Dear Guild Members, Allies, and Friends:
The Annual Awards Celebration means a lot to our members and is the Guild’s main source of funding. While we hoped to be celebrating in person with you this year, due to the ongoing pandemic and recent surge in cases, we will be hosting this year’s awards gala virtually on Sunday, November 7th at 5pm PST. Our slideshow presentation for this year’s gala will kick off at 4:30pm PST. We are working to ensure that this year’s event is a meaningful and participatory virtual experience for all. The virtual event will include a powerful program that showcases this year’s incredible honorees who have spent decades fighting for social justice; spotlights the incredible work the Guild has done this past year on behalf of our movement partners; celebrates the big and small wins the Guild has achieved through its advocacy efforts; and acknowledges all those who have made this year’s awards celebration a success.
We hope you will continue your support of the Guild in these uncertain times. For over 80 years, NLG has been the definitive legal arm of social justice movements, working tirelessly to defend the rights of the most marginalized communities. By participating in the event, you show your strong support for the Guild and for this year’s lineup of honorees, who have worked on the front-lines of the movement for civil rights–advancing the rights of immigrants, tenants, workers, and victims of police violence. We are proud of this year’s tremendous honorees. You can learn more about them and their inspiring work below.
WITH GRATITUDE TO THIS YEAR’S SPONSORS & HOSTS
EVENT HOSTS
ACLU of Southern California
Councilmember Gil Cedillo
McLane, Bednarski & Litt, LLP
National Police Accountability Project
Schwartz, Steinsapir, Dohrmann & Sommers, LLP
UFCW Local 770
Caroline Vincent
Cynthia Hamilton
Dale K Galipo
Deirdre Roney
Enrique Monguia
Gary Silbiger & Barbara Honig
Gilbert Saucedo
Hayes, Ortega & Sanchez
Ingrid Eagly
Ira Spiro
Jeremy Blasi
John Walton Senterfitt
Jon Zerolnick
Jorge Gonzalez
Kath Rogers
Larry Minsky
Lauren Teukolsky
Maria Hall
Mariliz Romero de Aquino
Matthew Sirolly
Mi Kim
Niels Frenzen
Patrick Dunlevy
Peter Franck
Robert Newman
Roxana Tynan
Stacy Tolchin
Stephen Raganold
Tina Rasnow
Vincent Sarmiento
MEET THIS YEAR’S INSPIRING HONOREES:
HOLLY MITCHELL
Holly Mitchell was elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 2020. Previously she served in the California State Assembly and Senate, where she authored over 90 bills that became law and many of which have been at the forefront of expanding healthcare access, addressing systemic racism, and championing criminal justice reform. Before being elected to public office, she was the CEO of Crystal Stairs, California’s largest non-profit dedicated to child and family development, and worked as a legislative advocate for the Western Center on Law and Poverty.
ROGER CLARK
Since retiring from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 1993, Roger Clark has become a nationally recognized authority on policing, custody, investigations and use of force issues. A number of his cases have resulted in significant appellate decisions limiting police misconduct and changing training and policy. His work is held in high regard by members of the National Police Accountability Project, which is a creation of the National Lawyers Guild.
VICKI SARMIENTO
Vicki I. Sarmiento is a major figure in Civil Rights Law and one of the few Latinas in private practice in this challenging field. A graduate of Hastings College of Law, she has a solid track record of obtaining a substantial recovery on behalf of victims of police abuse and abuse of those in custody. Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, the Daily Journal, and the Miami Herald, and has spurred important changes in jail segregation policies in both juvenile and adult facilities.
MICHAEL LEE
As an SDS member, Michael Lee was arrested several times in the fight for Black and Chicano Studies at what is now CSUN. He later was expelled from CSUN for protesting the invasion of Cambodia and the killings at Kent State University and was jailed while a student organizer for the citywide Peace Action Council. A longtime Guild Board Member and twice its chapter president, he worked for many years as a lawyer in the Los Angeles County Public Defender office and was an early faculty member at Peoples College of Law.