When Elizabeth Ramirez was 11, her grandmother in El Paso suffered a serious slip-and-fall injury on the job as a custodian. Because her grandmother didn’t speak English, no one would take the time to understand what happened.
Lawyer after lawyer declined to take the case because they didn’t speak Spanish.
Finally, the family found a lawyer who spoke Spanish and English, who quickly took action. The incident was covered by worker’s compensation, and her grandmother got the medical treatment she needed and returned to work.
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“Even from my sixth grader’s perspective, I knew at that moment that I wanted to be an attorney so I could help others,” Ramirez-Washka told The Texas Lawbook.
In the four decades since, Ramirez-Washka went to law school, spent two early years of her career as a prosecutor with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, then worked eight years as a lawyer for the National Labor Relations Board and two years at the U.S. Postal Service. In 2007, she went in-house for a decade, serving as senior counsel for labor and employment at Tenet Healthcare Corporation and then Dr Pepper Snapple Group.
In 2017, Irving-based Boy Scouts of America hired the El Paso native to be its associate general counsel and vice president of diversity and inclusion.
“I have always been values-driven, and as such the opportunity to support the Boy Scouts of America resonated with me,” she said. “The Boys Scouts’ mission is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes, with a vision to prepare every eligible youth in America to become a responsible, participating citizen and leader through character development and citizenship training.
“My role as a legal advisor with the Boy Scouts of America gives me the chance to use my skill sets and combine my passions for the law and for helping youth develop into leaders,” she said.
During her four years at the Boys Scouts, Ramirez-Washka has scored several major successes, including:
- Created and implemented workplace strategies, policies and procedures to address a changing and evolving workforce and create a proactive and consistent employment strategy;
- Established a secure website and phone app that contains legal guidelines and templates to assist business and human resource partners to handle day-to-day employee relations issues;
- Implemented General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) policy and provided strategic guidance on processes and procedures for the 2019 World Jamboree to ensure compliance practical solutions; and
- Created the Boy Scouts’ first diversity, equity and inclusion program focused on its 3,000 employees and its 800,000 volunteers.
Citing her extraordinary accomplishments, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook has named Ramirez-Washka a finalist for the 2020 DFW Outstanding Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion. The finalists will be honored and the winners announced June 3 at the annual awards event at the George W. Bush Institute.
“Despite the challenges facing the BSA at this time, Elizabeth has been tasked to create and implement a DEI program for one of the oldest organizations (founded in 1910) in the country,” said Amy M. Stewart, who nominated Ramirez-Washka for the award. “This is an immense endeavor – during a pandemic no less – that will not only positively impact the Boy Scouts but spark a nationwide conversation among younger generations regarding the importance of diversity, inclusion and equity.”
Fred Gaona, a lawyer at Frost Brown Todd, said Ramirez-Washka constantly demonstrates her commitment to diversity.
“One of the really exciting projects that she is currently working on is developing a diversity and inclusion merit badge for Boy Scouts,” Gaona said. “This is a tremendous undertaking, but one that will help to shape the future for Boy Scouts who will value what diversity and inclusion truly means as they grow into adulthood. I can’t think of a better pipeline initiative to help shape the future of diversity and inclusion efforts.”
Elsa Manzanares, a partner at Stinson in Dallas, said Ramirez-Washka has been a longtime leader and mentor with the Dallas Hispanic Bar Association’s Latina Leadership Program.
“Elizabeth never stops taking young attorneys or law students under her wing,” Manzanares said. “She is constantly connecting people to opportunities. With everything she does, Elizabeth always wants to bring others along.
“Once she’s in your corner, she never leaves,” she said. “Her personal mission becomes helping you in any way she can.”
Ramirez-Washka was born and raised in El Paso. Her parents are second-generation Mexican Americans. Her dad was a sixth-grade elementary school teacher for 35 years. Her mother was an elementary administrative assistant for 27 years.
“It was a common occurrence to be out with my dad and to have one of his former students come up and give him a big hug and thank him for making a positive difference in their lives.”
— Elizabeth Ramirez-Washka
Photo: Elizabeth with her father
“My parents are true believers in the transformative power of education and the proof is in their life’s work,” she said. “My dad dedicated his life to working and teaching in poor, underprivileged neighborhoods. He loved his work and not only helped his students but taught English classes for adults. It was a common occurrence to be out with my dad and to have one of his former students come up and give him a big hug and thank him for making a positive difference in their lives.”
“Growing up, my parents taught me and my brother the value of being grateful for what we had and the importance of giving back to our community and serving those in need,” she said. “These are family values that have guided me throughout my life.”
After four years of college at the University of Texas in Austin, Ramirez-Washka went to law school at St. Mary’s University School of Law, where she received her law degree in 1992.
