By: Jane Sitorius
The WBAI hosted its 108th Annual Dinner on June 16 at the Hilton Chicago and it was a huge success. It was the first Annual Dinner since the pandemic and the turnout was amazing with lawyers, judges, state and local politicians, and community leaders in attendance. It was a night of excitement as we recognized outgoing President Lauren Tuckey, and celebrated the installation of President Lauren Witkowski and the 2022-2023 WBAI Officers and Directors.
The cocktail hour before dinner was packed from wall to wall with people eager to catch up after two years of social distancing and Zoom gatherings. Outgoing President Lauren Tuckey provided a recap of her year as President and the WBAI’s accomplishments throughout the year. She also presented the annual WBAI Service Awards to Lauren Buford, Sarah King, Soobin Lee, Kristine Schanbacher, and Katherine Twardak, in recognition of the awardees’ contributions to the WBAI over the past year.
Illinois Appellate Court Justice Jesse Reyes swore in Lauren Witkowski as the 2022-2023 WBAI President, as well as the other WBAI Officers and Directors. Lauren Witkowski then outlined her vision and plans for the upcoming bar year, which include a focus on diversity and inclusion and continuing the WBAI’s ongoing advocacy efforts. WBAI Women with Vision Awardee, Laura Lazarczyk, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary for Zurich North America, gave the keynote speech before the event came to an end.
WBAI President Lauren Witkowski is a Senior Trial Attorney with the Chicago Legal Office of Zurich North America. Lauren focuses her practice in the area of Workers’ Compensation defense representing companies and employees throughout the State of Illinois.
The Annual Dinner Co-Chairs would like to thank the event sponsors, as well as all who attended and made the Annual Dinner such a wonderful and successful night. We hope to see you all again next year!
This article was originally published in the WBAI Fall 2022 Newsletter on page 40.