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Remarks from New CITBA President Michele Lynch

I am very honored to have been selected to be the President of CITBA and apparently to be the first Government attorney to hold this position. (Given that CITBA began in 1926 - thanks Trivia Night - that is a long time coming.) CITBA is ever evolving and has certainly grown in fundamental ways during the decade or so that I have been a member. That growth, of course, is attributable to the committed work of our volunteer Board members and our membership.
I am very honored to have been selected to be the President of CITBA and apparently to be the first Government attorney to hold this position. (Given that CITBA began in 1926 - thanks Trivia Night - that is a long time coming.) CITBA is ever evolving and has certainly grown in fundamental ways during the decade or so that I have been a member. That growth, of course, is attributable to the committed work of our volunteer Board members and our membership.
 
During the most challenging two years for all of us, my predecessor, Matt Nicely, was at the forefront of establishing our very active Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee that has made and continues to make every effort to expand the Trade Bar. Under Matt's stewardship, Irving Williamson and Mikki Cottet, co-chairs of the DEI committee, not only hosted meaningful panel programs but also created fellowships in conjunction with ASIL that recently were awarded to deserving law students from under-represented communities. Matt also successfully transitioned CITBA to a new administrative cohort and helped develop an enhanced and more user-friendly CITBA website. Matt and the prior Board met these challenges despite only having a single in-person meeting during the last month of his tenure. Thank you to the prior Board and its Vice Chairs for incredible work during such a challenging time.
 
Our diversity and inclusivity momentum needs to continue. Hopefully, such growth will attract new members across the entirety of the trade arena. To sustain and grow CITBA, we intend to continue to provide members with programs addressing topical issues. The past few years have seen numerous novel issues affecting our various practice areas and hearing from officials and practitioners directly involved in such issues is enlightening. A great example of this was the recent Sanctions panel hosted by the Export Control committee at an event sponsored by the International Trade committee.
 
We also have an outstanding Young Lawyers committee (YLC) that develops programs and events designed to foster a community for our newer colleagues. The YLC has caught not only the attention of the Georgetown International Trade Update program, where entry to its networking events has been hard to come by, but also the Court, which graciously invited the YLC to host networking opportunities at the last Judicial Conference as well as at the Conference set for this Fall.
 
We have numerous other committees that work tirelessly as well to bring content to our members. I have been very fortunate to work both with and against amazing lawyers during my decades in the Trade Bar - lawyers whose substantive knowledge was and is unrivaled but who also saw fit during their busiest of days to bring many of us along for the ride demonstrating the power of mentorship. It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge and thank them - Velta (Anita) Melnbrencis, Berniece (Bunny) Browne and Kathleen Cannon. Kathy's sustained encouragement of women in trade has given the Board a new look. I encourage all of you to reach out to your newer colleagues and offer them the opportunities that we were so graciously provided.
 
I also have friends who are or have been trade practitioners who have devoted countless hours to improving our practice and whose unselfish generosity inspires me -- AnnMarie, Patricia, Stacy, Andrea, Claudia, Nancy, Alice, and, of course, the indefatigable, Don.
 
Although our clients span the globe, we are a rather close-knit community dependent upon one another to keep the process working. CITBA fosters that community and if you are involved in trade, this is your community - the firms and agencies involved in trade daily are represented in CITBA. If you are reading this, you are probably already a member. If you are not yet a member, I would encourage you to join.
 
I look forward to working with the new Board and our membership to grow our community.
 
Michele D. Lynch

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