Inclusivity Included: Powerful personal stories

Reed Smith
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Inclusivity Included: Powerful personal stories

Everyone – regardless of their background – has something we can learn from and be inspired by. In each episode, our guests will share their personal stories, passions, and challenges – past and present – all with the goal of bringing people together and learning more about others. You might be surprised by what we all have in common.

  1. FEB 26

    We are American history: The vision behind The HistoryMakers

    In this podcast, our hosts Elizabeth Brandon and Charletta Dawson explore the motivations and origins behind the creation of The HistoryMakers, a non-profit organization with the largest archive of first-person oral histories of renowned and unsung African Americans. Learn how Julieanna Richardson’s discovery of the accomplishments of a black artist helped her find her identity and inspired her to create The HistoryMakers. ----more---- Transcript: Intro: Welcome to the Reed Smith Podcast, Inclusivity Included: Powerful Personal Stories. In each episode of this podcast, our guests will share their personal stories, passions and challenges, past and present, all with a goal of bringing people together and learning more about others. You might be surprised by what we all have in common, Inclusivity Included.  Charletta: Hello and welcome to Reed Smith's Inclusivity Included. We are celebrating Black History Month, and my name is Charletta Dawson. In a recent interview, Dr. George C. Fraser shared that for Americans in America, Black excellence is the base, but exceptionalism should be the goal. And with us today is one exceptional individual, and that is Ms. Julieanna Richardson. She is the founder and driving force behind the HistoryMakers. Ms. Julieanna, welcome, and we are so pleased to have you with us today. I'm just very excited to get into this podcast and hear all this great information that you have to share with us today.  Elizabeth: And my name is Elizabeth Brandon. I am a partner at Reed Smith the Dallas office. I practice litigation. And I'm excited today to be kind of primarily leading this interview with Julieanna. Thank you, Charletta. And Julieanna, let's just dive right in. And first, can you just tell the audience a little bit about what exactly is HistoryMakers?  Julieanna: So The HistoryMakers has grown to be the nation's largest African-American video oral history archive. We actually turned 25 years old this year, this month. This month, in the year 2000, we started doing our interviews, and we've grown to over 3,800 interviews of African-American leaders in 451 cities and towns across the United States. We've actually traveled internationally. The importance of the collection, though, which is housed at the Library of Congress, is that there's only been one time in the history of the United States that there's been a massive attempt to record the Black experience through the first voice, and that was 1900s, our enslaved experience. There had been no attempt to do that until we came along. And so it was very important for us that we were able to interview people who have enslaved ancestors. And while we always are wanting to do younger people, the majority of the people that we've interviewed historically have been 70 and above. But it's really needed. In many ways, the project is about identity, identity of a people, identity of a country. And the other part is I really believe that you can't have a melting pot unless you have all the parts, all the ingredients to make soup or a cake. You've got to have all those ingredients. And so we see ourselves as a very important ingredient of the American experience.  Elizabeth: Well, I mean, that is just fabulous and, frankly, inspiring to hear those words. And before we kind of delve in and unpack some of the things you just told us, I kind of want to delve a little bit behind you, Julieanna, and your background. Can you tell us what inspired you to even undertake this whole journey?  Julieanna: Well, you know, it's interesting that I'm presenting at a law firm because I'm a lawyer by training. I started my career as a graduate of Harvard Law School in the banking and corporate department of Jenner & Block in Chicago. But the project itself really starts when I'm nine years old. And I'm living in a town called Newark, Ohio, which is about 35 miles southeast Columbus, Ohio. And I was the only black kid in my class because we had 1,000 blacks out of 50,000 whites in my town. And the only two things we studied about black people, I should also say, was George Washington Carver. My white teacher was very animated about George Washington Carver and said he could do all these things with peanuts. And then there were the pictures of the enslaved, and they are hunched over. So my nine-year-old brain that wasn't computing? How could one person have done all these things, all these things, when all we have been were slaves? And then that same teacher asked us to talk about our family background. So you know how nine years old, you're excited. So everybody's hands are raising up. I'm part German, I'm part Italian, I'm part French. And I'm literally sort of cowering over the corner because I don't know exactly how to answer. And this is before James Brown, I'm Black and I'm proud. And so I say maybe Negro or colored. And then I threw a Native American because most Black people think they have Native American in them. And then I added in French because I wanted to be sexy like the other kids. I wanted to have an identity. Now, I don't know about Haiti or Cote de Blanc or about those at all. That's way beyond my concept. But I'm sitting there. And I know, and I've been told not to lie, you know, you don't lie, but I'm lying. And my teacher looks at me with a little raised brow and I felt like a fraud. Never told my parents.  