2011 – 2012 Advisory Committee Members of the ABA Commission on Youth at Risk
Ambroz, David A.
Mr. Ambroz is a Consultant with The Walt Disney Company, specifically working with the Strategic Philanthropy & Community Engagement division. In that role Mr. Ambroz works to assist in the development and implementation of The Walt Disney COmpany's Corporate Citizenship strategies worldwide.
Formerly, Mr. Ambroz served as the Executive Director of the Los Angeles City College Foundation. In his role as Executive Director, Mr. Ambroz takes the lead in raising scholarship and unrestricted funds through grants, corporate contributions and partnerships, and major gifts, as well as raising the profile of Los Angeles City College through community outreach.
Mr. Ambroz has stated that his work is designed to advance his key passion—to remember and give back to the communities from which he comes. Since emancipating from foster care at seventeen, Mr. Ambroz has remained intimately involved with foster care reform efforts. He serves as a Gubernatorial/Supreme Court Appointee to the California Child Welfare Council, and as a member of the American Bar Association Commission on Youth at Risk. In addition, he was a founding member of the National Foster Youth Advisory Council (CWLA), the CWLA/Lambda Joint Initiative, and the Foster Care Work Group per the Youth Transition Funders Group. Mr. Ambroz is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post website, where he writes extensively about foster care.
Mr. Ambroz completed his B.A. in Political Science with honors at Vassar College, and received his J.D. from the UCLA School of Law.
Bridge, Justice Bobbi
Justice Bobbe J. Bridge, ret., is the Founding President of the Center for Children and Youth Justice. The Center was established in February 2006 by Justice Bridge and her husband Jon. Its mission is “Advancing justice for and enhancing the lives of children and youth through juvenile justice, child welfare and related systems reform.”
Prior to her retirement and assuming the role of Founding President for the Center for Children & Youth Justice in January 2008, Justice Bridge served for 9 years on the Washington State Supreme Court, a position to which she was appointed by Governor Gary Locke in 1999. She retained her seat in 2000 by winning a contested election and subsequently was reelected for a full six-year term in November, 2002. Before her appointment to the Supreme Court, Justice Bridge had served as a Judge for King County Superior Court for ten years. During that time, she was the Presiding Judge from February 1998 to January 2000, Assistant Presiding Judge from 1997 to 1998, and the Chief Judge of King County Juvenile Court from 1994 to 1997. She also served as President of the Superior Court Judges’ Association in 1999.
Throughout her tenure as judge, Justice Bridge has served on numerous judicial committees addressing a wide variety of issues affecting Washington courts. Justice Bridge has been particularly active in efforts to improve the administration of justice for children and families. She chaired the Unified Family Court Work Group and chairs the Becca Task Force (focusing on truancy prevention) and the State Commission on Children in Foster Care. She recently chaired the Select Committee on Adolescents in Need of Long Term Placement, which serves to address the problems of hard to place youths in the foster care system. She is a board member of Catalyst for Kids, has served on the Department of Social and Health Services’ Children, Youth, and Family Services Advisory Committee, the Child Protection Roundtable, and the Governor’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee. She has chaired the State Task Force on Juvenile Issues, Families-at-Risk Subcommittee and co-chaired the Governor’s Council on Families, Youth, and Justice.
Justice Bridge is a frequent presenter in the community on topics relating to family and juvenile law. She is a regular faculty member of the Washington State Judicial College, teaching Juvenile and Family Law to newly appointed/elected Judges and Commissioners. She has also been a lecturer for the University of Washington’s Society and Justice Program.
