On October 18, 2019 at an event marking the 30th anniversary of Oregon Women Lawyers (OWLS) Cristina Sanz was presented with the Oregon Women Lawyers Katherine H. O’Neil Volunteer Service Award. The award is presented to a member of Oregon Women Lawyers who, like Katherine O’Neil, epitomizes steadfast dedication and long-term volunteer service to promote women in the legal profession. The inaugural award was presented to Katherine O’Neil in 2009 at an event marking the organization’s 20th anniversary.
Here are excerpts from Trudy Allen’s speech describing Cristina’s service:
Cristina was a charter member of OWLS and served on the OWLS Board from 1993 to 1996, when she represented Southern Oregon and made sure to make the trips to Portland (or other venues around the state) for board meetings. She ensured that the OWLS Board had a warm welcome when it traveled to Southern Oregon for meetings. And a few years ago, she helped bring OWLS’ Road to the Bench presentation to Medford.
For the past 10 years she has served the OWLS Foundation. First, she served on the main Board – where she was Secretary and Co-Chair of the Investment Committee. It takes a lot of commitment to make that drive to the Portland area from Medford over and over again! Since 2014 she has been on the Foundation’s Advisory Board, where she has served as Chair. She has always been a thoughtful and energetic contributor, and we value her work very highly.
Hearing from one of her colleagues in Medford, we know that Cristina is also highly valued in her roles for OWLS in Southern Oregon, where she has been very active in the OWLS chapter, Rogue Women Lawyers, from its inception in the early 1990s. According to this colleague:
Cristina’s contribution cannot be understated. Perhaps most importantly, she has been an ambassador and champion for OWLS and the OWLS Foundation in Southern Oregon. She’s quick to remind local attorneys that these statewide, Portland-based organizations exist and support members even here in Southern Oregon. Cristina has used her experiences to become a champion of women and the OWLS mission in Southern Oregon. She has always been a welcoming face at local bar events. I’ve watched her welcome every new attorney (especially women attorneys) to the area. By going out of her way to meet new attorneys, she is making herself available as a mentor to attorneys who otherwise would, frankly, probably struggle to find one. In just the way that she goes about her life, she really is the embodiment of the OWLS mission.
Cristina’s volunteer service goes well beyond OWLS. She’s really a champion of all women. Since 2016, she has been on the board and is the Community Outreach Chair of the Women’s Leadership Conference of Southern Oregon. This is a huge event! It is really the only event that brings together professional women in Southern Oregon for leadership training. Cristina is also active with, and was a past president of, the Rogue River Valley University Club, which hosts a monthly, inter-generational women’s luncheon. For the women in Southern Oregon, these are really powerful and “revolutionary” acts. And she does all her volunteer work on top of the jobs she has held, both in law practice and in foundations. For 12 years until 2018, she was a Philanthropic Advisor and Regional Director for the Oregon Community Foundation. Recently she joined the Southern Oregon University Foundation as Development Director.
I hope all these stories about Cristina show what a devoted and valuable volunteer she is, to so many organizations – and especially for women lawyers. As I think you all know, OWLS and the OWLS Foundation would not be the robust organizations that we are, without the work of all our volunteers who serve in capacities both on the statewide boards and committees and on the boards of OWLS chapters around Oregon.
Trudy Allen and Diane Rynerson with 2019 Katherine H. O’Neil Volunteer Service Award recipient Cristina Sanz (center).
To see more photos from the October 18 event, visit our Facebook page.
