100 Women We Love: Pamela K. Chen

Judge Pamela K. Chen takes her job very seriously. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of the Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York for more than 13 years, Chen supervised the investigation and prosecution of court cases involving human trafficking, hate crimes, and color of law violations (for instance, excessive force by law enforcement officers). Earlier this year, Chen made headlines when President Obama nominated her to serve as Federal District Court Judge of the aforementioned district. The senate confirmed her position in March, making her the first openly gay Asian-American to preside on a federal bench. The Society of Asian Federal Officers named her “Prosecutor of the Year” in 2012, and she recently received the Women’s Leadership Award from the Asian American Bar Association of NY. But Chen tells GO that the she is most proud of the work she did “as a federal prosecutor to help achieve justice for victims of human trafficking and to help restore and improve the lives of these victims.” Her extensive work fighting human trafficking has earned her numerous awards, including a U.S. Department of Justice Director’s Award, and the Susan B. Anthony Award from the National Organization of Women’s New York Chapter. –QW