CBA President's Message, 1216 COBJ, Vol. 45, No. 12
| Author | Patricia Jarzobski, J. |
Patricia Jarzobski, J.
Who’s the Next Madam President?
You can’t be what you can’t see. -Marie C. Wilson, Founder of the White House Project
As I write this month’s President’s Message, we are a few days from potentially electing our country’s first female President of the United States. As you read this article, you know the outcome!
This is a historic time regardless of your political affiliation or the results of the 2016 presidential election It is also a historic time at the CBA. For the first time since the association’s founding back in 1897, both the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations have women presidents at the helm. And to make the trifecta complete, the current president of the American Bar Association is also a woman History in the making: Patricia Jarzobski, ABA President Linda Klein, and DBA President Nancy Cohen.
I also learned during my local bar visit to Colorado Springs that Patricia Germer-Coolidge, president of the El Paso County Bar Association, is the fifth women in the bar’s 114-year history to serve as president.
Coincidentally, I am the fifth woman to serve as president of the CBA. The four women who served before me are:
• Katherine Tamblyn (1982-83)
• Frances Koncilja (1994-95)
• Rebecca Koppes Conway (1997-98)
• Judge Liz Starrs (2006-07).
A Few Statistics about Women in Leadership
• Colorado has never had a female governor.1
• 6 of the current 50 U.S. governors are women (Oklahoma, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and South Carolina).2
• Colorado has never had a female U.S. Senator.3
• 20 of the 100 U.S. Senators are women (114th Congress 2015-2016).4
• Denver has never had a female mayor.
• 3 women serve as chief judges in Colorado’s 22 judicial districts (Chief Deborah Eyler, 10th JD; Chief Pattie Swift, 12th JD; and Chief Maria Berkenkotter, 20th JD).5
• 31% of all state judges in the U.S. are women6
• 34% of all state court judges in Colorado are women7
• 18% of equity partners in U.S. law firms are women8
• 12 of the 29 CBA section chairs are women.
• 11 of the 22 CBA committee chairs are women
• 11 of the 21 CBA executive council members are women.
• Approximately 38% of the CBA’s Board of Governors are women
• 12 of the 27 local bar association presidents across Colorado are women.
The CBA Needs Talented Women in its Leadership Pipeline
Women are leading and serving on important committees, sections, and key governance roles in the CBA. And there are talented women serving as presidents of local and specialty bar...
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