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
EMILY HECHT-McGOWAN
Interim Co-Executive Director and Director of Public Policy, Family Equality Council
Emily Hecht-McGowan works for Family Equality Council as its director of public policy and interim co-executive director; previously, she was legal director for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an organization helping those who were affected by the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. “I honestly never expected that I would work on issues relating to the military because I come from a long line of anti-war activists, several of whom identified as pacifists,” she says. “But working with these lesbian and gay service members who were willing to risk their lives for all of us, and yet couldn’t even say the words ‘I am gay’ without fear of losing their military careers, had a profound impact on me.” Her grandmother also influenced her. “She and my grandfather were soulmates, deeply in love and deeply committed to social justice issues of their day. My wife and I are both civil rights lawyers who met while working with different LGBT organizations ‘in the movement,’ and there are times when I like to think of our relationship as a modern-day take on the great love affair of my grandparents. I hope that someday our daughter, Sadie, and her children will let us regale them with stories of our part in this dynamic movement. Hopefully, she will be just as inspired by us as I’ve been by my grandmother.”
