Deborah Harding Woman of Achievement Award

 

The DHA honors a woman leader connected to the Peace Corps who has made
or is making a significant impact on the lives of women and girls.

We’re now accepting nominations!

Nominate for DHA

Juliet Sorensen

2025 Award Winner: Juliet Sorensen

Juliet Sorensen is a clinical professor of law and the director of the Rule of Law Institute and Program in Rule of Law for Development at Loyola University Chicago. Prior to joining the faculty of Loyola, Juliet was on faculty at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, where she founded and directed the Northwestern Access to Health Project, a global, community-based partnership at the intersection of health, human rights, and development. Juliet also served for five years as the executive director of Injustice Watch, a nonprofit journalism organization that investigates systemic inequities in the court system. A Chicagoan since 2003, Juliet was an Assistant United States Attorney from 2003 to 2010, focused on public corruption, complex fraud, and human rights. Between 1995 and 1997, Juliet was a maternal and child health Peace Corps Volunteer in southeastern Morocco. She is a graduate of Princeton University and Columbia University School of Law.

Award Recipients

Learn more about previous award recipients.

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Who is Deborah Harding?

Dr. Deborah Harding was the founder of the Liberian Education Trust, a transition initiative to help rebuild the education system destroyed by a 14-year civil war. The Trust brought access to education for thousands of Liberian girls and market women. She was Co-Founder of the Network for Human Rights in Liberia in the mid-80s. In 2013 President Johnson Sirleaf awarded Debbie “Dame Grand Commander Humane Order of African Redemption” for her support to the Liberian nation. Debbie undertook assuring gender equality in recruitment and placement of Peace Corps Volunteers and of hiring staff in the mid 70s. She established the Women in Development Program at the Peace Corps and had its language included in the Peace Corps Act. She is a founding member of Women of Peace Corps Legacy (WPCL).
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