Susan Mauro introduces the Sylvia Hinds-Radix scholarship at BWBA party

October 17, 2022 Rob Abruzzese

The Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association held its annual Membership Party in Brooklyn Heights on Thursday. Pictured from left: Hon. Jill Epstein, Hon. Connie Mallafre Melendez, President Susan Mauro, Michele Mirman, Hon. Sylvia Hinds-Radix and Angelicque Moreno. Eagle photos by Robert Abruzzese

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It was a rainy evening, but the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association kept things warm inside Brado NYC Thin Crust Pizza during its annual Membership Party on Thursday night where about 60 current and prospective members shared pizza and drinks together.

“This is our opportunity to thank our members and encourage others to join,” said BWBA President Susan Mauro. “Thank you for your ongoing support and for renewing your membership year after year through the hard times, and even through the pandemic. Hopefully that is all behind us now and we can move forward having more of these wonderful in person events. That’s my vision for the future so hopefully we can keep this going.”

The event was a big one for Susan Mauro, who took over the association as president this past June, as it was one of the first major in-person events that she has been able to host. It also gave her an opportunity to introduce the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association Foundation and talk about the Sylvia Hinds-Radix Scholarship that it had just created.

“The Foundation is important because it allows the BWBA to raise money and do charitable giving,” Mauro said. “This year we partnered with Brooklyn Law School, and we have created the Sylvia Hinds-Radix scholarship.

“That will be given to a BLS student who is interested in doing public service,” Mauro continued. “Please donate. It is a worthy cause. We all know what it is like to be a struggling law school student. And being a woman in this profession is not always easy. We have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. That’s the mission of the BWBA — to lift up women and help support those women who need our help.”

BWBA President Susan Mauro, NYC Corporation Counsel Sylvia Hinds-Radix and Hon. Lawrence Knipel.

Mauro said that Hinds-Radix herself, who along with being a former Kings County Supreme Court Administrative Judge, and Appellate Division Judge, is a BWBA past president, helped the Association put together the scholarship. Mauro called past president Michele Mirman “instrumental” in helping to establish the BWBA Foundation.

Hon. Hinds-Radix spoke briefly during the event and rather than talk about herself, she put the spotlight back on Mauro and recalled her rise to the presidency.

“I just want to say how proud I am of this woman,” Hinds-Radix said of Mauro. “I hope that you all really work hard for her and make sure that she is able to do the work that she wants to do with this organization. I remember when Susan walked into her first meeting. It was at a time when we couldn’t find anyone to be the treasurer.

“We were looking around for a while, she volunteered, and I remember asking her, ‘Are you sure?’” Hinds-Radix joked. “But she came in and has worked tirelessly. This is the trajectory that I had in mind for her and I’m really happy to see what she has done so far. I wish you the best of luck as you continue serving as president.”

Shari Gordon Cash, the vice president of the Women’s Bar Association for the State of New York, drove down to the event from Upstate New York so Mauro took a moment to thank her for coming and to let her speak. Gordon Cash spoke about the relationship the BWBA has with the WBASNY, a statewide bar association, and took a moment to thank Marea Wachsman, a BWBA director and corresponding secretary at WBASNY.

Pictured from left: Hon. Sharon Bourne-Clarke, Hon. Genine Edwards, Hon. Carl Landicino, Hon. Peter Sweeney and Hon. Sylvia Hinds-Radix.

“We want to thank Marea for all of her work,” Gordon Cash said. “She works very hard for the BWBA and has really been my saving grace, my confidant, a guiding light for me, and really a force of nature. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going and that is Marea.”

Before wrapping up, Mauro reminded everyone of the BWBA’s ongoing “Lunch with a Judge” series. It’s a monthly event where BWBA members sit down with various judges, hear about their careers, their courts and have an opportunity to ask questions. The next Lunch with a Judge is with Appellate Division Justice Lara Genovesi on Tuesday, October 18 at 1p.m. on Zoom.

From left: Hon. Connie Mallafre Melendez, Cara Ruda, Hon. Rachel Adams and Kristin Moriarty.

“Those are so important because it gives all of us as practitioners in Brooklyn some one-on-one time with these judges to ask questions,” Mauro said. “They’re so meaningful because the judges really open up and tell us where they were and how they got to where they are now. They’re really informative and you really get to know these judges personally. It is a really great hour.”

Mauro said that the BWBA is currently planning an in-person “Lunch with a Judge” with Appellate Division Presiding Justice Hector LaSalle on a date when all the associate justices of the court will be in attendance. An announcement for that event will be coming.