Barbara L. Camens is proprietor of the law firm, Barr & Camens, based in Washington, D.C. For more than thirty years, she has focused on issues of fairness, equality and justice at the workplace, specializing in labor and employment law. Barbara primarily represents journalists and media workers and serves as General Counsel to The NewsGuild-CWA.

Since 2006, Barbara has been recognized annually by Best Lawyers in America, a peer-reviewed organization, as one of the best attorneys in the United States practicing in the field of labor and employment law.

Barbara received her J.D. cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School where she was appointed an editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif (top 10% of the graduating class). Barbara was further awarded recognition as the top graduate in the area of labor law. Barbara served as valedictorian of her undergraduate class at the Ohio State University, where she graduated summa cum laude.

Barbara has extensive leadership experience, serving on governing boards. At the appointment of the joint leadership of the United Stated Congress, Barbara currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance, a federal agency that enforces labor and employment laws throughout the Legislative Branch. The Board of Directors serves as an appellate and regulatory body, sets agency policy, provides oversight and advocacy for the Office of Compliance, and reports to Congress on recommended legislative change. Under Barbara’s guidance and leadership, the Office of Compliance has committed to strategic planning and coordinated work plans that have markedly improved the vision, productivity and effectiveness of both the Board of Directors and the Office at large.

Barbara is currently serving her third term as a Director of the Office of Compliance, facilitated by the repeated passage of Congressional bills to extend what was originally intended to be a single, term-limited, five-year Congressional appointment.

Barbara has served repeated terms on the governing Board of the Lawyers Coordinating Committee of the AFL-CIO. The LCC is a nationwide organization of labor lawyers whose mission is to facilitate the exchange of information, offer legal education and assist legislative and political strategies and priorities such as legal reform and voter protection.

Barbara also served as a longstanding Board member of Suited of Change, a local nonprofit that assists disadvantaged women to gain financial independence through sustained employment. In her leadership role as President of the Board for two consecutive terms and thereafter as President Emeritus, Barbara remained a strong voice for disadvantaged women and children in our community.

Ms. Camens is a published author with Random House. She co-authored Girls Night Out, Celebrating Women’s Groups across America, with a close friend, Tamara Kreinin, now of the Packard Foundation.

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