Immediate Past President of the Austin Bar Association Amanda Arriaga will participate in a panel discussion on cultivating and retaining diverse leaders in bar associations on Sept. 20, 2023.
Arriaga served as Austin Bar president for 2022-23 and was its first Latina president.
The panel discussion is being put on by the National Conference of Bar Presidents. Joining Arriaga in the panel discussion are two other Latinas who were the first such presidents of their respective associations.
Laura Benitez Geisler served as the 110th president of the Dallas Bar Association but was its first Latina president in 2019.
Diana Perez Gomez currently serves the Houston Bar Association for its 2023-24 bar year, but is the only Latina elected to that position since the association was established 153 years ago.
Such “firsts” as these is the topic of the Austin Bar Association’s Council of Firsts podcast. Hosted by Arriaga, past guests include Travis County District Clerk Velva Price – who was the first African American female president of the Austin Bar; Richard C. Pena, first Hispanic State Bar of Texas president; and Third Court of Appeals Justice Gisela Triana, the first Latina judge to serve that court.
New episodes come out every Tuesday and are available in video on YouTube or as audio through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get podcasts.
To register for the panel discussion on Sept. 20 at 1 p.m. Central, visit https://americanbar.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6ZtxPSg-Que3HSUwfxbo1Q#/registration.