Justice Bridge is very active in the community. She is the current chair of the YouthCare Board and Domestic Violence-Child Maltreatment Project. Justice Bridge also serves on a variety of community organization boards, including the Seattle Children’s Home; the YWCA of Seattle-King-Snohomish County; Phi Beta Kappa; the Center for Women and Democracy; the University of Washington Law School Alumni Association, the CRU Institute, and The Northwest Kidney Foundation. She is chair of the advisory board of the University of Washington New Leadership Puget Sound and serves on the advisory board for the Mockingbird Society; Seattle Girls School; Street Youth Legal Advocates of Washington; the University of Washington Shidler Center for Law, Commerce, and Technology; and the Women’s Funding Alliance.
Justice Bridge has received numerous awards and honors for her service to the judiciary and the community. Thus far in 2008, she has been awarded with the Governor’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee Award. In 2007, Washington Women Lawyers presented her with the Passing the Torch Award, Lamda Legal presented the Seattle Civil Rights Champion Award, University of Washington’s Law Women’s Caucus presented the Outstanding Contribution to Women in the Law Award. In 2006, Justice Bridge and her husband, Jon Bridge, were jointly awarded The Isabel Colman Pierce Award for Excellence in Community Service by the YWCA of Seattle, King and Snohomish Counties. In June 2005, the Washington State Association of County Clerks presented her an award in Recognition of Leadership in Development of Court Rules that Balance Open Access to Court Records and Privacy. The Washington State Association of CASA/GAL Programs honored her with the Second Annual Judge David W. Soukup “Speak Up for a Child” Award in October 2003. She received the Washington’s Women of the Year Award from Seattle University School of Law in June 2003. She was granted an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Gonzaga University for her service to the legal community in May 2002. She received the Distinguished Political Science Alumni Award from the University of Washington Political Science Department for her exemplary record of public service and career achievements in June 2002. CHANGES, a Program for Families, honored her with their first Annual Family Advocate Award in October 2002. The University of Washington School of Law honored her as the Distinguished Alumna for. In 2001, she was also recognized as Jurist of the Year by the Washington State Bar Association Family Law Section. In 1999, she was named Judge of the Year by the King County Bar Association and was honored by the Soroptimist International of Kent as a Woman Helping Women. In 1998, she was awarded the Women Making a Difference award by YouthCare. She received the Mothers Against Violence In America’s Community Catalyst Award in 1997. In 1996, she received the Hannah G. Solomon Award from the National Council of Jewish Women for her efforts in making changes to improve the lives of children and families. The Washington Women Lawyers honored her as Judge of the Year in 1996. In 1995, she was awarded the King County Bar Association’s President’s Award for vision and leadership in the King County Judicial System. In 1982, Justice Bridge was awarded the American Jewish Committee’s Edward F. Stern Human Relations Award.
Justice Bridge received her Bachelor’s Degree, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Washington and earned her MA and Ph.C in Political Science at the University of Michigan. She received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Washington School of Law in 1976, where she was a member of the Law Review and served as its Notes and Comments Editor. After graduating from law school, she joined the law firm of Garvey Schubert and Barer, where she remained until 1990 specializing in the fields of administrative law, litigation, government relations, and domestic relations.
Justice Bridge is married to Jonathan J. Bridge, co-CEO of Ben Bridge Jeweler. They have two children, Rebecca and Don.
Downes, Angela A.
Angela Downes is a Senior Attorney for the National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse at the National District Attorneys Association. In the course of working with victims of intimate partner violence, Ms. Downes has handled many cases involving children exposed to domestic violence and child endangerment and neglect. Her practice focuses on child abuse, domestic violence, human trafficking and victims’ rights.
Previously, Ms. Downes was the Attorney for Court Programs at the national organization of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).The largest nonprofit dedicated to drunk driving and impaired driving issues.
Ms. Downes also served as a prosecutor for the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office in Dallas, Texas. While there she prosecuted cases from DWI to capital murder. She also served as the supervisor for the District Attorney’s two domestic violence courts.
