Winning Essays Explore Progress on Gender Diversity

Congratulations to essay winners in the law student and young lawyer categories of the Commission on Women in the Profession's 20th Anniversary Video/Essay Competition. Entrants addressed the question: Gender Diversity: Have we solved the problem? If not, where do we go from here? "The Pink and the Blue" by law student Rianne Heffel (Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, California) describes the old mindset of gender diversity as the code of the pink and the blue: some activities are just for boys and some activities are just for girls. How to shatter the old code? Focus on teaching children there are no boy careers or girl careers. Young lawyer Susan E. Polk (Southwest Power Pool, Inc., Little Rock, Arkansas) argues in "Bridging the Gender Gap: Creating a New, Post-Law School Reality for the Woman Lawyer" that the approach for solving the gender diversity problem is flawed: it focuses primarily on those entering the legal profession rather than on lawyers already practicing in the trenches. View these essays in their entirety on the Commission's Web site at www.abanet.org/women/competition.html.

Women's Rights Fellowships Available at Georgetown University Law Center

The Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program (WLPPFP) at the Georgetown University Law Center provides fellowship opportunities for lawyers nationwide. The one-year fellowships enable up-and-coming public interest advocates to work in Washington, D.C., on women's rights issues and participate in extensive networking events, professional development trainings, and seminars on hot-button legal topics with leading women's rights experts. Since 1983, WLPPFP has trained over 200 women's rights lawyers. Program alumnae now serve as judges, law professors, founders and directors of nonprofits, public interest lawyers, government lawyers (including in Congress and the White House), and other influential positions, where they continue to advance women's human rights throughout their careers. For more information and application materials, visit www.law.georgetown.edu/wlppfp.

International Legal Resource Center Offers Free Registration

The International Legal Resource Center (ILRC) was established within the ABA Section of International Law in 1999 to fulfill a common commitment of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the ABA to advocate for good governance and the rule of law on a global scale. The ILRC identifies legal specialists for shortand long-term assignments with UNDP offices on many topics, from women's rights and institution building to anticorruption; conducts legal research; and assists in the coordination of legislative assessments. Legal experts registered with the ILRC—at no cost—receive UNDP alerts for opportunities around the world. To find out more, visit www.abanet.org/intlaw/intlproj/ilrc/home.html or contact ILRC Project Coordinator Jacqueline Gichinga at 202-662-1662 or Jacqueline.Gichinga@americanbar.org.