The NLG International Committee congratulates Judy Somberg, the 2019 recipient of the Debra Evenson Venceremos International Award. The award was presented to Judy on Friday, October 18 at the International Committee/Labor and Employment Committee reception at Law for the People 2019, the NLG Convention in Durham, North Carolina.

A longtime Guild activist, Judy Somberg has led the International Committee’s Task Force on the Americas in recent years. She has organized NLG delegations to Mexico, Cuba, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Bolivia. In 1989-90, she was the NLG representative in Nicaragua. She co-led an emergency delegation to Honduras after the murder of renowned environmental activist Berta Cáceres in 2016, which led to the Guild’s ongoing participation in the international observer group to the trial of the accused. Judy has participated in the Guild as a student member at Northeastern Law School, longtime board member of the Massachusetts chapter, Regional VP, National VP, and Executive VP, and she is currently co-treasurer of the NLG Foundation. In addition to Guild and other activism, she was a founder of the Cambridge-El Salvador Sister City Project, established in 1986 to support the civilian population during the war years and which continues to this day.

The Debra Evenson Venceremos International Award is presented on an annual basis as a national Guild award to honor outstanding international legal work, legal solidarity, international advocacy, and justice beyond borders, in the tradition of Debra Evenson. Former Guild President Debra Evenson was a leading expert on Cuba’s legal system, a law professor and a pioneering advocate of international solidarity in legal work.

The recipient of the annual award is selected by the Steering Committee of the International Committee and is presented annually at the NLG Law for the People Convention.

Read about past recipients of the award here: Debra Evenson Venceremos International Award