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The Business Law Section is committed to encouraging and increasing the participation of lawyers of color in Section activities. To further this commitment, the Section has created the Business Law Ambassadors Program designed to facilitate the full participation of lawyers of color in Section activities and to develop future leaders of the Section. The program also aims to increase familiarity with the Section among members of bar associations and organizations for lawyers of color.

For the Program to be successful, the Section commits financial resources and participation opportunities to the Ambassadors. These commitments include the following:

• To reimburse expenses, consistent with Section policies, for attendance at the ABA Annual Meeting, the Section Spring Meeting, and one stand-alone meeting of the committee to which the Ambassador is appointed for each year of their two-year term;
• To involve the Ambassador in the substantive work of the committee to which the Ambassador is assigned;
• To assign to each Ambassador a mentor within the Business Law Fellows, Ambassadors and Diplomat Committee and a mentor within the Ambassador's committee to help each Ambassador navigate his or her way within the Section and to help ensure that each Ambassador's tenure is a success; and
• To maximize the opportunities for participation and professional development within the Section.

Critical to the success of the Program is the commitment of the Business Law Ambassadors to take advantage of the opportunities presented by becoming active participants in Section activities. Their commitments include the following:

• To attend the Spring and Annual Meetings of the Section as well as any stand alone meetings of their Committees;
• To continue participation in bar organizations or associations for lawyers of color and identify substantive areas of common interest in which members of the organizations or associations for lawyers of color and the Business Law Section can coordinate;
• To coordinate with the Section Liaison to the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession to provide broader exposure of the benefits of Section membership to the members of the various national bar organizations for lawyers of color; and
• To act as mentors to new Business Law Ambassadors and other lawyers of color who join the Section.

The Officers of the Section will govern the process by which Business Law Ambassadors are selected. To be considered for selection as a Business Law Ambassador, a person must be a lawyer of color who practices business law in a law firm, corporate entity, or government agency and whose practice coincides with the work of a substantive committee of the Section; while favorable consideration is given to the fact that an applicant is an active member of a national bar association for lawyers of color, being an active member of such an association is not a requirement. Selection as a Business Law Ambassador is intended to be an honor which carries a prestige and distinction reflecting the substantive contributions of a business lawyer of color. Candidates for the Program will be determined the first year through consultation with the Section's Committee on Diversity, and, where appropriate, with the leadership of the various national bar organizations for lawyers of color.

The Program will select five Ambassadors each year and will fund their expenses for two years. Thus, in any year after the first year of the Program, there would be a total of ten Ambassadors, divided into two classes. After two years, an Ambassador may continue to be eligible for expense reimbursement under normal Section policies but would not be reappointed an Ambassador, absent extraordinary circumstances.

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2012-2014 Ambassadors

2011-2013 Ambassadors

2010-2012 Ambassadors

2009-2011 Ambassadors

2008-2010 Ambassadors

2007-2009 Ambassadors

2006-2008 Ambassadors

2005-2007 Ambassadors

2004-2006 Ambassadors

2003-2005 Ambassadors

2002-2004 Ambassadors

2001-2003 Ambassadors

2000-2002 Ambassadors