Journeys to Equity

Change is in the Details In this episode, Julie Honor, General Counsel, at 3Q Digital Inc., shares how her interest in business equipped her with the needed outlook to embrace and incorporate effective change management. She highlights the realities of implementing change, and what organizations must do to get the ball moving. Julie draws focus to the importance of leaders being able to express an...

Know What Needs To Be Done & Make It Happen In this episode, Ellen Bailey, Vice President of Diversity and Culture, at Harvard Business Publishing shares insights on what it means to “ practice what you publish.”   To that end, she tells a captivating story about how her background in sales equipped her with the skillset to convert DEI strategy into a business plan and effectively sell the nee...

Change Starts with Self-Reflection In this episode, Dawnita Wilson, Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion, at JBG Smith Properties, discusses the evolution of her DEI career and more significantly, why her role is vital to business success. Dawnita asks a difficult question: How intentional are companies being with diversity implementation? As listeners, we too are invited to evaluate ourselve...

The Road to Self-Discovery and “Confront”ability In this episode, Nick Tiger, Associate General Counsel at Upgrade, Inc., reflects on his journey to self-discovery, guided by his ability to see the bigger picture. Identifying as a cisgender gay man, who lives with ADHD, it is no surprise that Nick had barriers to overcome. However, what society classified as hindrances, Nick transformed into stimu...

Transforming Workplace Culture In this episode, Marina Severinovsky, Head of Sustainability, North America at Schroders, discusses her experience in the field of finance, her transition into the ESG sector, and the importance of empathy.  Coming from a family of refugees that fled the Soviet Union, Severinovsky was quickly introduced to the gatekeeping and lack of access to opportunity for those w...

The Path to Success Need Not Be Linear In this episode, Leilani Latimer, Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer at Fair Trade USA and a Board Member at Rayont and Black Diamond Group, reflects back on how being adventurous and taking big risks led to the fulfillment of her dreams. After graduating from college, Lelani put law school on hold and went to Europe because she felt like it. Little did s...

Embracing Vulnerability and Having Grace in Leadership     This episode highlights the career journey of Kelley Stewart, Executive Vice President at Pursuant. As someone who has spent her entire career in the nonprofit sector, Kelley was perfectly positioned to join Pursuant, a fundraising and marketing agency, exclusively serving nonprofits. Along the way, she learned the importance of fulfilling...

Change Starts with Your Mindset  This episode highlights the career journey of Olga Mack, CEO at Parley Pro. Olga progressed from a traditional practice as an intellectual property lawyer to becoming CEO by always embracing new skills and focusing on ways to make an impact in her chosen profession. Part of this includes her advocacy on behalf of women in the workplace. In fact, Olga was instrument...

Conquering Self-Doubt and Imposter Syndrome   This episode highlights the career journey of Nina Blackshear the Director, Corporate Counsel - Global Technical Operations at Incyte. Nina’s nontraditional path to law taught her to embrace change, build meaningful relationships, and hone her skill set to propel her forward. She shares a unique way to position yourself in the interview process to secu...

Cultivating Communities For Women  In this episode, Anne Cappella, a Partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, discusses forming supportive networks to develop and advance career growth in the legal industry. Anne has developed a unique skill set by integrating her intellectual property background with her prior experience as an engineer and consultant for IBM. This has enabled her to develop a s...

Recognizing Individuality and Honoring Your Authentic Self  In this episode, Rishi Varma, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, discusses his professional journey as a first generation Indian-American. Rishi shares the invaluable lessons he learned along the way and how it helped to advance his career. These include developing and maintaining strong relationships...

Happy Holidays from the CenterForce Team   In this episode, Steve Camac & Robyn Frank recap the impactful themes and lessons learned throughout our conferences and podcasts in 2021. Spotlighting topics such as The Great Resignation, micro-affirmations, vulnerability, intentional coaching, and sponsorship, they also pondered on what to look for in the coming year. We hope that through the every...

Change Comes from Inspiration or Desperation  In this episode, Melissa Dorman Matthews, Diversity and Inclusion Partner, at Hartline Barger LLP, joins the program for an insightful discussion on the importance of devoting time to business development. She gained first-chair trial experience over her 27 years of practice and shares her journey on the work she put into herself to achieve her goals....

