NEWiRE members and guests gathered at the Boston Harbor Hotel on June 21st for the annual meeting and lunch program. Outgoing president, Janet Pirrello reflected on her term during a successful 30th anniversary year  in which the organization gained more new members and raised more sponsorship dollars than in any other year and enjoyed remarkably active committee involvement. After saluting the outgoing board members and introducing the new board members, Pirrello invited incoming president, Holly Nelson, to address the audience. Nelson, full of energy for her upcoming term, named taking advantage of the benefits of our CREW national affiliation, sponsorship and recruitment of a diverse membership three of her priorities.

Attendees then had the privilege of hearing from retired Judge Nancy Gertner. While Judge Gertner’s resume is impressive—graduate of Barnard College and Yale Law School, editor of The Yale Law Journal, second female recipient of the Thurgood Marshall Award (the first recipient being Ruth Bader Ginsberg)—she is so much more than what she appears to be on paper.

Throughout her distinguished career, Judge Nancy Gertner has not been afraid to speak up and to reach for the extraordinary in order to effectively promote fairness and justice. Relaying excerpts from her autobiography, In Defense of Women: Memoirs of an Unrepentant Advocate, Judge Gertner inspired the room with colorful examples of how she rose from a young, unknown lawyer to President Clinton’s appointed federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

A self-proclaimed rebellious “child of the sixties,” Judge Gertner’s memoirs are examples of how courage and conviction can help women carve out careers in which they are woefully underestimated. Judge Gertner shared that early in her career, it was her inexperience and the extent to which she was misjudged that allowed her to shine. She illustrated this point with many stories; including one about a case in which she defended a young, female anti-war activist who had been charged with robbery and murder. The descriptive retelling had the audience awestruck and silent at one moment, and then laughing the next. Many attendees expressed interest in reading more in the Judge’s autobiography.

In September of 2011, Judge Gertner retired the federal bench and became part of the faculty of the Harvard Law School teaching criminal law, criminal procedure, forensic science and sentencing. Although she is retired from the bench, Judge Gertner assured the captivated crowd that her stories of advocating women’s rights are not over.