Senator Robert Menendez and Congresswoman Maxine Waters Receive Prestigious Social Justice and Equality Award

MILWAUKEE, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (New Jersey) and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (California) have been named the 2010 winners of the Social Justice and Equality Award by the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF). 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 a fearless and outspoken advocate for people of color and women. Congresswoman Waters 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.

"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," said Yolanda Coly, NAMWOLF Managing Director.  

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. The awards will be presented at a NAMWOLF-sponsored Capitol Hill Day event on October 4, 2010, beginning at 10:30 a.m., in Room 2237 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Congresswoman Waters will keynote the event, designed to raise awareness of minority and women-owned law firms among government agencies, members of Congress and others.

About NAMWOLF

The National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF), founded in 2001, 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. www.namwolf.org

SOURCE NAMWOLF