The Dimock Center President & CEO honored for a distinguished legal career that included her selection as the first female African-American partner with a major Boston law firm.

The Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association (MBLA) recognized The Dimock Center’s President and CEO, Ruth Ellen Fitch, as one of its 2010 Trailblazer Award recipients at the Association’s annual gala on Thursday, April 22nd.

The Trailblazer Award specifically recognizes individuals whose careers included groundbreaking accomplishments that established positive examples for other African-American lawyers and professionals.

“In addition to a stellar legal career, Ruth Ellen Fitch’s selection as a partner with Palmer and Dodge set an example that helped blaze a path for other African-American attorneys to follow,” said Douglas Martin, President of the MBLA.  “Her work and the contributions of our other trailblazers helped to create professional opportunities for countless others.”

Past recipients of the Trailblazer Award include, Governor Deval Patrick, Massachusetts’s first African-American governor, and the Honorable Joyce London Alexander, the first African-American Chief United States Magistrate Judge in the Nation and the first African-American Chief Judge in Massachusetts.

As President and Chief Executive Officer of The Dimock Center, Ms. Fitch has returned to the Roxbury neighborhood where she was raised, bringing her significant experience managing complex organizations to Dimock, as well as her commitment to helping others overcome social and economic obstacles so they may achieve in life.