Welcome to the LCLD Insider, our monthly newsletter. This publication is for you, and we welcome your feedback and ideas, as well as any news you might be interested in passing along. Please share the Insider with your support staff, diversity directors, and marketing departments to keep them better informed about what LCLD is doing.
-Robert Grey, President
In This Issue:
- Mentor Registration Closes Soon
- Annual Membership Meeting Registration Reminder
- Diversity Professional Volunteers Needed
- Fellows and Pathfinders Bond at Leadership Lunch Plus in NY
- Recent & Upcoming Learning Experiences
- What's Working: How to Build a D&I Framework
- Upcoming Leadership Lunch in Dallas
- Welcome, New Member!
- In the News
Did You Know?
LCLD has many resources on our “For LCLD Diversity Professionals” page. This is a gateway to learning about events for diversity professionals, as well as LCLD programs, and diversity and inclusion news and best practices.
Mentor Registration Closes Soon
Please help LCLD recruit attorneys from your organization to become Mentors for the 2017-2018 LCLD Success in Law School Mentoring Program. In the fall, registered Mentors will be matched with diverse, first-year law students in major cities across the country. Although registration will be open through August, Mentors will be matched in the order in which they registered.
Click here to register to become a Mentor for the 2017-2018 academic year by Thursday, August 31, 2017.
We look forward to working with your organization as part of the Mentoring Program this year! Thank you in advance for your help.
For more information about becoming an LCLD Mentor, please review this brief FAQ page. For any other questions, please contact Nancy Richardson, LCLD Program Manager.
Annual Membership Meeting Registration Reminder
On Monday, October 16 - Tuesday, October 17, 2017, LCLD Members and their guests are invited to join us at the Eighth Annual LCLD Membership Meeting - Vision 2020: The Power of Networks in Washington, D.C.
On October 16 at 7:00 pm ET, the LCLD Board of Directors will host a Welcome Reception at the National Museum of African American History & Culture. The Annual Meeting will take place October 17 from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm ET at the Mandarin Oriental hotel.
Featured speakers will include Kenneth Frazier, Chairman & CEO of Merck & Co., Inc., and Joshua Cooper Ramo, Co-CEO of Kissinger Associates, and International Best-Selling Author of The Age of the Unthinkable and The Seventh Sense. A full agenda will be available in the coming months.
Click here to register for the meeting. We have reserved a block of rooms at the Mandarin Oriental hotel at the rate of $415 a night. Click here to reserve your room.
For questions about registration, please email Stella Askin, Programs & Events Specialist. For questions about the agenda, please contact Jennifer Denton, LCLD Membership & Operations Director.
Diversity Professional Volunteers Needed
The following volunteer opportunities are available for Diversity Professionals looking to get more involved with LCLD:
- If you would like to help choose the location and direction for the second annual Diversity Professionals and Advisors Summit, and you are planning to attend the Annual Membership Meeting in October with your General Counsel or Managing Partner, please plan to set aside some time for a one-time planning meeting on Monday, October 16, before the Welcome Reception at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
- Help work on resources related to the diversity data initiative.
- Help work on resources for assisting members of your organizations with having difficult conversations.
Please contact Erin Hess, LCLD Strategic Initiatives Program Manager, if you're interested in getting involved in any of these projects.
Fellows and Pathfinders Bond at Leadership Lunch Plus in NY
By Nichole Velasquez, Fellows Program Manager, LCLD
LCLD Fellows and Pathfinders at Abercrombie & Fitch's flagship store in New York City, along with Fellows Program Manager Nichole Velasquez (fourth from left). Photo courtesy of Abercrombie & Fitch.
On July 28, 2017, LCLD Member organizations Abercrombie & Fitch and Squire Patton Boggs hosted Fellows and Pathfinders for a Leadership Lunch Plus at Squire Patton Boggs’ New York office in Rockefeller Center. Afterwards, attendees walked to the flagship store of Abercrombie & Fitch for a tour.
The event was co-hosted by Fred Nance, Global Managing Partner of Squire Patton Boggs, and 2016 Fellow Stacia Jones, Vice President, Associate General Counsel, and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at Abercrombie & Fitch. John Nonna, Managing Partner of Squire Patton Boggs’ New York office, welcomed the LCLD Fellows and Pathfinders to the lunch followed by introductions of attendees. The discussion between Nance and Jones was moderated by Alethia Nancoo, an LCLD diversity professional and Partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.
Nance, joining by teleconference, regaled the attendees with stories from his career, including his work with clients such as the City of Cleveland, the Cleveland Browns, and NBA star LeBron James. He used these examples to demonstrate to attendees that their careers, like his, would be unscripted and rely on external factors. He urged them to focus on the things they can control such as their personal brand, relationships, and taking advantage of every opportunity.
