Anna Krolikowska is pleased to announce that she has been appointed to the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession (“Commission”) for bar year 2023-2024 by ABA President, Mary Smith.
The mission of the Commission is to secure full and equal participation of women in the ABA, the profession, and the justice system. The Commission was created in August 1987 to assess the status of women in the legal profession, identify barriers to advancement, and recommend to the ABA actions to address the problems identified.
In her role on the Commission, Krolikowska will co-chair a committee focused on mental health and wellness in the legal profession, along with Kathleen Wilkinson on Pennsylvania. Krolikowska will also work on a committee publicizing the Committee’s research on the prevalence and impact of the motherhood penalty and other caregiver biases on the advancement and retention of women in the profession Parenthood Report 2023 (americanbar.org) and toolkit which can be used by attorneys and law firms, as well as supporting all of the other projects of the Commission, including a recently released study on the status of Native American women attorneys in the profession Report: Native American female lawyers face barriers (americanbar.org).
“I was honored to be appointed to the Commission on Women in the Profession by ABA President, Mary Smith, and look forward to contributing to the work of the Commission, which is aimed at achieving long-term and meaningful careers for women in law” Krolikowska said. “I’m looking forward to working with my fellow Commissioners and the ABA on these issues important to women and the profession.”
Hillary Rodham Clinton, as the first chair of the ABA’s Commission on Women in the Profession, issued a groundbreaking report in 1988 showing that women lawyers were not advancing at a satisfactory rate. From this report, the Commission found that a variety of discriminatory barriers remained a part of the culture, and a reexamination of the attitudes and structures in the legal profession was needed.
Other Commission initiatives include The Grit Project, which educates women lawyers on developing a growth mindset; the Women of Color Initiative, which examines advancement and retention issues among women of color attorneys; the Men in the Mix Project, which offers opportunities for me to participate in this important work and resources for interrupting biases and combatting sexual harassment in the legal profession.
Krolikowska is a Past-President of the Illinois State Bar Association (2021-2022) and focused her efforts on promoting wellness and life work balance, diversity, equity and inclusion, and assisting attorney’s in improving their businesses through the ISBA Business Institute, and promoting bar association leadership through the ISBA’s Leadership Institute, of which she was the first chair. Krolikowska serves on the National Conference of Bar Presidents Executive Council, as the ABA Illinois State Delegate and as the Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the ISBA Mutual Insurance Company. In her legal practice, Krolikowska is a divorce attorney and mediator and focuses her practice on helping divorcing couples have better divorce experiences. She can be reached at www.annaklaw.com or followed on Social Media at https://www.linkedin.com/in/annakrolikowska, or https://www.facebook.com/AttyKrolikowska
Krolikowska received her undergraduate degree from the Loyola University Chicago and her law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
