37th Annual Scholarship & Awards Luncheon, May 19, 2012
Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles Foundation is pleased to announce its 37th Annual Scholarship and Awards Luncheon
“The Law and Beyond”
Saturday, May 19, 2012
11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Sheraton Delfina
530 W. Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 399-9344
BWLF will recognize and honor the following women who have used their law degrees to reach the highest heights of their respective professions, while at the same time demonstrating a strong commitment to public service:
Major General Marcia Anderson
First African-American Female Two-Star General in the United States Army Reserve
Kaye Lindsey
Former Senior Vice President of Operations for State Farm Insurance Companies – California Zone
Zola Mashariki
Senior Vice President of Production at Fox Searchlight Pictures
Claire Babineaux-Fontenot
Senior Vice President and Chief Tax Officer
Claire Babineaux-Fontenot has seen finance from the vantage of government official, administrative law judge, Big 4 accountant, private law practitioner and industry executive. She is currently the Senior Vice President and Chief Tax Officer.
Immediately prior to joining Wal-Mart, Claire served as Partner-in-Charge of the law firm of Adams & Reese (Baton Rouge office) where she practiced in the areas of tax and general commercial litigation. She also held the post of Dispute Resolution Practice Group Leader for the Southwest Region of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, LLP “PWC”. Before joining PWC, she was appointed by the governor of the state of Louisiana to serve as Assistant Secretary of the Office of Legal Affairs at the Louisiana Department of Revenue. Claire holds a L.L.M. in Taxation from Southern Methodist University School of Law in Dallas, TX; a J.D., from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, LA; a B.S. from the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, LA. She also attended the Kellogg School of Management (Executive Training Program).
Born in Opelousas, a small town in South Central Louisiana, Claire is married to Barry Fontenot, also of Opelousas. They have two children, Barry J. Fontenot Jr. (17) and Sydney A. Fontenot (13). The family resides in Springdale, Arkansas.
She has served on the Board of Directors of many professional and civic organizations, and has been a frequent speaker regarding tax and general civic and legal topics.
BWLF will also award scholarships to selected second and third year full-time law students, and fourth year law students enrolled in night programs. Law students, both male and female, are strongly encouraged to submit applications. Application Materials are now available; deadline for submission is March 15th.
For more information, contact: Renee Becker at (310) 312-4119 or REBecker@manatt.com, or Carla Ford at (323) 333-7738 or kinbford@yahoo.com.