Elizabeth: How did it feel at nine years old, sitting in that classroom and kind of just both receiving all the only information historically that you're learning about people that look like you is that they were slaves? And how did you feel about basically having to lie about what you felt your background was?  Julieanna: I didn't feel good and I never told my parents about it, but maybe it's better to talk about how I felt when I found out I had history. I'm in my sophomore year at Brandeis University, and I'm American Studies and Theater Arts major because my father wanted me to go to law school, but my dream was theater. And so I'm doing research on a project called the Harlem Renaissance, which is a period in the 1920s in our country, in New York and Harlem, where there's a cultural renaissance. Alice Childress wrote to me, the writer Alice Childress wrote to me and said, renaissance, that means a rebirth. They were poor, they died poor, they were poor. But there's this period called the Harlem Renaissance. And so I went to study it. And there was a famous librarian in New York, Schaumburg's Library, named Jean Blackwell Hudson. I've actually, my letter I wrote to her telling her.  Elizabeth: Wow. Wow.  Julieanna: And asking her to identify people in the Harlem Renaissance that I could talk to. So one day I'm in the library and I've got my headphones on and it's like a gray day. It's a fall day and the leaves are brown and orange. And I'm looking out from the library at the trees and I have my headphones on. I'm listening to I'm Just Wild About Harry. And this song that I know, I thought it was about Harry Truman. This song that I know I find in that black library. Was written by a Black songwriting team of Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake in the 1921 production of Shuffle Along on Broadway. And you talking about like wanting to like, almost like I was shot out of a cannon, I was overjoyed because I had found my identity. And I had found Black people had done And not just that, lots and lots of things.  Elizabeth: So you said something very interesting when you started talking about this. You started this by saying you were going to talk about how you felt when you discovered you had a history. Could you kind of tell us what it means to have that feeling that you had a history? And this is something you discovered, I guess, in college. So you were 18, 19 years old.  Julieanna: Yeah. I get chills just now thinking about how I felt. I don't think people understand the importance of identity and identity formation. And feeling, you know, people talk about feeling other. But I don't think because, you know, people, when you have a sense of legacy and where you came from, and that's what those kids could talk about that day. You know, they all knew it or they seemed to know it. They knew more than I did. I didn't know anything. And so here I was, and I found my own identity, and I'm with my tape recorder, and I'm doing research, and I'm interviewing Lee Whipper, who was born in 18—he was born in 1870. And he—I go to interview him, and he says that he had moved to New York in 1900. And I go, wow, because I'm like 18, 19 years old. And he just will be old as Methuselah. I don't know what concept, you know. And so my interviewing skills have improved since then. But I'm researched. I am researched and I'm serious because he actually gave me front row tickets to see Josephine Baker, who was a noted artist  Elizabeth: Oh, my goodness.  Julieanna: Who moved, and my family had spent time at her castle that she had in France. And so he's telling me he has these tickets, and I have an existential crisis. I'm there to do my interviews, or do I go see Josephine Baker? And I opted to sit and interview with him. And one interview led to the other. I interviewed Butterfly McQueen, who had starred in Gone with the Wind, and that little voice that she had it was a real voice and she was working up in Harlem in impoverished conditions though when she had started gone with the wind that she had made five thousand dollars a week but she had also been typecast as a silly you know, But she wasn't like that, but she still had that voice. And so that was lovely. I interviewed tap dancer Honi Coles. I interviewed John Henrik Clark, historian. And just one interview led to the other. And there was no question at that point. It sort of like lit a fire in me. And I went on to finish. And I ended up going to Harvard Law School. And then I was thinking I could represent artists if I couldn't be an artist. And it was really hard in tho

