Judge Marcella Holland, Life Fellow, and Loren Kieve, Patron Fellow and Fellows Research Advisory Committee member, were named as two of the 2026 Spirit of Excellence Award honorees. The award will be presented to this year’s honorees at the Titans for Change Gala at the ABA Midyear meeting in San Antonio, on Saturday, February 7th.
The Spirit of Excellence award is presented annually to celebrate the efforts and accomplishments of lawyers who work to promote a more racially and ethnically diverse legal profession. The award’s motto is “Ad Astra Per Aspera”, to the stars through difficulty, which was selected to symbolize the struggle of racially and ethnically diverse lawyers as they travel the road to personal and professional success.
Bottom left: Loren Kieve
Judge Holland, Life Fellow, most recently served as a Senior Judge for the Circuit Court of Baltimore City. During her time as judge for the Circuit Court, she became the first Black woman to hold the position of Circuit Administrative Judge in Maryland. She held office in the National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ), the National Bar Association (NBA), and the American Bar Association. Judge Holland was named the recipient of numerous awards, including the NAWJ’s Vaino Spencer Leadership Award, the NBA Judicial Council’s William H. Hastie Award, and the Ben Cardin Pro Bono Service Award.
Loren Kieve, Patron Fellow and FRAC member, is the principal of Kieve Law Offices. Within the ABA, he has been a member of the American Bar Association Commission on Immigration and served as a California State Bar Delegate to the House of Delegates. He is a past co-chair of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area and the founder of the San Francisco Judicial Intern Opportunity Program. Since 1994, Mr. Kieve has served as a trustee—and three-time chair—of the Institute of American Indian Arts, a U.S. Presidential appointment with Senate confirmation.
Read more about the Spirit of Excellence Award here.