The award recognizes members of Congress who have worked to promote greater equality and opportunity for minority and women-owned businesses by building relationships with government agencies or public sector groups.
In August, Senator Menendez published a survey of Fortune 500 companies showing minority and women-owned businesses are still under-represented as suppliers for large corporations, as well as in corporate board rooms and on executive teams. Senator Menendez offered to work one-on-one with organizations that want to improve the diversity of their suppliers and corporate leadership.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters has earned a reputation as an outspoken advocate for people of color and women. She championed language in recently-passed financial reform legislation requiring federal financial agencies and departments to boost diversity in their organizations and in the companies they contract with and regulate. Earlier in her career she co-founded the Black Women’s Forum, a non-profit organization of more than 1,200 African American women in the Los Angeles area.
In today’s press release at PR Newswire, Yolanda Coly, NAMWOLF Managing Director, was quoted as saying: “Congresswoman Waters and Senator Menendez have each worked diligently to raise our national consciousness on the subject of opportunities for minorities and women to fairly compete. They have proven themselves to be clear and strong defenders of social justice and civil rights.”
The 2010 Social Justice and Equality Award will be presented to Senator Menendez and Congresswoman Waters at the NAMWOLF Annual Meeting and Law Firm Expo in Washington, D.C.
Founded in 2001, the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF) is a nonprofit trade association comprised of minority and women owned law firms and other interested parties throughout the United States. NAMWOLF is dedicated to increasing the utilization of minority and women owned law firms by corporate legal departments.