Margaret Brent Award Feature: Karen J. Mathis

Karen J. Mathis of Philadelphia is president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the nation’s largest donor-based volunteer network of mentors for youth, and a non-profit organization proven to help children of single, low-income and incarcerated parents beat the odds. She joined the top-rated network in September of 2009, after completing a one-year assignment as executive director for the Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative Institute, a preeminent international non-profit provider of post-graduate professional legal education, based in Prague.  Mathis served as the third woman president of the American Bar Association, where she created the Youth at Risk initiative to help young people ages 12-19 climb out of the criminal justice system, and a joint ABA-Girl Scouts USA program for middle school girls on law and conflict resolution.  She practiced law for 34 years, most recently as a partner of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, where she encouraged flexible and part-time work schedules and heavily mentored women in the firm.

Read more: Family Legacy of Public Service Continued by American Bar Association Honoree