow Svatek

    Associate

    Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg LLP


    Karly Valenzuela

    Senior Corporate Counsel

    Amazon Web Services


    Nicolle Vasquez Del Favero

    Assistant Attorney

    Department of the Navy Office of the General Counsel

  • 2024 Recipients

    Samita T. Ali-Khan

    Partner

    Foley Hoag LLP


    Alexis L. Angell

    Health Care Litigation Shareholder

    Polsinelli PC


    Alexandra Barbee-Garrett

    Counsel

    Crowell & Moring LLP


    Jessica Borchers

    Director of Legal and Compliance

     SunFire

     

    Anna Britt

    Senior Corporate Counsel

    Amazon Web Services


    Gina L. Campanella, FACHE 

    Principal Attorney

    Campanella Law Office LLC


    Suzanne K. Canali

    Chief Legal Officer

    Safe Alliance


    Ann Chen

    Deputy Chair, Capital Markets & Corporate Loeb & Loeb LLP


    Tiffany G. Cox

    Staff Attorney, Post-Conviction & Director, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

    North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services


    Kathleen Gersh

    Partner

    Loeb & Loeb LLP


    Chaya Gourarie

    Partner

     Bell Law Group, PLLC


    Jennifer Jaskolka

    Head of Legal & Corporate Secretary

    Modivcare


    Siobhan Klassen

    Attorney

    Goddard Law PLLC


    Tamara Kraljic

    Counsel

     Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP


    Susanna Lee

    Corporate Counsel

    Salesforce


     Nikki Marcotte

    (they/she)

    Associate

    Kirkland & Ellis


    Michelle C. Musielewicz

    Associate

     Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP


    Manisha P. Patel

    Managing Attorney/Owner

    Law Office of Manisha P. Patel, PLLC


    Kimberly C. Petillo-Décossard

    M&A and Public Company Advisory Partner White & Case LLP


    Kristina A. Pierre-Louis

    Litigation Associate

     Haynes and Boone, LLP


    Karol Y. Ruiz

    Town of Dover Council Member and Assistant Deputy Public Defender

    State of New Jersey Office of the Public Defender Division of Mental Health Advocacy


    Eirene Nakamura Salvi

    Trial Attorney

    Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard PC


    E. Blair Schilling

    Partner

     Fishman Haygood


    Aliza Shatzman

    President and Founder

     The Legal Accountability Project


    Nikki Lewis Simon

    Senior Vice President, Litigation Shareholder, and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer

    Greenberg Traurig, LLP


    Samantha Arrington Sliney

    Attorney Advisor

     Department of the Army


    Michelle Travis

    Professor of Law

    University of San Francisco School of Law


    Mian R. Wang

    Shareholder

     Greenberg Traurig, LLP


    Calla Yee

    Partner

     Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP 


    Beatrice Zdrodowski

    General Counsel (Venture Capital Entities) and Associate General Counsel (Private Equity Firm)

     Gardner Capital 

  • 2023 Recipients

    Monsurat M. Adebanjo

    Administrative Law Judge

    City of New York


    Hiba Mona Anver

    Shareholder

    Erickson Immigration Group


    Siobhan Mukerji Barco

    University Fellow and Ph.D. Candidate

    Princeton University


    Dr. Liz Bodamer

    Director of Research

    Law School Admission Council


    Melissa H. Boyd

    Associate

    Cooley LLP


    Stephanie Chesney

    Partner

    MG+M The Law Firm


    Evelyn Cobos

    Shareholder

    Greenberg Traurig, LLP


    Shantia Coley

    Associate General Counsel

    Edward Jones


    Katherine Gnadinger

    Corporate Counsel

    Microsoft


    Tanya A. Grillo

    President

    Grillo Law, PLLC


    M. Amadea Groseclose

    Senior Counsel

    ABB Inc.


    Lacey Hofmeyer

    General Counsel & VP,

    Public Policy & Government Affairs

    Broward College


    Melanie J. Howard

    Chair, Intellectual Property Protection;

    Chair, Luxury Brands;

    Deputy Chair, Advanced Media and Technology

    Loeb & Loeb LLP


    Saba Khan

    Director, Regulatory Affairs Counsel

    UBS


    Erin Klug

    Patent & Trademark Attorney

    The Dobrusin Law Firm, P.C.


    Angela Korge

    Associate

    Jones Day


    Jessica B. Lee

    Chair, Privacy, Security & Data Innovations

    Loeb & Loeb LLP


    Sari Long

    Partner

    Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP


    Anna Lozoya

    Chief Legal & Risk Officer

    CommUnityCare Health Centers


    Freddi Mack

    Senior Assistant City Attorney

    City of Miami Beach, Florida


    Lizzy Magarian

    Partner

    Dorsey & Whitney LLP


    Lanette Suárez Martín

    Associate

    K&L Gates LLP


    Angela P. Maxam

    University Counsel

    Princeton University


    Cassandra J. Neugold

    Associate, Employment & Labor Law

    Gibbons P.C.