    38 min

  2. FEB 13

    Navigating identity: Muslim attorneys share their journeys

    In this episode of Inclusivity Included, host Bareeq Barqawi speaks with Foley Hoag partner Arsalan Suleman and Reed Smith’s Rizzy Qureshi and Wardah Bari about their experiences as Muslim attorneys. This conversation explores the unique journeys, challenges, and triumphs of Muslim professionals in the legal field. Our panelists share personal stories about navigating identity in the workplace, addressing misconceptions about Islam, and fostering a culture of inclusion. Whether you're a legal professional or an ally, this episode offers valuable insights on how we can all contribute to a more equitable and supportive environment. ----more---- Transcript: Intro: Welcome to the Reed Smith Podcast, Inclusivity Included, Powerful Personal Stories. In each episode of this podcast, our guests will share their personal stories, passions, and challenges, past and present, all with a goal of bringing people together and learning more about others. You might be surprised by what we all have in common, Inclusivity Included.  Bareeq: Hello and welcome to this special episode of Inclusivity Included, Reed Smith's DEI podcast. I'm your host, Barik Barkawi, and today we're excited to feature an incredible panel brought to you by the Muslim Inclusion Committee, one of our business inclusion groups here at Reed Smith. This episode highlights the experiences, challenges, and successes of Muslims in the legal profession. Joining us today are three distinguished guests, Arsalan Suleman, a partner at Foley Hoag, an international litigation and arbitration practice, and a former senior diplomat and policymaker at the U.S. Department of State. Rizzy Qureshi, a partner at Reed Smith in Global Regulatory Enforcement and a member of our Executive Committee. Wardah Bari, an Associate Attorney in Global Commercial Disputes at Reed Smith. Hi, everybody. Thank you for joining today. Arsalan: Thanks for having us. Bareeq: All right, so let's dive right in. To start, I'd love to hear a little bit about each of your journeys to becoming lawyers. What inspired you to pursue a career in the legal field? I will start with you, Arsalan. Arsalan: Great, thank you. Yeah, I guess for me, I sort of started thinking about going into a legal path seriously all the way back in high school when I started getting into high school policy debate. I sort of had the expected path of a South Asian son of two doctors. And so growing up, I assumed that I was going to be a doctor. But when I got kind of pretty far into heavily into policy debate in high school, I kind of realized that I was more interested in issues related to law and policy, especially foreign policy. And so the legal sort of option became much more serious for me around that time. And so going into college, I kind of had that as sort of a big general motivation and kind of experiences in college kind of reinforced that. So yeah, that was kind of my sort of tilt towards the law. Bareeq: Love that. So you've got to find your calling pretty early in life. That's fantastic. What about you, Rizzy? Rizzy: You know, my upbringing is not very different than Arsalan's or Wardah’s. I'm actually growing up in a Pakistani household. I'm a failure because I didn't go to medical school. But, you know, for me growing up, my dad was a veterinarian. His dream was to attend medical school. So I was very much pushed towards medicine and sciences. But unfortunately, that didn't jive with my skill set and my passion. And it became evident pretty early on when, as a young person, as a child of first-generation Americans who needed me to just be involved in things that ordinary 12-year-olds wouldn't need to be involved in, which is participate in the closing of our very first home and sort of reading documents and providing analysis, which I had no business doing. But it just is the way I grew up in advocating in my community in North Philadelphia, as well as in my Muslim community. And, you know, it became evident early on that advocacy was where I was best positioned with my skill set. And then ultimately, you know, dropping AP Bio is probably a pretty monumental moment of my life because my dad needed to have a sit down with everybody at the whole school district. But fast forward 40 plus years, my parents are very proud of me. And I've succeeded in an area where I think I can provide the most value to my community, which I think is critical to me as a person and how my parents ultimately raised me. I love that. Bareeq: I love that you highlighted advocacy. I found that doing these episodes, a lot of immigrant households or first-generation families, advocacy seems to be a really big theme in growing up in American society and kind of advocating for your family and extended community. So that's fantastic. Wardah, what about you? Wardah: Yeah, I think very similar family upbringing. I also come from a Pakistani Muslim family, first generation, and we grew up in a