The Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center builds on NYU Law’s rich history at the forefront of women’s entry into the law. The BWLC champions inclusion in the legal profession and society via leadership development, research, cutting-edge conversations, and strategic partnerships.
Developing Leaders — Our Work For and With Students
Our signature Women’s Leadership Fellows Program is a selective co-curricular leadership development program for 1L, 2L, and 3L Fellows, designed to complement and enhance their law school experience. It is open to all JD students at NYU Law. The BWLC also administers the Abby Lyn Gillette Fellowship, an annual stipend awarded to a law student whose summer internship advances women’s rights.
Providing Thought Leadership — Our Public Events
The BWLC convenes a regular series of public events, as well as our annual Dechert symposium, highlighting timely and critical issues from reproductive justice to the durability of our democratic systems.
Engaging Strategic Partners — Our Commitment to Advocacy
Today’s challenges in the law and society are too big to be solved by any individual entity — or even any one industry. To make meaningful progress, the BWLC works across sectors with leaders and advocacy partners, in and outside of the legal profession. Together we problem-solve, innovate, and experiment with a common goal of advancing change across the profession and at the local, state, and national levels. Our leadership team regularly raises their voices in the media — on opinion pages, in news articles, on the airwaves — to influence the public dialogue.
As of April 2025, the BWLC is home to the ERA Project — a leader in the movement to develop innovative, transformative legal and policy strategies to advance sex-based equality.
The BWLC collaborates with other Centers and student groups at NYU Law, including the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging and the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law, and the Women of Color Collective and Law Women. These groups operate independently, maintaining their own active events calendar and contributions to the NYU Law community, and are invaluable partners to the BWLC.