Los Angeles, CA –‐ The California Women’s Law Center (CWLC) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023 Pursuit of Justice Awards: Dr. Michele Goodwin and Kim Phuc Phan Thi. The Abby J. Leibman Pursuit of Justice Award is bestowed annually and recognizes the longstanding commitment of individuals and organizations that strengthen communities by pursuing justice for women, girls, and families throughout the world. The 2023 recipients of this prestigious award will be honored at a luncheon on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Ana Garcia will be the Mistress of Ceremonies.
Dr. Michele Bratcher Goodwin is an internationally renowned legal scholar, Executive Producer of Ms. Studios, and award-winning author, whose most recent book, Policing The Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood and commentary have been featured by the Washington Post, New York Times, Boston Review, CNN, The Atlantic, NPR, and the Nation among other media. She is a frequent commentator on MSNBC and host of the popular podcast On The Issues With Michele Goodwin at Ms. magazine. Dr. Goodwin is a Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Irvine and chairs the Foundation Board of the ACLU of Southern California. Rana Sharif, Board President of the ACLU of Southern California will be presenting the award to Dr. Goodwin.
Kim Phuc Phan Thi is a peace activist, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, and founder of the KIM Foundation
International. She is most widely known as the “Napalm Girl” who became an international symbol of the atrocities of war and the need to prevent conflict. around the globe. A photograph published by the AP in 1972, “The Terror of War,” captured a naked 9-year-old Kim running down a Vietnamese street to flee the napalm attacks that had engulfed her village. The photo elicited a global response which forced the public to contend with the unspeakable toll of war.
Devoting her life to advocacy, she founded the KIM Foundation International, a nonprofit supporting organizations around the world that provide free medical assistance to children who are victims of war, violence and deprivation. Nick Ut, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, will be presenting the award to Kim Phuc Phan Thi.
Advocating for justice on behalf of women and girls is CWLC’s mission. “CWLC thanks and congratulates Dr. Goodwin and Kim Phuc Phan Thi,” said Betsy Butler, CWLC Executive Director, “for the impactful difference they are making every day in women’s and girls’ lives across the country and around the world.”
For more information about the 2023 Pursuit of Justice Awards, please visit: bit.ly/POJ2023.
About the California Women’s Law Center
CWLC For over 30 years, the California Women’s Law Center (CWLC) has been a champion in the pursuit of justice for women and girls. CWLC works to break down the barriers and advances the potential of women and girls in California through transformative litigation, policy advocacy, and education. Since 1989, CWLC has advocated for and achieved policy change on a wide range of issues affecting gender discrimination and equality, Title IX enforcement, women’s health and reproductive justice, economic security, and violence against women. For more information, please visit: www.cwlc.org
