Promoting Women and Diversity on the Bench - Panel Discussion

Kendri Cesar Related Seminars and Products

Kendri M. Cesar (Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska) is a partner at Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Miller & Monkman in their Juneau office. Ms. Cesar works in all areas of the firm’s practice. Ms. Cesar graduated from Harvard Law School in 2012, where she was involved in the Harvard Native American Law Students Association as well as several programs focusing on criminal justice, including the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project, the Harvard Defenders, and the Criminal Justice Institute. 

Jo Ann Chung Related Seminars and Products

District Court Judge Jo-Ann Chung was appointed by Governor Sean Parnell in 2011.  Judge Chung was the first Asian American woman to be appointed to the bench in Alaska. Jo-Ann Chung grew up in the Boston area and attended Fairfield University in Connecticut, receiving a B.A. in psychology. After college, Judge Chung joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corp in northern California.  She obtained her J.D. from Northeastern University, School of Law, in 1994, after doing co-ops in San Francisco, Albuequerque, Hong Kong, and Anchorage at the Office of Public Advocacy. After law school, Jo-Ann Chung clerked for Judge Robert Coates with the Alaska Court of Appeals, and then joined the Public Defender Agency in Kenai. She also worked for the Attorney General’s Officer for four years in the consumer protection division and the CINA (Child in Need of Aid) unit. In 2001, Jo-Ann joined the Municipal Prosecutor’s Office where she served as a trial attorney, supervisor of the domestic violence unit, supervisor of the trial division, and Chief Assistant Municipal Prosecutor.  

Kari McCrea Related Seminars and Products

Judge Kari L. McCrea was appointed to the Anchorage District Court in 2017. She is a graduate of Mitchell Hamline School of Law and clerked for the US District Court- District of Minnesota, before starting a legal career in public defense. Judge McCrea worked as an assistant public defender and supervising attorney with the Alaska Public Defender Agency in Bethel for approximately 10 years before joining the Alaska Court System as a Magistrate Judge in 2015. She is a co-chair of the Alaska Supreme Court’s Fairness and Access Commission and a member of the Code of Judicial Conduct Rule Committee. In addition to her current duties, Judge McCrea sits pro tem on the Court of Appeals and Bethel Superior Court.

Pamela Washington Related Seminars and Products

Pamela Scott Washington was appointed to the Anchorage District Court by Governor Sean Parnell on August 9, 2010. Judge Washington is co-chair of the Alaska Supreme Court’s Fairness, Diversity & Equality Commission and serves on the Cultural Competency Committee. She chairs the Court’s Color of Justice program which encourages diverse young people to consider careers in law and the judiciary. Judge Washington presides over the Coordinated Resource Project (Mental Health Court) in Anchorage and the Sand Point Criminal and Civil calendar. Judge Washington is a member of the National Association of Women Judges where she serves as Vice President of Districts. She is a member of the US Chapter of Pan American Commission of Judges on Social Justice and the National Center for State Court Blueprint for Racial Justice and Systemic Change Work Group.  

Judge Una Sonia Gandbhir Related Seminars and Products

Judge Gandbhir has served on the Anchorage Superior Court since 2018.  She grew up in an extended Indian family outside of Boston. She received her B.A. in English and Anthropology from Bryn Mawr College and her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law. In 1993 she moved to Anchorage where she practiced in the areas of estate planning, probate, disability and elder law until joining the court system as a Magistrate Judge in 2013. Governor Bill Walker appointed her to the Anchorage Superior Court on July 20th, 2018. She is a member of the Alaska Supreme Court’s Fairness and Access Commission and serves on the Cultural Competence Committee. She is also a member of the National Association of Women Judges.

Judge Diane Humetewa Related Seminars and Products

The Honorable Diane J. Humetewa was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 14, 2014, as a United States District Judge for the United States District Court in the District of Arizona.  In addition to her judicial responsibilities on the bench, Judge Humetewa serves on multiple court committees at the district and circuit levels regarding pro se litigants, education, and tribal issues.  She was recently appointed by the Ninth Circuit Chief Judge, Sidney R. Thomas, to Chair an Ad Hoc Committee on Tribal-Native Relations, and by Chief Justice, John G. Roberts, of the U.S. Supreme Court to serve on the Judicial Conference of the United States’ Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction. 

Prior to her judicial confirmation, she served as Special Advisor to the President and Special Counsel in the Office of General Counsel at Arizona State University (2011-2014).  She also served as a Professor of Practice at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.  

Judge Humetewa was formerly Of Counsel with the law firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP (2009-2011), representing tribal government clients as a federal Indian law and natural resources law attorney.

She served in the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Arizona (1996-2009), where, as Senior Litigation Counsel (2001-2007) she prosecuted a wide variety of federal crimes, including violent crimes in Indian Country, Native American cultural crimes, and archeological resource crimes. She subsequently served as the United States Attorney for the District of Arizona (2007-2009).  During her tenure in the United States Attorney’s Office, Judge Humetewa also served as Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General (1996-1998). Prior to that she was Deputy Counsel for the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (1993-1996).   

Judge Humetewa received her J.D. in 1993 from Arizona State University College of Law and her B.S. in 1987 from Arizona State University.  She is a member of the Hopi Tribe and has served as an Appellate Court Judge for the Hopi Tribe Appellate Court (2002-2007).