North Dakota District Judge Donovan Foughty, was the moderator of a national panel on a program sponsored by the National Association of Women Judges on May 8, 2024. The program was entitled “Microaggressions: Part 2,  When the Judge Commits the Microaggression”. It featured panelists: Hon Lisa White Hardwick, Court of Appeals, Western District, Missouri; Hon, Jenifer Ashford, District Magistrate Judge, 10^th Judicial District Kansas; Hon Josie Garton, Superior Court, Third Judicial District, Alaska; and Hon. Jeffery Locke, Chief Justice of the seven Massachusetts Trial Courts (ret).  The program focused on presenting learning objectives designed to give practical tips and strategies for productively managing a judge who commits the microaggression.  The program was sponsored by the NAWJ Ensuring Racial Equity in the Judicial System Committee and the Fairness and Access Committee.

Judge Foughty co-chaired the North Dakota Commission to study Racial and Ethnic Bias in the courts, which submitted a final published report to the North Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice in June of 2012. He is the past chair of the Minority Justice Implementation Committee. Currently, he is the President of the board of directors of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts. The Secretariat for the Consortium is the National Center for State Courts. Judge Foughty sits on the Justice Commission for the Three Affiliated Tribes in North Dakota - the advisory group to the nation's court system - and on the advisory board for the Spirit Lake Tribe Senior Services Elder Protection Program. He is the Presiding Judge for the Northeast Judicial District with chambers in Devils Lake, ND.