really small town. It was a very small, white, homogenous town. We were the only Muslim kids in our school. And so watching my parents navigate as immigrants living in a new society. Trying to integrate, trying to learn how to navigate these systems, it wasn't always easy. But I think a really big moment for me was after 9-11, which I think, Like a lot of Muslims can relate to this. There was a lot of Islamophobia in my town that everyone in my family faced since we were, you know, the only Muslim kids. People would say things about me, my family. They would come up to us at the grocery store and like harass my mom. Teachers would say really Islamophobic things. And so, you know, as a student, as a, you know, like a young student, that really makes an impression on you and my classmates. So watching my family go through these things, I would always try to speak up about these injustices. But my parents as immigrants were very much like, you know, we put our heads down. We just work hard. You know, we don't make commotion. We're just second class citizens. We need to try to fit in. But over time, watching my family go through all of this and as well as other communities, you know, immigrant communities, religious groups, minorities face different injustices that made me really want to go to law school because, well, one, we have enough doctors. And although that was also a big pressure for me too. But I thought that having a law degree would really help me not only understand the law and legal processes, you know, which were not really designed for people like us, but it also helps equips you with the tools to navigate these systems and really understand how our society works and advocate for people that always can't advocate for themselves. Bareeq: You know, you bring up a really great point, which is when you mentioned 9-11 and how pivotal that was to your entry into the legal profession. And I find that with majority Muslims, I too am Muslim, and there's life before 9-11 and there's life after 9-11 when it comes to living in America. So at least for us in terms of what we've experienced and the heightened Islamophobia, I would love to hear about what other pivotal moments or were there any other pivotal moments in your careers that shaped the path that you're on today? And actually, I'll send it over to you, Rizzy. Rizzy: Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, for me, I kind of look at it two ways. You're absolutely right. 9-11 was a monumental moment, and it impacted everybody, in particular, the Muslim American community. So that stands out in my mind. But, you know, breaking into big law as a first year associate in Manhattan and just being different and and being in the “minority,” not only with how I identify, but also how I may behave or the things I'm doing during Ramadan, for example. You know, always not always, but was oftentimes a natural tension with what I quote was supposed to be. doing at the law firm that evening. So I actually look back a lot to those early days in my career where frankly, and I'm being completely honest, where I think I compromised what I knew in my core to be my priorities for the benefit of doing what I thought was necessary to succeed in the law firm environment. And that was 18, 20 years ago when I started practicing law. And I'm happy to report that so much has changed and I've been re-invited to and returned to my core, but those are some pivotal moments because I think back sometimes at that time of my career, I have some regret that I wasn't more, I'll call it outwardly Muslim and outwardly different so that my presence could be, I mean, I'm not an inspiring person, but an inspiration or something for people from my community, but I learned from it. And I learned for why sometimes survival requires one to at least not. Human nature requires you to behave sometimes in ways that maybe you don't think you're going to behave. And I'm not suggesting that, you know, if my mom listens to this podcast, she will, mom, I wasn't eating pork all the time or, you know, doing crazy things. But I think from her perspective, by the way, but I think it really does put into focus how much, how far we've come as a legal industry, as a community, as a country. But, you know, current events would tell you that, are we going a step backward? And, you know, that remains to be seen, but that's what gives me both concern and also reinforces me the importance of being out there, being present in leadership in this global law firm to ensure people know that I'm here and I am different and that I'm here to support them. Bareeq: You know, I will beg to differ on one thing, Rizzy, which is that you're not an inspiration because I don't think that's true. You know, I think you talk about compromise and sacrifice, you know, 18 years ago and when you were starting your career and things. But now, for example, like you being a member of the executive committee as a Muslim, I think paves the path for other Muslims to say like