Jones discussed her career path from law firm attorney to her current position overseeing Abercrombie & Fitch’s global diversity and inclusion efforts. She stressed the importance of clients, like Abercrombie, demanding diversity & inclusion efforts from their partner law firms in order to effect change in the profession. Read full article.
For questions about hosting a Leadership Lunch Plus, please contact Nichole Velasquez, Fellows Program Manager.
Recent & Upcoming Learning Experiences
Please keep a lookout this fall for articles about the following Learning Experiences:
- McDonald's Corporation: On June 29, Jerry Krulewitch, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary, hosted Fellows at McDonald's Oak Brook, IL, headquarters. Jones Day hosted a Welcome Reception on June 28.
- Morton Salt: On August 10, Chad Walker, Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary (and 2012 Fellow), hosted Fellows at Morton Salt's Chicago headquarters. DLA Piper hosted a Welcome Reception on August 9.
- 3M Company: On September 8, Ivan Fong, Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs, and General Counsel, will host Fellows at 3M's headquarters in St. Paul, MN. Blackwell Burke, P.A. and Faegre Baker Daniels LLP will host a Welcome Reception on September 7.
- Abercrombie & Fitch Co.: On September 21, Robert Bostrom, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary; and 2016 Fellows Stacia Jones and Arooj Sheikh, will host Fellows at Abercrombie & Fitch's headquarters in New Albany, OH. Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP will host a Welcome Reception on September 20.
For questions about hosting a Learning Experience, please contact Nichole Velasquez, Fellows Program Manager.
What's Working: How to Build a D&I Framework
LCLD Member firm Reed Smith LLP isn’t waiting for clients to request more diversity. Instead, they’re taking the lead with an organization-wide diversity and inclusion framework.
Reed Smith recently created two unique roles to head the D&I charge – a Global Chair of Diversity & Inclusion/Chief Diversity Officer, John Iino (l), and an Executive Director of Diversity Recruiting, 2011 Fellow Marlen Whitley (r). Both positions are part of a recent ramping up of the firm’s D&I work – along with new data efforts, a diversity summit for both employees and clients, and expanded employee resource groups.
Unique law firms require unique diversity and inclusion initiatives. But there are a few things all firms should consider when deciding how to handle them. LCLD asked Iino and Whitley to share their insights on creating a D&I framework that saturates the oranization. Learn more.
To learn about What's Working in diversity, inclusion, and talent development at LCLD Member organizations, click here. To submit an initiative, please email Caitlin Puffenberger, LCLD Communications Specialist.
Upcoming Leadership Lunch in Dallas
Jerry K. Clements, Chair of Locke Lord LLP, and Julia A. Simon, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Mary Kay, Inc., will speak to Fellows at a Leadership Lunch on August 23, 2017, at Locke Lord's office in Dallas, TX. We'd like to thank them in advance for hosting this event.
For questions about hosting a Leadership Lunch, please contact Nichole Velasquez, Fellows Program Manager.
Welcome, New Members!
Blane Clark, Managing Partner, Kean Miller LLP. Kean Miller was born on Valentine’s Day 1983, when nine attorneys in a well-respected and successful Louisiana law firm announced they were departing to begin anew. Their inspiration for this new law firm was the passion to create a positive culture, wherein the attorneys enjoyed working together for the benefit of the client and the community;
a place where the attorneys were friends first and business partners second; a place where partners did not compete with one another; and an environment where the client came first and the projects were performed by the most qualified attorney. Today, we are happy to report that the vision of our founding partners, to create a culture and environment that puts people first, remains a fundamental building block of our business and our relationships. This philosophy is alive today, from the people we represent, to people we employ; and from the charitable organizations we serve, to the civic causes we support.
Tom Heywood, Managing Partner, Bowles Rice LLP. We will strive for our clients’ success as our own, and improve lives and opportunities in the communities we serve.
In the News
Tom Bender, LCLD Member and Co-President of Littler Mendelson, P.C., spoke about an increase in client requests for diversity data.
Anna Brown, North American Diversity & Inclusion Director at Baker & McKenzie LLP, shared the ways in which the firm is working to be more inclusive of the growing number of LGBT attorneys.
Christine McGuinness and Sailesh Patel are taking on new roles as Co-Chairs of Schiff Hardin LLP’s firmwide Diversity Committee.
Dawn Siler-Nixon, Diversity and Inclusion Partner at Ford & Harrison LLP, discussed the firm’s increased commitment to gender diversity.
Laura Maechtlen, 2011 Fellow and Partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP, discussed the variation on the Rooney Rule the firm recently began implementing.
Various LCLD Member organizations were featured in the news.
Read the latest issue of the LCLD Weekly News Digest on major issues in diversity and the legal profession. If you would like to receive the news digest via email each Wednesday, please contact Caitlin Puffenberger.
Jessica Sabesan
Communications & Marketing Manager, LCLD Insider Editor
If you have any news or honors that are relevant to LCLD Members, please email Jessica Sabesan at jsabesan@lcldnet.com.
