Women at the Helm 2015
RACHEL EINBUND
Principal Attorney at the Law Office of Rachel Einbund, Esq.
The passage of the Marriage Equality Act in 2011 marked the end of one battle, and the beginning of many others. Rachel Einbund understood that from the start, and it's what led her to create her own legal practice, focusing on marriage-based green cards, work visas, domestic abuse victims and family-based immigration, to name but a few of her many specialties. Einbund, a graduate of NYU and New York Law School, prides herself on taking clients from all over, and on her belief in religious, political, gender and sexual freedom. In addition to running her own firm, she mentors law students; holds free workshops on the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) immigration policy; writes about immigration issues on her firm's blog, The LORE Review; and does pro-bono work for minors and unique cases. (She’s registered as a marriage officiant, too, as if all that weren't enough to keep her busy.) For her dedication to the law and our community, Einbund has received numerous honors: Just this year, the National LGBT Bar Association named her one of America's best LGBT lawyers under 40 and The International Women's Leadership Association called her a Woman of Outstanding Leadership. We here at GO simply call her "amazing."
Meet 16 dynamos who are true models of success
JOWHARAH SANDERS
Executive Director, National Voices for Equality, Education and Enlightenment
Even though we’ve made significant strides in preventing bullying, suicide and school violence, we still have work to do. Jowharah Sanders is working hard to make school a more welcoming place for children with National Voices for Equality, Education and Enlightenment (NVEEE). “My dream was to be a teacher,” says Sanders. “However, I discovered that although I loved teaching and have the highest respect for educators, relying on standardized tests to evaluate children, regardless of their socioeconomic status or emotional well-being, no longer fit into who I wanted to be in the world, so instead I found myself advocating for children who had yet to find their voice.” In just six years, the community organization she’s created has trained 20,000 students, teachers, and parents through its Be Upstanding program, which is a bullying prevention workshop series available to schools. NVEEE also hosts a summer leadership academy called PALS (Peace Ambassador Leadership Summit), which also allows students to have a deeper conversation about their experiences with bullying, self-harm or suicidal thoughts in a safe space. For her work with youth, Sanders has received a number of honors, including an award for Outstanding Leadership in the LGBT Community from Safe Schools South Florida in 2013. “Seeing [the children] transition from bullying survivors to peace ambassadors fills me with hope, and gives me strength to keep going.”
