Our purpose.

The purposes of the Rhode Island Women’s Bar Association shall be to promote the advancement of women in the legal profession, to promote the advancement of women in a just society, to promote the administration of justice, to encourage a spirit of cooperation among its members, and to operate in accordance with the organization’s §501(c)(6) non-profit corporation status.

Our presidents.

The Rhode Island Women’s Bar Association has been lucky to have decades of incredible leadership. Here is a glimpse at our past presidents, from the start to our current President:

Karen Davidson

Denise Aiken

Denise Lombardo Myers

Elizabeth McDonough Noonan

Elizabeth Kelleher Dwyer

Moira Reynolds

Kathy Wyllie

Jennifer Hoopis D’Ambra

Cindy Fogarty

Amy Stratton

Tracy Baran

Erin Lynch

Lisa Martinelli

Mary Cavanaugh Dunn

Melody Alger

Aileen Sprague

Leah Donaldson

Alicia Samolis

Denise Cassisi

Kate Ahern

Sara Sweeney

Jessica Shelton

Meredith Renner

Krystle Tadesse

Gina Renzulli Lemay

Kelly McGee

Kelly Kincaid

Sam Vasques

Cassandra Feeney (current)





The Ada Sawyer Award.

Each year, the Rhode Island Women’s Bar Association (RIWBA) presents the Ada Sawyer Award to an individual who exemplifies the mission of the RIWBA–the promotion and enhancement of the status of women in our community and in the legal profession. 

The award is named after the first female attorney in Rhode Island, Ada Sawyer, who became an attorney in 1920 only after the Rhode Island Board of Bar Examiners received an opinion from the Supreme Court that in the bar rules, the reference to “person” with respect to admission to the bar included women

Here are the past recipients of this honor:

1995 – Barbara Margolis

1996 – Lynette Labinger

1997 – Carolyn Mannis

1998 – Margaret Lynch-Gadaleta

1999 – Margaret Curran

2000 – Justice Alice Gibney

2001 – Marilyn Shannon McConaghy

2002 – Justice Haiganush Bedrosian

2003 – Justice Victoria Lederberg

2004 – M. Teresa Paiva-Weed

2005 – Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg

2006 – Stacey Pires Veroni

2007 – Judge Patricia Moore

2008 – Denise Aiken

2009 – Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson

2010 – Tracy Baran

2011 – Justice Sandra A. Lanni

2012 – Patricia R. Recupero

2013 – Barbara Hurst

2014 – Donna Nesselbush

2015 – Melody Alger

2016 – Justice Laureen A. D’Ambra

2017 – Katie Ahern

2018 – Justice Patricia A. Hurst

2019 – Erin Lynch Prata

2020 & 2021 – No honorees

2022 - Justice Linda Rekas Sloan