BEGA Chairperson Norma Hutcheson awarded GWAC’s 34th Annual Charlotte E. Ray Award

The Greater Washington Area Chapter, Women Lawyers Division, National Bar Association (GWAC) Announces GWAC Past President Norma Brown Hutcheson as the Recipient of the 34th Annual Charlotte E. Ray Award.

Washington, D.C., January 31, 2022 – GWAC is thrilled to announce the selection of Norma Brown Hutcheson, who served as President of the organization from 1999 through 2001 and as a past chair for GWAC’s charitable arm, GWAC Foundation, Incorporated, as this year’s recipient of the Charlotte E. Ray Award.

Since 1989, the GWAC and the GWAC Foundation have recognized an outstanding African-American woman from the local bar in honor of Charlotte E. Ray, the first woman admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and the first African-American woman certified as a lawyer in the United States. In keeping with the mission of GWAC and the trailblazing spirit of Charlotte E. Ray, awardees demonstrate a strong commitment to community involvement, mentorship, advocacy, and excellence in the Metropolitan Washington community. Past President Hutcheson, a native Washingtonian, is a beacon in the GWAC, D.C. and legal communities.

Currently serving as the Chairperson for the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability (BEGA), Past President Hutcheson has been an active participant not only in GWAC, but in various organizations like the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, where she worked on the National Bar Association (NBA) Election Protection Project, the Woman’s Bar Association of D.C., the Potomac Chapter (VA) of The Links, Incorporated, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Theta Omega Omega Chapter. Past President Hutcheson retired from her position of Deputy Managing Counsel for the Capital Metro Law Office of the United States Postal Service Law Department in 2016 after 36 years of service federal service. Past President Hutcheson is a graduate of Bucknell University (B.A. in History and Political Science) and the University of Pennsylvania Law School (J.D.).

She will be honored with this award at GWAC’s annual award ceremony on Thursday, February 17, 2022 at 7:00pm with a welcome reception beginning at 6:30pm. The award ceremony will be held virtually this year. To rsvp, please visit www.gwacbar.org/events. 

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