
ChIPs Names Verna Williams to Hall of Fame
ChIPs Network is proud to induct Verna L. Williams into its Hall of Fame for 2025. Williams, the CEO of Equal Justice Works, will be honored during ChIPs Global Summit 2025, October 15-17, in Washington, D.C.
Williams has advanced the mission of Equal Justice Works to create opportunities for leaders to transform their passion for equal justice into a lifelong commitment to public service.
The nomination was made by ChIPs Board Director Dorian Daley, who said, “Verna Williams is a leading champion of public service law — her leadership is making a major difference nationwide.”
Williams joins 15 women previously honored, including former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, former USPTO Director Kathi Vidal, Senator Mazie K. Hirono, legal journalist Nina Totenberg and the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“I am so proud to be in the company of these change agents,” Williams said. “It is an honor I share with the thousands of EJW fellows across the country working in the public interest.”
Equal Justice Works addresses the lack of civil legal aid by developing and deploying more than 2,500 public interest leaders through fellowship programs in communities across the country. Over the course of their two-year terms, EJW fellows work with their host organizations—groups like The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, Latino Justice, California Indian Legal Services, Center for Reproductive Rights, and many more—to develop and implement their own projects. They often extend their projects beyond their fellowships; more than 85% of fellows remain in public service.
Deep roots in the law
Williams has an extensive background teaching and practicing law, as well as researching civil and women’s rights. She previously served as the dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where she was a professor and dean. She co-founded and co-directed the Judge Nathaniel Jones Center for Race, Gender and Social Justice at the University of Cincinnati, served as vice president and director of educational opportunities at the National Women’s Law Center, and clerked for U.S. District Judge David S. Nelson. After this clerkship, she practiced law at Sidley Austin LLP and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Founded by law students in 1986, Equal Justice Works is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that brings together an extensive network of law students, lawyers, advocates, legal services organizations and supporters to promote a lifelong commitment to public service and equal justice.
ChIPs Global Summit
Williams will accept her honor at ChIPs Global Summit in Washington D.C. on October 17. To learn more about the ChIPs Global Summit, visit our website.