QCWBA president-elect to prioritize community and collaboration

Incoming Queens County Women’s Bar Association President Fay Parris hopes to expand the organization’s community outreach. Photo Courtesy of Fay Parris

By Rachel Vick

Incoming Queens County Women’s Bar Association President Fay Parris believes a holistic and community-centered approach to growth is integral to the sustainability of an organization — and there’s no place better suited for that mission than Queens, she told the Eagle.

Parris said that she was first introduced to the QCWBA through her role in the Women's Bar Association of New York and was drawn to the Queens chapter by their engagement within the legal community and with outside partnerships.

“They did a lot in the community not just centering around law but they took a multidisciplinary approach to advocacy; I liked the camaraderie I felt, even as a newbie,” she said. “I've had some extraordinary experiences with the Queens County Women's Bar Association.”

She plans to uphold and expand upon the legacy in her new role, leaning into this year’s theme of “our collective action for our collective good.”

“When citizens are engaged in community based activities they become more equipped to feel like they can make a difference,” Parris added. “As the incoming president, my goal would be to forge alliances with stakeholders that engage the public, to raise public awareness and find the best ways of empowering the citizens.” 

Parris has a  background in international human rights law and immigration law, and helped with research as part of a prosecutor team working to charge war criminals and perpetrators of gender-based violence in international criminal court. She shared that passion with her QCBA community during a trip she facilitated to the Hague to deep dive in the UN Sustainable Development Goal of justice for all.

She emphasized the idea that nothing exists in isolation, and that empowering the greater community through access to knowledge can bolster agency and involvement. 

“I’m very much aware of the fact that Queens really is a microcosm of the world, and if we are to have a more just world, then we need to do it in our communities and be informed in our communities and empowered as citizens in our community,” Parris said.

The self-described citizen of the world is encouraged by the idea of looking for best practices both within New York’s system and the way things are done across the world “so we’re open to collaborate and access knowledge there for our use for the common good.”

 “I also believe the world can stand to benefit from our best practices,” Parris said. “My goal is to engage all of our community stakeholders, our elected officials, our nonprofits, our organization and bar associations to collaborate and operate for the common goal — to raise the bar when it comes to citizen empowerment.”

The St. Albans resident credits her parents with the earliest development of her attention to justice — stories of her mother’s perseverance during her pursuit of a nursing degree and how her father, a Guyanese immigrant, was in a 1946 Lincoln College class visited by Albert Einstein in opposition to racism in education, shaped Parris.

“Even though there are obstacles, with the right focus, faith and support you can have a colorful impact,” she said. “And because of [their] example we were taught to use our knowledge, our skills to better our communities.”