American Bar Association
Three nationally recognized programs created to cultivate leaders from underrepresented backgrounds, expand opportunity and increase diversity in the legal profession will receive the 2025 ABA Pipeline Council Alexander Awards for Excellence in Pipeline Diversity during the Midyear Meeting in Phoenix.
The Alexander Awards are named after Raymond Pace Alexander, the first African American to graduate from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and become a judge on the Common Pleas Court of Philadelphia, and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, the first African American woman to receive a Ph.D. in the United States and the first woman to receive a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
The awards honor an individual or organization that has demonstrated exemplary leadership and success in building an educational pipeline that supports underrepresented students, including racial and ethnic minorities, students with disabilities and students who identify as LGBTQ+, into and through law school and into the legal profession.
The recipients are:
• The Sonia & Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program, which supports diverse and underrepresented college students “who are committed to bringing their unique voice to the legal field,” will receive the Alexander Award. The internship program provides high school, college and law school students with summer internships with state and federal judges in New York City, supplemental educational programming, college prep resources and mentorship.
• Eversheds Sutherland will receive the Legal Ambassador Award. The global law firm’s ES Scholars program provides tools to succeed and introduce people from underrepresented backgrounds to careers in law. Its goal is to increase diversity across the entire legal industry. Since its inception, hundreds of ES Scholars have graduated from the program, and 95% of that group have been accepted into law schools across the country.
• The FormanWatkins Diversity Pipeline Program will receive the Rising Star Award. Tailored for college students who are interested in pursuing a career in law, the program seeks to increase the diversity of law school applicants and follow the students through their law school journey and into careers in the legal profession. The program welcomes all students with an interest in attending law school and pursuing a career as a civil defense attorney.
(https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/ 2024/12/2025-alexander-awards-announced/)
Three nationally recognized programs created to cultivate leaders from underrepresented backgrounds, expand opportunity and increase diversity in the legal profession will receive the 2025 ABA Pipeline Council Alexander Awards for Excellence in Pipeline Diversity during the Midyear Meeting in Phoenix.
The Alexander Awards are named after Raymond Pace Alexander, the first African American to graduate from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and become a judge on the Common Pleas Court of Philadelphia, and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, the first African American woman to receive a Ph.D. in the United States and the first woman to receive a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
The awards honor an individual or organization that has demonstrated exemplary leadership and success in building an educational pipeline that supports underrepresented students, including racial and ethnic minorities, students with disabilities and students who identify as LGBTQ+, into and through law school and into the legal profession.
The recipients are:
• The Sonia & Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program, which supports diverse and underrepresented college students “who are committed to bringing their unique voice to the legal field,” will receive the Alexander Award. The internship program provides high school, college and law school students with summer internships with state and federal judges in New York City, supplemental educational programming, college prep resources and mentorship.
• Eversheds Sutherland will receive the Legal Ambassador Award. The global law firm’s ES Scholars program provides tools to succeed and introduce people from underrepresented backgrounds to careers in law. Its goal is to increase diversity across the entire legal industry. Since its inception, hundreds of ES Scholars have graduated from the program, and 95% of that group have been accepted into law schools across the country.
• The FormanWatkins Diversity Pipeline Program will receive the Rising Star Award. Tailored for college students who are interested in pursuing a career in law, the program seeks to increase the diversity of law school applicants and follow the students through their law school journey and into careers in the legal profession. The program welcomes all students with an interest in attending law school and pursuing a career as a civil defense attorney.
(https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/ 2024/12/2025-alexander-awards-announced/)