In 2008, Ms. Downes was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to serve on Texas’ Board of Examiners for Psychologists. The Board is the regulatory and licensing agency for psychologists in the state. In 2005, Ms. Downes was admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court. She was a member of the Texas Violent Gang Taskforce from 2001-2004. Ms. Downes is a Dallas Bar Association Fellow. Ms. Downes is a graduate of Mercer University and Texas Wesleyan School of Law where she was named 2010 Distinguished Alumni.
Farber, Laura Vivian
Laura V. Farber is a partner with Hahn & Hahn LLP and also serves as the firm's hiring partner. She practices commercial and tort litigation with an emphasis on employment disputes, wrongful termination lawsuits on the basis of race, sex and age discrimination, and wage and hour disputes and issues.
Ms. Farber is a member of the American Bar Association where she serves as immediate past Chair of the Commission on Youth At Risk, Chair of the General Practice, Solo Small Firm Division, Chair of the House of Delegates Credentials and Admissions Committee, and Past Chair of the Young Lawyers Division. She is also a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, State Bar of California, Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, California Women Lawyers, National Association of Women Lawyers, Mexican-American Bar Association, Latina Lawyers Bar Association and the Hispanic National Bar Association.
Ms. Farber earned her J.D., cum laude, in 1990 from Georgetown University and her B.A., cum laude, in 1987 from University of California at Los Angeles. She is admitted to the bars of California, the District of Columbia, Ninth and D.C. Circuits and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ms. Farber has been named one of the top 50 women lawyers in Los Angeles, featured in the Los Angeles Business Journal, received the 2003 American Bar Association’s Commission on Ethnic and Racial Diversity in the Profession– Spirit of Excellence Award and the 2004 YWCA San Gabriel Valley Women of Excellence in the Law Award.
Kaye, Judge S.
Judith S. Kaye joined Skadden’s Litigation Group in 2009. Before joining the firm, she served as Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals for 15 years until her retirement in 2008, longer than any other Chief Judge in New York’s history. She first was appointed in 1983 by Gov. Mario Cuomo as an Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, becoming the first woman ever to serve on New York’s highest court.
Ms. Kaye gained a national reputation for both her groundbreaking decisions and her innovative reforms of the New York court system. She wrote notable decisions on a wide variety of statutory, constitutional and common law issues, including rights for gay couples and the death penalty. Ms. Kaye also left her mark on New York’s courts as a creative reformer, streamlining New York’s jury system and establishing specialized courts to focus on issues such as drug addiction, domestic violence and mental health issues. In addition, she created the Adoption Now program that has produced more effective procedures for children in foster care and their families. Her reforms have been implemented by many other state courts. Before her appointment to the bench, she practiced law at Sullivan & Cromwell, IBM and Olwine, Connelly, Chase, O’Donnell & Weyher, where she became that firm’s first female partner.
Ms. Kaye is the author of more than 200 publications, including articles on legal process, state constitutional law, women in law, juvenile justice, professional ethics and problem-solving courts.
She has received numerous awards recognizing her judicial and scholarly accomplishments, such as the New York State Bar Association’s Gold Medal, the ABA Justice Center John Marshall Award, the National Center for State Courts’ William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence, the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession’s Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Adoption Excellence Award.
Krinksy, Miriam
Miriam is a Lecturer at the UCLA School of Public Policy and also an Adjunct Professor at Loyola and UC Irvine Law Schools. She sits on the ABA Youth at Risk Commission Advisory Council, the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Foster Care, the California Judicial Council (the leadership body for the state’s judicial branch), various Journal Editorial Boards, and numerous federal, state and local policy groups. She has testified before national and state legislative, governmental and judicial bodies, authored over 50 articles, and lectured nationwide on criminal law, child welfare, juvenile justice, sentencing, and related topics. Ms. Krinsky previously served as the Executive Director of the Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles – a nonprofit legal services organization that serves as counsel for over 20,000 children in foster care -- and thereafter worked with California government leaders to help launch the state’s Child Welfare Council. Prior to that, she spent 15 years as a federal prosecutor – both in Los Angeles and on an organized crime drug task force in Maryland.