21 Leaders 2012 Honoree Nancy Duff Campbell

Nancy Duff Campbell is an American lawyer and a founder and co-president of the

National Women's Law Center The National Women's Law Center (NWLC) is a United States non-profit organization founded by Marcia Greenberger in 1972 and based in Washington, D.C. The Center advocates for women's rights and LGBTQ rights through litigation and policy initiati ...

. Campbell has focused on women's law and public policy issues and has participated in the development of legislative initiatives and litigation regarding women's rights, emphasizing issues affecting low‑income women, and has authored articles on women's legal issues.

Biography

Campbell received her undergraduate degree from

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

in 1965 and her law degree from

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

in 1968. Following that she became a law professor at

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

and

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution ...

Columbus School of Law The Columbus School of Law, also known as Catholic Law or CUA Law, is the law school of the Catholic University of America, a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. More than 400 Juris Doctor students attend Catholic Law ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and an attorney with the Center on Social Welfare Policy and Law (now the Welfare Law Center) in New York. The

began when female administrative staff and law students at the

Center for Law and Social Policy The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) is an American organization, based in Washington, D.C., that advocates for policies aimed at improving the lives of low-income people. History The Center for Law and Social Policy was founded ...

demanded that their pay be improved, that the center hire female lawyers, that they no longer be expected to serve coffee, and that the center create a women's program.

Marcia Greenberger Marcia D. Greenberger is an American women's rights attorney. She received her B.A. with honors and J.D. cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, and then worked as a lawyer with the Washington, D.C., firm of Caplin and Drysdale. She co-foun ...

was hired in 1972 to start the program and Campbell joined her in 1978. In 1981, the two decided to turn the program into the separate National Women's Law Center. Campbell participated in successful Supreme Court litigation establishing that two-parent families with unemployed mothers are entitled to AFDC benefits (''Califano v. Westcott'', 1979). She was involved in the organization and leadership of the

Coalition on Women and Taxes A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

, which claimed to have "led to expanded tax assistance for single heads of household and the removal of six million low‑income families from the tax rolls in the Tax Reform Act of 1986". She also won a case establishing the uniform right to child support enforcement services for all custodial parents without regard to income (''Parents Without Partners v. Massinga'').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Nancy Duff Living people New York (state) lawyers Barnard College alumni New York University School of Law alumni American women lawyers Georgetown University Law Center faculty Columbus School of Law faculty Women legal scholars Year of birth missing (living people) American women academics 21st-century American women