Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary, Adobe Inc.
Dana Rao became General Counsel of Adobe Inc. in 2018, after serving as Vice President of Intellectual Property and Litigation. He also spent 11 years at Microsoft and worked as a patent attorney at Fenwick & West.
On building an inclusive legal department, Dana said in an interview, "I’m an Indian American, and I’m from Philadelphia. I experienced the opposite of diversity and inclusion in my childhood. It’s important that we have people of every color, men, women, LGBTQ people, on our team and to have their voices heard."
As part of LCLD's Leaders at the Front initiative, Dana created a Leader's Pledge detailing his personal and organizational commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Read Dana's pledge here.
Adobe believes diversity is a core business value and also promotes an inclusive work environment through employee programs and community partnerships. Within the legal department, Adobe has a program that provides in-house experience to diverse 1Ls, and also provides opportunities for junior attorneys to come in-house through a program called Global Legal Services.
Adobe was named an LCLD Top Performer in 2021.
Joined LCLD 2016
Highlights of LCLD Participation
Fellows Program
Fellows nominated:
2203: Joanne Morton, Tonia Hashimoto; 2021: Emily Chiang, Amanda Perrot; 2020: Donna Sai, Cynthia Sharp; 2019: Jennifer Wilson, Stephanie Warner; 2018: Mindy Laponis, Michael Yang; 2017: Kyle Pankratz, Jennifer Ruehr
Pathfinder Program
Hosted Pathfinder Meeting (2017)
Pathfinders selected:
2023: Shaudee Dehghan, Abbey Ibrahim; 2021: Ariel Tsui, Jacqueline Paetzold; 2020: Tara Chacon, Kenneth Villa; 2019: Alex Nguyen, Luci Buda, Jane Lee; 2017: Kim Tran, Maulik Shah; 2016: Jessyca Dessing
1L LCLD Scholars Program
Scholars hosted:
2021: Partha Vora Amy Rosales Jessenia Nuñez-Lopez
Success in Law School Mentoring Program
Mentors provided: 2017, 2016
Attendance
Leadership Summit (2021)
Member: Dana Rao
Diversity Professional: Lisa Konie, E. Rockett
Communications: Terrell Neilson
