Awards Celebration - NELA Convention

On Wednesday, June 23, we will gather to toast another incredible year of strong advocacy for workers and honor three of your colleagues for their inspiring contributions to the NELA community and the cause of justice for workers: Janice Goodman (NY), M. Megan O’Malley (IL), and Kira Fonteneau (AL).

Janice Goodman

Megan O'Malley

Kira Fonteneau

NELA is privileged to recognize Janice Goodman, one of NELA’s leading lights and a pioneer in the field of plaintiffs’ employment law. Janice has had an impressive and storied career, successfully litigating many important Title VII class actions on behalf of women and minorities. Her immeasurable contributions include serving as General Editor of NELA’s three-volume treatise, Employee Rights Litigation: Pleading and Practice, which remains the preeminent resource for workers’ rights advocates. Janice is a former NELA Board Member, a former NELA Vice President, and a founding member of NELA

Promoting a fair judiciary is central to NELA’s mission, and Megan O’Malley is a driving force of NELA’s Judicial Nominations Program. We are proud to honor Megan for her powerful leadership as Co-Chair of NELA’s Judicial Nominations Committee (JNC) since 2014. As one of our staunchest advocates for a fair and independent judiciary, Megan has been leading our charge for experiential, as well as demographic, diversity on the federal bench tirelessly for many years. Megan has practiced employment law for more than 20 years and is a former President of NELA/Illinois.

We are delighted that Kira Fonteneau (AL) will be receiving NELA’s inaugural Spotlight Award recognizing a NELA leader who represents our future. Kira’s dedication to justice for workers and contributions to our community nationally and locally have been, and will continue to be, essential to advancing workers' rights and empowering workers' rights advocates. She serves on the NELA-Alabama Board and has been on the faculty of the 2019 NELA Convention and NELA’s Fall 2020 seminar, Race And National Origin Discrimination In The Workplace. She is the President of the Alabama Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, was Chair of the American Diabetes Association’s National Legal Advocacy Sub-Committee, and serves on the Alabama State Bar Board of Bar Commissioners.

Please join us in celebrating our outstanding honorees by sponsoring NELA’s 2021 Gala. As a Gala sponsor, you also will build NELA's influence in our nation's capital, its courtrooms, and everywhere we can make a difference for workers. We are pleased to offer a range of sponsorship opportunities, including advertising in NELA's online 2021 Convention Ad Gallery, which will be included on NELA's main website through January 15, 2022 and promoted widely to NELA members, attendees at CLE events, and followers on social media.