2025 Georgetown Law Women’s Forum Celebrates Alumnae Accomplishments in Law and Beyond

“It is truly a unique and incredible opportunity to have so many Georgetown Law alumnae together in one space,” said Professor Alicia Plerhoples, associate dean for clinics and experiential learning, in her welcome remarks.

“We intend for today’s programming to inspire you, educate you, enrich you and connect you in a meaningful way with one another,” she said of the biennial Women’s Forum, which has been held on campus since the early 1990s to acknowledge the contributions of women in the legal field and is hosted alternately with the university-wide Women’s Forum.

Plerhoples’s remarks were followed by the opening plenary, “Exploring Law, Business, and Ethics,” moderated by Christina Brenha, L’11, compliance and ethics senior counsel at Zoom, in conversation with speakers including Anjuli Kelotra, L’00, chief ethics and compliance officer at The Coca-Cola Company.

The speakers discussed a range of legal and regulatory issues in the ethics and compliance field, including the importance of upholding corporate transparency and accountability, and reflected on the opportunities and challenges posed by technology such as AI.

A ‘key role to play’

EqualAI Chief of Staff and Chief Operating Officer Mara Quintero Campbell (left) and EqualAI President and CEO Miriam Vogel (right), L’01.

AI was also at the heart of one of the day’s three breakout sessions, “A Lawyer’s Role: Optimizing the Benefits of AI through Risk Mitigation,” a comprehensive exploration of the uses, benefits and challenges of AI led by Miriam Vogel, L’01, president and CEO of nonprofit organization EqualAI, which works to promote AI governance and literacy.

“You all have a key role to play as lawyers, executives, women and community members,” said Vogel. “We want to ensure that you can harness the game-changing potential of AI tools by being equipped to identify and mitigate potential risks and harms.”

Other breakout sessions included the workshop “How to Listen: The Career-Critical Skill We Are Never Taught,” and a book talk with Katy Motiey, C’89, L’92, chief legal, administrative and sustainability officer at Extreme Networks and author of the novel Imperfect, based on her mother’s experience of familial upheaval and perseverance before and during the Iranian Revolution.

The day before the Women’s Forum, Motiey met with students in the RISE program to detail her writing process and offer guidance to the next generation of legal professionals.

“There’s always another day, there’s always another solution, there’s always tomorrow,” she advised, noting the importance of cultivating resilience and positivity in the legal profession and underscoring the value of opportunities such as clerkships in building a professional network. “It’s so important to build community and human connection.”

‘Recognition and community’

L-R: 2025 Alumnae Award honorees Sumara M. Thompson-King, L’84; Katy Motiey, C’89, L’92; Jenifer Rogers, F’85, L’88.

Motiey was one of three graduates to be recognized at the Forum’s closing luncheon and Alumnae Awards presentation, which honors alumnae contributions to the legal field and dedication to the Georgetown Law Community. The other 2025 honorees are Jenifer Rogers, F’85, L’88, general counsel of Asia for Asurion, and Sumara M. Thompson-King, L’84, former general counsel of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

“At Georgetown Law, we pride ourselves on being pioneers of innovative legal education,” said Dean William M. Treanor in his opening remarks. “I remain inspired by the meaningful ways our alumnae model this kind of innovation as thought leaders.”

For Thompson-King, the moment was one of “recognition and community.” Having begun her NASA career in 1986, when she joined the Office of Chief Counsel at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Thompson-King was appointed NASA’s 11th general counsel in 2014 — but, as she explained to the audience, her professional trajectory did not always feel assured.

“I’m not the story of the person who was the top of the class, did everything right, got every job offer,” she said of her time at Georgetown Law, explaining that the support she received from classmates and faculty was instrumental in convincing her to complete her legal studies.

“I want to thank Georgetown for the community that it has been and must continue to be,” she said. “It is a community [that not only] educated us on legal matters, but a community that supported its students, that encouraged their activities, that gave them opportunities and then that acknowledged their achievements.”