Tag: Spirit of Excellence Award

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Breaking Barriers, Building Community: A Fireside Chat with Sandra Leung

On June 2, the Asian Employee Resource Group of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office (DANY) hosted a fireside chat with DANY alum Sandra Leung in honor of Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Heritage Month. Leung is an Independent Director of Bausch Health Companies and recently retired as Executive Vice President and General Counsel (GC) of Bristol Myers Squibb, where she was the first Asian American and first woman to hold the role. Moderated by Grace Vee (Co-Chair of AABANY’s Prosecutors Committee; Associate General Counsel and Chief, State Civil Litigation Unit, Appeals Division, at Manhattan District Attorney’s Office)  and Emily Abrams, the event brought together prosecutors, attorneys, and members of the legal community for a conversation about Leung’s career and the lessons she’s carried from the DA’s office to the boardroom.

Leung credited her career to both her family history and her time at DANY, where she chose prosecution after a stint in legal aid exposed her to criminal justice firsthand. When she first started, diversity wasn’t yet something the profession really talked about. Despite that, she pushed through imposter syndrome, a feeling she said never fully goes away.  Leung learned to recognize it and work past it when it counted.

Eventually the hours and the need for more stability for a growing family pulled her toward in-house work, a path that led her to the GC role at Bristol Myers Squibb. From her time at the company, she learned that diversity was not only about being fair and ethical, but it was also good for business, because it prevents groupthink. She pointed to the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s model of mentorship and allyship as a blueprint for what the room could keep building. She closed by urging everyone not to let their differences divide them but to remember that the profession moves further when it moves together.

Leung’s decades of leadership have earned national recognition. Earlier this year, the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession honored her with the 2026 Spirit of Excellence Award. At last year’s NAPABA Annual Conference, Leung received the Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award, NAPABA’s highest honor, for her achievements and leadership in advancing Asian Pacific, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander lawyers. 

AABANY thanks Sandra Leung for sharing her insights and her journey, and thanks the Asian Employee Resource Group of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for hosting this celebration of APIDA Heritage Month.

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NAPABA Trailblazer Sandra Leung to Receive ABA Spirit of Excellence Award

For Immediate Release:
October 20, 2025		Contact:
Priya Purandare
Executive Director, NAPABA

WASHINGTON — The American Bar Association’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession has announced that past NAPABA President Sandra Leung will receive the 2026 Spirit of Excellence Award. Each year, the ABA honors lawyers who have excelled in their fields and who have demonstrated an abiding commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. Earlier this year, NAPABA announced Sandra Leung as a recipient of its highest honor, the Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award, in recognition of her achievements, commitment, and leadership in paving the way for advancement of other Asian Pacific, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander lawyers.

An accomplished attorney, prosecutor, C-suite advisor, and champion for justice, Sandra Leung has broken down barriers in a distinguished career that saw her become the first Asian American woman to serve as an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, and the first Asian American and the first woman to serve as general counsel for the global biopharmaceutical giant Bristol Meyers Squibb. As one of ten children born to Chinese immigrant parents who operated a Chinese restaurant in Stamford, Connecticut, and whose neighbors had circulated a petition in an attempt to block her family from moving in, Sandra Leung has displayed a lifelong commitment to speaking up for those facing inequality and prejudice.  

“Sandy Leung has blazed trails and set a remarkably high standard of achievement and excellence for our bar,” said NAPABA President Thy B. Bui. “Not only has she walked the talk in terms of her dedication to uplifting attorneys of all backgrounds in the legal profession, but her unapologetic public commitment to diversity and justice has been an inspiration for me as president of NAPABA and for so many others.”

Over more than a three-decade long career at Bristol Meyers Squibb, Sandra built and led a world class team of approximately 200 attorneys and 480 professionals across 35 countries. Among her many accomplishments, she takes greatest pride in her unwavering commitment to nurturing diverse talent at every level of the profession—beginning with the BMS internship program she helped cultivate and which has now been aptly renamed the Sandra Leung Program on Law and Leadership in recognition of her enduring impact.

In addition to her tenure at Bristol Myers Squibb, Sandra has devoted her time, energy, and expertise to advancing the mission of numerous nonprofit organizations. She served on NAPABA’s Board of Governors from 2021 to 2024 and as NAPABA President from 2022 to 2023, where she worked to strengthen and expand the organization’s reach.

“Sandy’s deep commitment to our bar and the legal profession derives from a lifetime of advocacy for diversity and underserved communities,” said Priya Purandare, Executive Director of NAPABA. “I am grateful to Sandy for her leadership in not only guiding NAPABA with steady wisdom through a tremendous period of growth but also her dedication to advancing AANHPI lawyers and the communities they serve.”

Also receiving the 2026 Spirit of Excellence Award are:

  • Hon. Marcella Holland, Circuit Administrative Judge, Baltimore City (ret.);
  • Loren Kieve, Principal, Kieve Law Offices;
  • Rosevelie Márquez Morales, Chief Inclusion Officer, Hogan Lovells;
  • Hector Villagra, Vice President of Policy Advocacy and Community Education, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF).

The 2026 Spirit of Excellence Awards will be presented during a ceremony at the 2026 ABA Midyear Meeting on February 7, 2026, in San Antonio, Texas.

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NAPABA Commends Justice Goodwin H. Liu as Recipient ABA Spirit of Excellence Award

WASHINGTON — Oct. 5, 2022. This week, the American Bar Association’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession announced California Supreme Court Associate Justice Goodwin H. Liu as a recipient of its 2023 Spirit of Excellence Award. Each year, the ABA honors lawyers who have excelled in their fields and who have demonstrated an abiding commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal profession with this prestigious distinction.

An accomplished jurist, scholar, and professor, Justice Liu is a nationally recognized expert on constitutional law, education law and policy, implicit bias, and criminal justice reform. A graduate of Stanford, Oxford, and Yale Law School, and a former Rhodes Scholar, Justice Liu’s distinguished career includes serving as a former Supreme Court clerk, a key policy advisor at two federal agencies, and as a tenured professor and Associate Dean at the UC Berkeley School of Law. In 2011, Justice Liu was nominated and confirmed as an Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court.

Justice Liu is a towering figure in the Asian American legal community, and in particular for his groundbreaking work on the Portrait Project, a comprehensive, multi-year, data-driven study of Asian Americans in the law, conducted in partnership with NAPABA, which was a game-changer for raising awareness about the successes, challenges, and obstacles confronting Asian Americans in the legal profession.

“Justice Goodwin Liu has opened doors, broken down barriers, and been an unflinching champion of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, not just for Asian Americans, but lawyers of all backgrounds,” said Acting NAPABA President A.B. Cruz III. “NAPABA is proud of its longstanding partnership with Justice Liu on the Portrait Project, and it was a privilege to nominate him for the ABA’s Spirit of Excellence Award. He is an inspiration for our members and beyond, as a role model for overcoming adversity in the pursuit of excellence in the legal profession.” 

In 2017, Justice Liu was the recipient of the NAPABA President’s Award, given to NAPABA members who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to NAPABA, the legal community, and the greater Asian Pacific American community.

Also receiving the 2023 Spirit of Excellence Award are:

  • Hon. Roger L. Gregory, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit 
  • Reginald M. Turner, Immediate Past President of the ABA
  • Diandra Benally, General Counsel of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation

The 2023 Spirit of Excellence Awards will be presented during a ceremony on February 4 at the ABA Midyear Meeting in New Orleans.

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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting APA communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of all backgrounds in the legal profession.

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