The WBA/WBA Foundation Annual Dinner is scheduled for  Thursday, May 14, 2026, 6:00pm-9:00pm, at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC.

Our program will include:

Registration Fees:

WBA member ticket: $150
WBA Member & One Guest: $300
Nonmember ticket: $200
Student ticket: $135

Woman Lawyer of the Year

The Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia (WBA) will recognize Skye Perryman, President & CEO of Democracy Forward, as the 2026 WBA Woman Lawyer of the Year. Known for her strategic insight and impact-oriented leadership, Ms. Perryman has a track record of winning tough legal and policy battles, uniting diverse coalitions, inspiring the American public, and elevating voices that represent the fabric of our country to deliver results that improve the lives of millions.

The Woman Lawyer of the Year Award recognizes a leader who has championed change in the profession by leading by example, advocating for justice, and promoting the advancement of women in the profession.

Democracy Forward is a nonpartisan, national legal organization that promotes democracy and progress through litigation, regulatory engagement, policy education, and research. Ms. Perryman took the helm at Democracy Forward in 2021, and has built a visionary team of legal, policy, and communications experts to confront anti-democratic extremism head-on while also using the law to advance progress and a bold vision for the future. Under her leadership, Democracy Forward has expanded the scope and reach of its work, emerging as a nationally recognized institution that is taking on the most significant issues affecting people, families, and communities– from defending civil rights and fair wages to seeking to expand access to reproductive health care post-Dobbs to confronting attacks on education to addressing the climate crisis and much more. Click here for more information.

Keynote Speaker

Vanessa Bousardo has been a member of the Paris Bar since 2006. She holds a Master’s degree in General Private Law from Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas. Trained in civil law, she has devoted 20 years of her professional practice to criminal law.

In 2010, she was elected Secretary of the Conference following a prestigious two-century-old public speaking competition. This distinction placed her among the 12 lawyers appointed each year to provide emergency criminal defense and to handle major criminal cases.

After 10 years of practice within a leading Paris law firm, she founded her own firm in 2016, dedicated exclusively to criminal litigation and white-collar criminal defense.

She served as a member of the Paris Bar Council from 2019 to 2021 and was elected on June 29, 2023 as Vice President of the Paris Bar for the 2024–2025 term. During the same mandate, she was also appointed President EFB (École de formation professionnelle des barreaux), the largest professional law training institution in Europe.

Throughout her tenure, Ms. Bousardo has made the advancement of gender equality and the fight against discrimination and harassment within the legal profession a central priority. She led and secured the adoption of several landmark structural reforms, including the creation of an independent ethical reporting hotline addressing harassment and discrimination, the introduction of daily allowances for women lawyers in cases of miscarriage and medically assisted reproduction, the establishment of a courtroom substitution mechanism for lawyers prevented from appearing due to pregnancy or illness, the launch of an emergency housing program for women lawyers of the Paris Bar who are victims of domestic violence, and the opening of a dedicated breastfeeding room at the Paris Bar House.

In 2024, she founded Bâtonnières du Monde (Women Barristers of the World). In 2025, she became President of this international association, which now brings together nearly 50 women presidents and vice presidents of bar associations worldwide, with the mission of promoting women’s rights and strengthening women-led governance within the legal profession.