The Ramsey County Bar Association (RCBA) Diversity Committee has chosen Ramsey County District Court Judge Nicole Starr as the recipient of the 2017 Excellence in Diversity Award.

Judge Starr has been actively involved in local, national and international human rights and diversity and inclusion issues for many years. Locally, she has organized tours of law offices for students of color. She served as vice chair of the St Paul Human Rights Commission from 2005 to 2010 and has been a legal consultant for the Indian Child Welfare Center.

Judge Starr served as president of Minnesota Asian Pacific American Bar Association in 2009 and on the Minnesota State Bar Association Assembly from 2005 to 2008. She was a volunteer with the Lambda Legal Defense Fund from 2001 to 2011. She also was a member of the Twin Cities-based PFund Racial Equity Initiative Leadership Program.

In addition to her service to our local community, Judge Starr has made an impact on national and international human rights. In 2013, she was a legislative fellow at the Partners of the Americas in Haiti. In this program, funded through the United States Department of State, she participated in a professional legal exchange focused on creating a comparative understanding of the civil and criminal legal system in Haiti. She also participated in a group study exchange in southern India in 2010 through Rotary International, where she examined the Indian legal system and presented to professionals throughout South Western India. In the early 2000s, she served as a judicial law clerk in the Constitutional Court of South Africa and worked for the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, monitoring South African Parliamentary Committees.

The award will be presented at the Diversity Committee’s annual elimination of bias CLE, “Mental Health Issues and the Practice of Law.” Presenters will discuss how negative attitudes towards people with mental health issues impact and affect how clients with mental health issues are served in the legal system.

The CLE and award presentation will take place on Tuesday, May 16 from 9:00 to 11:00 am at the Ramsey County Courthouse. More information and registration available here.