Encouraging Women to Speak up and Ask for What they Want   In this episode, Hillary Holmes, Partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, discusses how networking with purpose allowed her to foster impactful relationships and build a rewarding career. Candidly sharing her personal stories and observations, Hillary shines a light on the invisible barriers that often hinder the career advancement of women...

Perspectives on Taking Risks, Working Hard and Embracing Change  In this episode, Christianne Kerns, Managing Partner at Hahn & Hahn, shares her experiences starting out as a young lawyer in the mid-1980s — a time when many firms were dominated by men, and women rarely made partner. Despite having limited knowledge of the legal field as an undergraduate, Christianne found her way into law and...

Appreciating Culture and Identity to Understand Racism In this episode, Nnedinma C. Ifudu (Nnedi) Nweke, Partner at Akin Gump, provides her views on race in America through the backdrop of her Nigerian culture and identity. She will share how pivotal experiences in college and law school prompted her to take a step back and become more aware of racism. She understood how her background and experie...

When Fear and Intuition Collide Angela ONeal, Director of Nextra Solutions at Nexsen Pruet, joins the program to discuss the importance of grabbing hold of ambition and aiming straight for the top. As a first-generation college and advanced degree graduate, Angela addresses how she manifested her childhood dreams into reality and the challenges she faced while entering a male-dominated career as a...

Being Your Authentic Self in the Workplace   In this episode, Brenda Oliver, Principal at Jackson Lewis P.C. talks about how her immigrant background inspired her to become a business immigration attorney. Growing up in California, Brenda watched many people from diverse backgrounds succeed in their careers. This gave her the courage to keep pursuing her dreams despite the many challenges she met...

Achieving the Opportunity of a Lifetime In this episode, Carmen Ortiz, Partner at Anderson & Kreiger LLP and a former U.S. Attorney under the Obama administration, discusses her professional journey in the legal sector and treasured lessons she has learned along the way. Carmen, a native New Yorker, details her journey from growing up in Spanish Harlem to eventually being nominated for a U.S....

Beating the Odds and Finding Success on Her Terms In this episode, Salumeh Loesch, Of Counsel at Klarquist Sparkman, LLP–a full-service Intellectual Property firm in Portland, Oregon–shares her experience as both an immigrant and a woman of color finding her way to personal and professional fulfillment.  Though Salumeh came to this country at the tender age of five, with no English or any understa...

How diverse teams are often the best teams and other insights on inclusion.  In this episode, Hillary Holmes, Partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, discusses her career journey in the legal sector and the valuable lessons she has learned along the way. A life-long Houstonian, Hillary’s passion for law and business grew from a young age after watching her mother become one of the first female par...

Speaking Up for Yourself and Others in Corporate America In this episode, Caroline Powell Donelan, Co-Chair of the General Litigation Group at Blank Rome LLP, discusses how being harassed as a young associate by a senior partner, informed her ideas on the importance of self-advocacy, diversity at the leadership level and mandatory training for all. After years of practice in labor & employment...

Paying for Progress Not Just for Profit! In this episode, Jennifer Rubin, Member at Mintz Levin–a full service Am Law 100 law firm–addresses the importance of becoming your best self as you rise to the top and accountability in leadership. Choosing to start a family early in her career, it took Jen 13 years to make partner. Along the way she picked up some valuable tips on how to structure a deal...

Putting the ROI in DEI In this episode, Susan Berson, Managing Partner of Mintz Levin’s DC office and Member of their Executive Committee discusses her people-first approach to business, life and DEI initiatives. This wide-ranging discussion covers the drive that comes from immigrant parents, the myth of in-house being less stressful and how to integrate DEI at the heart of your business strategy....

Getting Straight with Who You are and Who You Were Meant to Be    In this inaugural episode, our own Robyn Frank, VP Diversity and General Counsel for CenterForce USA, shares how she went from passively following the path that was set out for her to becoming an impassioned advocate of DEI. Hear how she learned to reinvent herself in order to realize her own dreams while helping others along the wa...