QCWBA swears in new leaders

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Attorney Fay Parris became the president of the Queens County Women’s Bar Association on Thursday, June 24, 2021. Screenshot via QCWBA

Attorney Fay Parris became the president of the Queens County Women’s Bar Association on Thursday, June 24, 2021. Screenshot via QCWBA

By Jacob Kaye

The Queens County Women’s Bar Association celebrated its newly sworn-in president, officers, state delegates and board of directors during its virtual installation ceremony last week.

The ceremony, held on Thursday, June 24, was the second in a row to go virtual but the warmth of an in-person event could still be felt.

“I am certain that we shall have a dynamic year,” said Fay Parris, the association’s newly installed president. “I feel so fortunate to stand before so many wonderful people who have nothing but love for me, and one another. Our queens of Queens are also queens of hearts.”

Parris, whose background is in international human rights law and immigration law, was sworn-in by Queens Supreme Court, Civil Term Administrative Judge Marguerite Grays, who once held the same position in the association.

“What can we say about our incoming President Fay Parris, another dynamic woman that will be leading our organization next year,” Grays said. “What she has been doing in her professional career has been so impressive.”

“With her extensive travel, immigration practice and humanitarian work that she's been doing internationally, she has always returned to the Queens County Women's Bar Association, and to us, the queens of Queens,” Grays added. “We are so proud of her accomplishments and we are so proud that she will be leading this organization in the upcoming year.”

The ceremony also served as a goodbye to the organization’s outgoing president, Soma Syed, who led the QCWBA throughout the pandemic.

“I'm humbled by the confidence and trust placed in me, especially during the greatest modern global crisis of our times, COVID-19,” Syed said. “I took this job as a challenge to think out of the box and put my heart and soul into our mission and vision. While we accomplished much and more remains to be done, I'm handing over the reins to capable hands.”

During her term as president, Syed also mounted a run for City Council and Civil Judge. As of Friday, Syed led the Civil Court judge race against Michael Goldman by around 3 percentage points.

In addition to her bids for public office, Syed helped organize nearly 50 events for the bar association this past year, including CLE courses, a ceremony in honor of Queens Supreme Court Justice and association member Bernice Siegal and a conversation about the 19th Amendment.

Though the bar has been set high, Parris said she’s ready to meet the challenge.

“We're going to have a lot of programs this year,” Parris said. “We're going to get together and really meet a lot. Soma, you made my job tough, but I'll try to keep up.”

The new president laid out the next year’s theme for the QCWBA, which is designed to foster collaboration and connection.

“My theme for this year is our collective action for our collective good,” Parris said. “The more we have conversations, choose positive narratives and work together, the more we know that our humanity is what we share in common.”

In addition to Parris’ installation as president, Melissa Cavaliere, Turquoise Haskins, Heidi Henle, Linda Kim and Jasmine Valle were sworn in as the association’s state delegates for the upcoming year.

The newly installed Board of Directors includes Kristen Dubowski, Jawan Finley, Cassandra Johnson, Felice Milani, Madison Porzio, Patricia Powis, Hon. Mojgan Lancman, Tiffany Malcolm, Christina Marino, Adrienne Williams, Alexandra Zervopoulos and Syed.

Ravi Cattry was sworn in as vice president, Navpreet Gill as treasurer, Elizabeth Newton as financial secretary, Alla Allison Ageyeva as recording secretary and Margaret Carucci as corresponding secretary.