2017 Eleventh Annual Banquet

Justice Bobbe J. Bridge, ret.

MAMA Seattle’s Eleventh Annual Banquet was held on Wednesday, November 1, 2017, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle. MAMA Seattle was proud to present Justice Bobbe J. Bridge, ret. with the MAMA Seattle 2017 Betty Binns Fletcher Leadership and Justice Award. Justice Bridge’s friend and colleague, Justice Mary Yu, provided introductory remarks.

Justice Bobbe J. Bridge, ret. was the Founding President/CEO of the Center for Children & Youth Justice, a non-profit organization she established in 2006 to improve the outcomes for children and youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems by improving the policies and practices within those systems.  She retired from CCYJ on January 1, 2019.  Prior to her work at CCYJ, Justice Bridge served for 10 years as a judge on the King County Superior Court, where she was the Chief Judge of the Juvenile Division for three and a half years, and the Presiding Judge of the full court for one and a half years.  She was appointed and then elected to the Washington State Supreme Court where she served from January 1, 2000 to January 1, 2008.  While on the Supreme Court, she was the founding chair of its Commission on Children in Foster Care.

Before joining the bench, Justice Bridge was the first female partner at the Seattle law firm of Garvey Schubert Barer where her practice ranged from litigation to family law and legislative advocacy.  She left the firm after l4 years to join the King County Superior Court. 

Throughout her long career, Justice Bridge has spoken, written, and taught on issues pertaining to system-involved youth, child sex trafficking, domestic violence, and criminal and juvenile justice reform.  She currently serves on a number of community boards as well as the Washington State Oversight Board for the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, the King County Children and Youth Advisory Board, and the National Advisory Committee on the Sex Trafficking of Children and Youth in the US.

Justice Bridge holds a BA in Political Science (Magna cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Washington, an MA and PhD from the University of Michigan, also in Political Science, and a JD from the University of Washington School of Law.  She is married to Jon Bridge, retired Co-CEO and General Counsel for Ben Bridge Jeweler, and has a son, daughter, and two granddaughters.

Justice Bridge has been honored with numerous awards for her civic involvement, philanthropy, and service to children, youth.

MAMA Seattle’s Betty Binns Fletcher Leadership and Justice Award is given each year to an individual who has paved the way to success for, and has served as an inspiration to, other women attorneys striving to excel in their legal careers while balancing family demands. Justice Bridge is a trailblazer and tireless advocate for children and families.  For all of these reasons and many more, MAMA Seattle is honored to have presented Justice Bridge its 2017 Betty Binns Fletcher Leadership and Justice Award at the MAMA Seattle Eleventh Annual Banquet on November 1, 2017.