Honorary Chairs
Linda Fairstein, former prosecutor and best-selling crime novelist, is one of
America’s foremost legal experts on crimes of violence against women and children.
For three decades, from 1972 until 2002, she served in the office of the New York County District Attorney, where she was chief of the country’s pioneering Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit for twenty-five years.
Fairstein is an honors graduate of Vassar College (1969)and the University of Virginia School of Law (1972). In 1998, several of Fairstein’s law school classmates established a scholarship fund in her honor at their alma mater. The Fairstein Public Service Scholarship supports law school students interested in pursuing careers in the public sector.
She has received numerous awards for her legal work, and was the first woman to receive many of them, including the Federal Bar Council’s Emory Buckner Award and UJA Federation’s Judge Joseph Proskauer Award. For her ground-breaking work on behalf of victims of violence, she has received Columbia University’s School of Medicine and School of Nursing Award for Excellence, the Anti-Violence Project "Courage" Award, Women in Communication "Women Who Change the World" award and scores of similar honors. Other recognition includes the American Heart Association Women of Courage Award, Glamour Magazine’s Woman of the Year Award, and Columbia University Medical School’s Athena Award.
Ms. Fairstein is the author of an internationally bestselling series of crime novels (translated into more than a dozen languages), which feature Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper. FINAL JEOPARDY (1996), LIKELY TO DIE (1997), COLD HIT (1999), THE DEADHOUSE (2001) -winner of The Nero Award for literary excellence in the crime genre, The BONE VAULT (2003), THE KILLS (2004), ENTOMBED (2005), DEATH DANCE (2006) and BAD BLOOD (2007) have debuted on The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The London Times, and USA Today’s bestseller list. Final Jeopardy was an ABC Premiere Movie of the Week. Her tenth novel - KILLER HEAT - will be published in March, 2008 by Doubleday.
Fairstein is also the author of a non-fiction work. SEXUAL VIOLENCE: OUR WAR AGAINST RAPE(1993) was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. She regularly contributes articles to magazines and journals.
In addition to her writing, Fairstein is a member of the International Society of Barristers and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. She serves on non-profit boards, including victim advocacy groups Safe Horizon, Mount Sinai Hospital’s Sexual Assault Violence Intervention Program (SAVI); God’s Love We Deliver; the Gilman International Conservation Center at White Oak and the Adolescent Health Center of Mt. Sinai Hospital. She is the Chair Emeritus of the board of directors of the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine.
Fairstein is a media consultant on the issue of the criminal justice system and crimes of violence against women, working with each of the three major networks, as well as CNN, MSNBC, and cable affiliates. She continues to practice law as a pro bono representative of victims of violence.
Linda Fairstein is married to Justin Feldman. She lives in Manhattan and on Martha’s Vineyard.
In January 2006, the Members of the City Council overwhelmingly chose Christine C. Quinn to be Speaker. As the first woman, openly gay, and Irish Speaker, she brings a new perspective to the diverse challenges facing each of New York City’s distinct communities. Speaker Quinn has set a proactive agenda for the Council as an initiator of legislative and policy initiatives that improve people’s lives. In short, she is working to make government more accessible to New Yorkers in all five boroughs.
Speaker Quinn has made reform a top priority. From limiting lobbyists’ influence in City Hall to putting forth landmark campaign finance reform legislation to increasing transparency in government, she has made significant strides in improving the way the City does business.
In her first year and a half as Speaker, she has had numerous accomplishments including achieving laws and policies in such areas as public safety, early childhood education, relief for small businesses, hunger and nutrition and affordable housing.
Since 1999, Speaker Quinn has served as the representative for the 3rd Council District of Manhattan. She has been a long time pioneer for equal rights, comprehensive health care, improved schools, tenants’ rights and affordable housing. Prior to becoming Speaker, she was Chair of the Council’s Health Committee and worked vigilantly to pass the ban on smoking in all workplaces, expand access to emergency contraception for rape survivors and other women in need, increase the availability of mammograms citywide, preserve school nurses, and secure millions of dollars for HIV prevention services.
Before being elected to the City Council, Speaker Quinn served for five years as Chief of Staff to Council Member Thomas K. Duane. She then worked as Executive Director of the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project. During her time with the Anti-Violence Project, Mayor Guiliani appointed her to be a member of the New York City Police/Community Relations Task Force.
Speaker Quinn has been rated one of the fifty most powerful women in New York City by the New York Post, and one of the most influential New Yorkers by New York Magazine.
She and her partner, Kim Catullo, live in Chelsea with their dogs Andy and Sadie.
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