    40 min

  3. 12/19/2024

    Reed Smith veterans: What service means to us ft. Shannon Llenza

    Shannon Llenza, Assistant General Counsel at Microsoft and Commander, U.S. Navy Reserve (retired), reflects with Reed Smith data coordinator Mark Butterfield, a member of RSVets, Reed Smith’s veterans business inclusion group, on how her military service has impacted her legal, governmental, and corporate career. ----more---- Transcript: Intro: Welcome to the Reed Smith Podcast, Inclusivity Included, Powerful Personal Stories. In each episode of this podcast, our guests will share their personal stories, passions, and challenges, past and present, all with a goal of bringing people together and learning more about others. You might be surprised by what we all have in common, Inclusivity Included.  Mark: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to Inclusivity Included. I'm Mark Butterfield. I'm a proud member of Reed Smith Vets here at Reed Smith, and your host for today's episode. With my own military service background and my ongoing doctoral studies, I'm deeply committed to exploring what service means in and beyond the military. Today, we have a truly unique guest, Shannon Llenza, a seasoned attorney and former member of Reed Smith's Business Leadership Council. She brings remarkable experience from both the military and corporate worlds. Shannon began her career as a full-time Navy JAG officer, moving into the reserves where she held key legal roles with the National Security Agency, the Department of Defense, and tackling issues with national impact in those roles. Now at Microsoft, she continues to apply the expertise that she builds, navigating critical intelligence and security matters. So Shannon, thank you so much for joining us to share your journey of service, leadership, and resilience. Shannon: Thank you so much for having me. I'm happy to be here. Mark: It's a real pleasure for me. I would like to start by asking, first of all, what motivated you to begin your journey with the Navy? Shannon: Yeah, you know, it's funny. I didn't join the Navy until I actually commissioned my second year of law school. and the motivation to join the Navy is actually a funny story. It was my father who told me that I should go into the JAG Corps. And the reason he told me that is because there was this show called JAG that he loved and he thought it was just so cool. So he, you know, suggested it to me and I had no idea what the JAG Corps was. It never even occurred to me to join the military. At that time, I was 29 years old, so I was older. So I started exploring the opportunities my second year, and I interviewed with some JAGs. I was just really impressed by the program and the experience that I would be able to gain going into the JAG Corps. And so once I was offered a position, I sealed the deal and I went in. I commissioned and then I commissioned. Yeah, so it was great. Mark: And did you have a family history of military service? Shannon: You know, it's funny. No, no, I didn't have a family history of military service. In fact, I was the first person in my family to even graduate from college. So going to law school was a huge deal. And then joining the military was even a bigger deal. So, yeah, I'm the first. Mark: Yeah, we have similar overlap there. I'm the same. It's been my grandparents that served in the sailor into the Second World War. Shannon: Oh, my gosh. Wow. Mark: And then, yeah, for me, again, one of the first to go to university as well in the family, which was, yeah, so very similar in those respects. Shannon: Yeah, yeah, that's great. Mark: You've held significant roles across the military and the civilian sectors that I've briefly alluded to, particularly in regards to things like national security. And has this background sort of shaped your approach to your current position and challenges at Microsoft? Shannon: Yeah. So it's interesting. I got out of the JAG Corps after four years of active duty when I had my son, because my husband was also active duty. So it was kind of challenging for us. And that's when I went into the reserves. So when I got out of the Navy, I started working for the U.S. Government in various capacities that led to really a career in national security. I started at the Department of Defense, working on Guantanamo Habeas Matters. And then, like you said, I moved over to the National Security Agency and then ultimately ended up at the Department of the Justice writing counterintelligence and counterterrorism FISA's. The interesting thing in the JAG Corps and the reserves, I did serve in our national security litigation section for a period of time. So I did do some national security work as well in the JAG Corps. And the interesting link between the two really is how, when I had my job at the Department of Defense, I worked with the intelligence community, and that's when I really became interested in transitioning over into the intelligence community and becoming an attorney in that area. And it was people in the reserves that I knew that were working in the intelligence community that sort of helped me parlay my job from the Department of Defense into the National Security Agency and then into the Department of Justice. So even though the reserves, I wasn't directly involved in these agencies when I was in the reserves, the reserves had a huge part to play in me really advancing my career and helping me get to where I wanted to be in the intelligence community and government. And then the way that worked with Microsoft was really interesting. I actually applied for a job. My original job at Microsoft was, I was the attorney advising on when Microsoft would receive legal process from the federal government, state, local government, national security FISAs. And so all of that experience I had in the government really, really transitioned over to Microsoft so that I, you know, it was sort of a unicorn job at Microsoft. You had to have national security experience and FISA experience. And I was like, oh, my God, that's the job for me. Right. And so then that's how I was able to take all of that experience that I had in the U.S. Government and transfer it over to my role at Microsoft, my original role. Mark: Yeah, it's a really unique and interesting CV for me to read through. Yeah. It's just so varied. I suppose you must have spent a lot of time sort of juggling these multiple roles and your family life and everything else. How do you balance that in terms of your service commitments, your family commitments, your various career roles? Shannon: Yeah. You know, it was, it was challenging. It was hard because when I was full into the reserves and working full time, you know, my kids were little and my husband was active duty. So it was, it was definitely challenging. You know, it just, I just made the commitment to, to do that, that balance. And, you know, I, I honestly like looking back, like, I don't know how I did it. You know, I just did it. Right. It's like, you're sort of in it and I was committed to staying in the reserves. I just figured it out, I guess. The most important thing to me always was my family and taking care of them. What's interesting is when I was about 15 years into it back in 2000 or 17 years into it, I guess, back in 2019, I actually was tagged for an involuntary mobilization to Djibouti. And so at the time, my daughter was 9 and my son was 14. My husband had just gotten off active duty and they sent me away for about 15 months. I had 12 months boots on ground. You know, that was interesting and difficult. And, you know, again, it's just one of these things that you just get through it, right? Because you've made that commitment. And as much as I didn't want to go, and I didn't want to leave my daughter and my son, but you just got to do what you have said you're going to do. Mark: Absolutely. And the 15 months, I'm always astonished by the U.S. duration. Our deployments in the British military are usually half that. So that length of separation must be really challenging. If you've got a husband who's in the service, some bit of understanding there as well. Shannon: Yeah, he was definitely understanding. He, you know, as I worked and I was in the reserves and had kids, he did five deployments, much shorter. His were between as long as seven months, but then they would be about three or four months. So, so he, you know, I knew, you know, I had experienced a deployment, he was active duty, he knew what he was in for, but, but it was a really long time to leave, to leave my husband and my kids, you know, and then it actually overlapped with COVID as well. And so that, that made for an even more challenging experience. So yeah, it was, it was a little bit difficult. Mark: I can imagine. So I suppose being in the military, you're, you're learning a lot of unique lessons. What unique lessons did you learn in the military about resilience, dealing with high stakes decisions and managing change, these sorts of things that could be potentially valuable to people in a corporate setting? Shannon: Yeah. I think you learn how to manage change pretty easily. I think that things are always changing and moving and fluid, especially, for instance, I'll just go back to the deployment, right? You know, I mean, it was just, you're in a combat zone, even though it's Djibouti, things are moving quickly. My job was to advise the commanding officer of the base. So it was a lot of very, you know, there were decisions that had to be made, they had to be made quickly. And so you just, in that. Experience, really, it allowed me to become more confident in myself and understand like, okay, I am a good lawyer. I do understand this. I can't advise a commanding officer, right? And so it really just helped me gain confidence as an attorney and my abilities, and then also just helped me learn how to just roll through change and deal with issues as they came up. The resilience part definitely was there as well. Just staying strong while I was aw