    Adriana Perez

    Associate

    Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP


    Jennifer Larson Ryback

    Shareholder

    McGuire, Craddock & Strother, P.C.


    Nancy Shalhub

    Associate

    Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.


    Kirsten J. Silwanowicz

    Associate General Counsel

    Great Lakes Water Authority


    Liz Stameshkin

    Special Counsel

    Cooley LLP


    Sheea Sybblis

    Associate General Counsel & Practice Group Leader

    Genentech, Inc.


    Erin J. Tilton

    Shareholder

    Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson


    Lauren van Schilfgaarde

    Assistant Professor

    UCLA School of Law


    Erica S. Weisgerber

    Partner

    Debevoise & Plimpton LLP


    Patricia Wood

    Senior Managing Associate

    Sidley Austin LLP

  • 2022 Recipients

    Nicole D. Allen

    E-Discovery Of Counsel

    Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP


    Patricia Astorga

    General Counsel

    Mintz Group


    Avanti Bakane

    Partner

    Gordon, Rees, Scully, Mansukhani, LLP


    Camille R. Bryant

    Member

    McGlinchey Stafford PLLC


    Jacqueline Candella

    3L

    New York Law School


    Kathleen Chen

    Associate General Counsel

    The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania


    Anne M. Collart

    Director

    Gibbons P.C.


    Mallory Cooney

    Associate

    K&L Gates LLP


    Anna R. Gressel

    Senior Associate

    Debevoise & Plimpton LLP


    Kimi Murphy Ide-Foster

    Partner

    Chun Kerr LLP


    Jennifer N. Jones

    Managing Counsel

    Toyota Motor North America, Inc.


    Summer H. Kaiawe

    Partner

    Watanabe Ing LLP


    Erica Kelley

    Vice President, Deputy General Counsel

    Palo Alto Networks, Inc.


    Selena Kim

    Partner

    Gowling WLG


    Bonnie Lau

    Antitrust Litigation Partner

    Morrison & Foerster LLP


    Ashley Christina Lherisson

    Litigation Associate, Kirkland & Ellis LLP

    Adjunct Professor, Fordham University School of Law

    Founder, Ivy Grad Services LLC


    Sabria McElroy

    Partner

    Boies Schiller Flexner


    Sepideh Mousakhani

    Partner

    Cooley LLP


    Shaila Lakhani Ohri

    Assistant General Counsel

    Exelon


    Marisa O'Sullivan

    Partner

    Carrington Coleman Sloman & Blumenthal


    Tanisha R. Reed

    Counsel & Litigator

    McGuireWoods LLP


    Samantha A. Sliney

    Major

    U.S. Air Force JAG Corps


    Jennifer Sta.Ana

    Trial Attorney, Office of the Solicitor

    U.S. Department of Labor


    Yasmean N. Tamoor

    Assistant Corporation Counsel

    New York City Law Department


    Lauren N. Tuckey

    Associate

    Bates Cary LLP


    Crystal T. Williams

    Assistant General Counsel, Neuroscience Business Unit

    Eli Lilly and Company


    Melanie Younger

    Associate General Counsel, Privacy

    Meta


    Jennifer Yu

    Director of Business Development

    Synergy Settlement Services

  • 2021 Recipients

    Samira Alimohammad

    Vice-President & General Counsel

    Specialist Staffing Group, the U.S. Division of Shree Plc


    Olesja Cormney

    Managing Counsel

    Toyota Motor North America, Inc.


    Valerie Fontenot

    Associate Attorney

    Frilot, LLC


    Suzanne Levy Friedman

    Senior Associate

    Hogan Lovells LLP (Washington, D.C.)


    Hillary Gardner

    Corporate Counsel

    Credigy Solutions Inc.


    Sylvia-Rebecca “Becky” Gutierrez

    Associate

    Gibbons P.C.


    Ty Kayam

    Attorney

    Microsoft 


    Ebony S. Morris

    Associate Attorney

    Garrison, Yount, Forte & Mulcahy, LLC


    Anu Prasad

    Counsel

    Cozen O’Connor


    Emily Rodriguez-Sanchirico

    Litigation Associate

    Miller Barondess, LLP


    Meredith C. Slawe

    Partner, Co-Chair Class Actions Practice Group, Co-Chair Retail Industry Group     

    Cozen O’Connor


    Erika Stallings

    Associate General Counsel, Music Product

    Facebook 


    Raychelle Tasher Riley 

    Assistant U.S. Attorney, Civil Division

    United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida


    Jennifer Marino Thibodaux

    Founder

    JMT Speaks, LLC


    Jennifer Trowbridge

    Junior Partner

    Jacko Law Group, PC


    Cara Vecchione

    Counsel

    Robinson & Cole LLP