Happy December Ms. JD!  For our law student community, December brings with it the promise and dread of the end of the semester - the race to the finish line with finals and papers.  Take a deep breath and know that you're going to do great!  For our community of lawyers, December brings everything that goes with the close of another business year.  We hope you're all not just surviving but thriving! 

Here at Ms. JD, we're dedicating December to celebrating the gift of women's leadership.  As you know, this year has been all about leadership for us.  Since January, we've been getting ready for our She Leads Conference with postings and articles about what leadership means to us, tips for being a better leader, and why women's leadership matters.  We've had posts from women leaders like ABA President Laurel Bellows, Bobbi Liebenberg, Justice Duffly, Pat Gillette, and Debbie Epstein Henry.  Our own organization celebrated our sixth birthday with a leadership transition in March. 

There have been some bumps along the way as well.  NAWL's annual survey gave us some sobering news about women's leadership in the profession.  Then the NY Bar reported that women's leadership is essential to keeping women in the legal profession.  So, we've still got a ways to go and while we're going to admit that there's still work to be done, we want to take a moment and celebrate.  We want to celebrate the power and the gift that women give us when they take the reigns and lead!  We're devoting December to celebrating women's leadership and we hope you'll join us in doing so. 

Read how you can be a part of our celebration after the jump!

Want to be a part of Ms. JD's the Gift of Women's Leadership celebration?  Well here's how:

1. Write a post about a woman leader you admire or who has influenced you!  Don't know how to write a post for Ms. JD?  Well, grab the lead!  We've got instructions here.

2. Tweet us about a woman leader you admire (we're @msjdtweets).  Use the hashtag #SheLeads. 

3. Support the women and men who write about women leaders we can all admire by commenting on their posts!

4. Encourage others to do all of the above! 

Throughout December, you'll see us reposting some of our favorite posts about women who lead.  Enjoy them and celebrate with us!

As always, thanks for being a part of this incredible Ms. JD community and happy holidays to you all!