#BCGrad2021 Celebrates Resilience and Hope: Fatima Goss Graves, President and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center Is the Honorary Degree Recipient for Commencement 2021
May 25, 2021
Fatima Goss Graves
Her unflagging support for women’s rights and role as a defender of equality and fairness have resulted in lasting progress.
Fatima Goss Graves, the president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), has been an outspoken advocate for the rights of the oppressed since joining the staff of the NWLC in 2005. Her tireless work on the front lines of the legal battles for women’s equality, whether it be for pay equality, health care, fighting sexual discrimination, securing reproductive rights, Title IX enforcement, championing the rights of trans people, and especially in protecting and enhancing the rights of low-income individuals, has resulted in significant and lasting progress.
A graduate of UCLA, Goss Graves received her B.A. in 1998 and her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2001. She worked as a clerk for the Honorable Diane P. Wood of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and then as a litigator for the New York City law firm of Mayer Brown.
Upon joining the NWLC in 2005 as vice president for education and employment, Goss Graves led the center’s anti-discrimination initiatives, including work to promote equal pay, and addressing harassment and violence at work and in school, with a particular focus on outcomes for women and girls of color. Before becoming president and CEO, she served as NWLC’s senior vice president for program.
Goss Graves is among the co-founders of the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund created in early 2018 to support lower-income women seeking justice for sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. TIME’S UP raised more than $24 million in its first year of existence, created 18 major outreach grants, and committed to helping fund 174 legal cases.
Goss Graves is recognized for her effectiveness in the complex public policy arena at both the state and federal levels and regularly testifies before Congress and federal agencies. She is a frequent speaker at conferences and other public education forums. Goss Graves also appears as a legal expert on issues core to women’s lives in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, AP, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and NPR, among others.
In recognition of her contributions to the legal profession; for standing up for women’s rights and against violence against women; and as a skillful and successful defender of equality and fairness, Brooklyn College awards Fatima Goss Graves the Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.