In 1995, the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office hired Ramirez-Washka, where she received extraordinary courtroom experience.
As a rookie prosecutor, she was assigned misdemeanor cases, including driving while intoxicated. She tried her first case within weeks of becoming a prosecutor.
Seven months into the job, the lead prosecutor in a child sexual assault case asked her to second chair the felony trial because Ramirez-Washka spoke Spanish and none of the prosecutors on the felony did. As a result, the prosecutors had challenges communicating with the victim and her family and were struggling to gain their trust.
“I was a bundle of nerves,” she recalls. “I already speak fast, and when I am nervous I speak faster. Throughout the trial, the court reporter would loudly say, ‘Slow down.’ I was not her favorite person, but I gathered myself calmly, made my first oral argument and realized that I could do this.
“I memorized everything,” she said. “I had my notes in detail to make sure that I met all the elements of the crime.”
The two-day DWI trial ended with the jury deliberating for four hours and then finding the defendant guilty.
Elizabeth and her parents
“I worked hard to gain the family’s trust,” she said. “Eventually we broke down the barriers and were able to successfully prosecute the case. This trial resonated with me because I still see the little girl’s eyes filled with fear and confusion as she testified against her uncle, but I know the trust we built helped her through that experience. Despite her fear, she remained strong, and I will always remember her resilience.”
The jury after three days of testimony and arguments found the defendant guilty and sentenced him to prison.
In 1997, Ramirez-Washka became a field attorney with the National Labor Relations Board – a position she held for eight years.
“As an NLRB trial attorney, much like a criminal prosecutor, your client is the law – the individual is there to testify as to how the law is broken, but you know the resolution of the case will impact many future cases to come,” she said. “A key difference in an NLRB trial, versus many others is that there is no discovery. Neither side has a preview of the case through depositions and interrogatories, so you are learning as the witness is testifying.”
“I learned the importance of being empathetic by putting myself in their place to understand what they are going through, to be authentic and have perseverance,” she said.
The NLRB position also connected Ramirez-Washka with in-house counsel handling labor and employment matters.
After two years as an attorney with the U.S. Postal Service and two years practicing at a law firm, Ramirez-Washka was hired as senior labor counsel at Tenet Healthcare. She held the same job at Dr Pepper Snapple for seven years.
RAMIREZ-WASHKA WITH FOUR GENERATIONS OF FAMILY
The Boy Scouts of America came calling in 2017, offering her the position of associate general counsel.
There has certainly been a lot of change and challenges during the four years Ramirez-Washka has been on the job. Not all of it good.
Just days before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the U.S., the Boy Scouts of America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection citing about 300 lawsuits against the organization by former Scouts who say they were abused by volunteer troop leaders. As part of the court restructuring, the Boy Scouts have proposed setting up a trust fund for those who were abused.
Ramirez-Washka has played no role in the bankruptcy case, but lawyers close to her say that she is determined to not allow it to impact her diversity efforts.
“Even though the bankruptcy has left us with limited resources, the board and CEO Roger Mosby are committed to ensuring DEI initiatives are moving forward with the limited resources,” Ramirez-Washka said. “We are in the process of rolling out DEI initiatives to our volunteers – DEI training.”
Another major development occurred only a few months after she took the job: The Boys Scouts announced that they would admit girls for the first time.
“As the mother of two daughters, it is important for me to see the same opportunities available for women and girls as for boys and men,” she said. “With over 130 million young people involved in Scouting to date, it is a real opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the lives of our children and our communities to today and far into the future.”
During her four years with the Boy Scouts, she has witnessed the first inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts, led the launch of five diversity-based workforce resource groups and implemented a host of DEI initiatives.
Ramirez-Washka said that she is proud that the organization has made a public commitment “to promote a culture where every youth, volunteer and employee feels a sense of belonging, as well as to build communities where every person feels respected and valued.”
Since Ramirez-Washka started practicing law 25 years ago, she has seen a lot of change for the better.
Law firms and companies are hiring attorneys of color, she said, at entry-level legal positions “without thought or focus on their development and growth.
“The perception is: You are an attorney, you know what to do,” she said. “That is not always true. Many, including me, are first generation attorneys who have no idea what we are going to encounter. As a result, the attorney becomes frustrated because they struggle with the politics and ins and outs of working at a corporation or law firm.
“If you are fortunate, you find a mentor at work who guides you through this,” she said. “If not, you join professional organizations to network like I did, where I have met so many attorneys who are willing to help. I have two college-aged daughters, Bella and Julianna, who both want to be attorneys. They have the advantage of my knowledge and network to guide them, something most women of color do not have.”