2025 ABA Difference Maker Awards recognize Alfreda Coward and Wendi Weiner
Floridians Alfreda Coward and Wendi Weiner were two of five 2025 Difference Makers Awards recipients from across the country honored during the American Bar Association Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division’s 2025 GPSolo Fall Meeting.
Coward and Weiner each received the “Making a Difference through Service to the Profession Award,” which honors attorneys who make a significant contribution to the legal profession through service to the profession.
Alfreda Coward
Coward, a partner of Coward & Coward in Ft. Lauderdale, practices with her sister, Kimberly D. Coward, primarily representing clients in the areas of criminal law, family law, and municipal representations. During her approximately 30 years as an attorney, Coward has had well over 200 jury trials.
Coward is the co-founder of One Voice Children’s Law Center, a nonprofit organization established in 2005 that represents children who have pending matters in the dependency, delinquency, and/or educational systems.
She has served in numerous leadership positions with the ABA’s GPSolo, Litigation Section and Young Lawyers Division.
Wendi Weiner
Weiner is an award-winning writer and authority in personal branding, LinkedIn storytelling, career strategy, and the job search process.
Weiner’s company, The Writing Guru, which she founded in 2010, creates career- and personal brands for attorneys, C-suite executives, and board members at Fortune 500 and private equity firms around the world. She has presented to the ABA, Association of Corporate Counsel, National Association of Corporate Directors and National Association of Women Lawyers, as well as at major conferences and symposiums.
The ABA recognizes Weiner’s column, “Above the Law,” as one of the most popular among its 1.5 million monthly readers, providing nearly 100 articles offering advice to lawyers at all stages on how to find happiness in their careers, pursue career changes in a changing digital world, and market themselves strategically.
Weiner and Coward received their awards on October 17 during the Beacons of Excellence Awards Luncheon at The Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood.
Other 2025 Difference Makers Awards recipients were Judge Henry Hamilton III of Des Moines, Iowa, Allison L. Harrison of Columbus, Ohio, Samantha A. Sliney of Carthage, N.C.