    32 min

  4. 12/05/2024

    Paving the path: Access to good jobs for all

    This year, we commemorated National Disabilities Employment Awareness Month by exploring how employers can work toward providing access to good jobs for persons with disabilities in the legal profession; the tangible benefits of employing persons with disabilities; the feasibility of providing accommodations; and the use of assistive technology. Our speakers provided their thoughts on best practices, shared personal journeys and insights, and reflected on how far employers have come and where we need to focus to increase future employment opportunities for persons with disabilities in the legal profession and beyond. Our guests included Kevin Hara: Counsel, Reed Smith; Ronza Othman: President, National Association of Blind Government Employees – a division of the National Federation of the Blind; Nicholas Carden: Associate General Counsel, Coinbase, and former Board Member of Disability:IN; and Laurie Allen: Microsoft, Senior Accessibility Technology Evangelist. ----more---- Transcript: Intro: Welcome to the Reed Smith Podcast, Inclusivity Included, Powerful Personal Stories. In each episode of this podcast, our guests will share their personal stories, passions, and challenges, past and present, all with a goal of bringing people together and learning more about others. You might be surprised by what we all have in common, Inclusivity Included.  Kevin: Hello, everybody. Welcome back to an episode of Inclusivity Included. Thank you, everyone, for joining. My name is Kevin Hara. I'm counsel at Reed Smith in the Life Sciences and Health Industries Group, and I'm proud to commemorate National Disabilities Employment Awareness Month, which is in October of every year. And this year's theme is access to good jobs for all. We have a number of distinguished panelists today joining us, including Ronza Othman, who is president of the National Association of Blind Government Employees, a division of the National Federation of the Blind. Nick Carden, associate general counsel from Coinbase, a former board member of Disability:IN. And Laurie Allen from Microsoft, a senior accessibility technology evangelist. So thank you, Ronza, Nick, and Laurie for joining us. We're thrilled to have you here as part of our podcast. And without further ado, I would like to ask Ronza to talk a little bit about your journey, how you have arrived where you are, and some of the important steps you took that led you to where you are today.  Ronza: Great. Thank you so much. I'm really delighted to be here. I am a blind attorney and my training was initially as a high school STEM teacher. And that's what I did to get myself through law school. And ultimately I've had a number of different legal jobs, but in state and local government and private sector, ultimately ended up in the federal government where now I manage civil rights programs for a large federal agency. And so my journey has been one of exploration and learning, not only because, you know, being a lawyer, an attorney is always difficult for any person, but also when you add the complications of inaccessible technology and perceptions about people with disabilities and what they can and cannot do, and the obstacles that those negative attitudes create, there's definitely been some really interesting experiences along the way, but I think that I'm optimistic in terms of where we are now. So my paid job, of course, is with the government. And as a volunteer, I serve as the president of the National Association of Blind Government Employees, where we have a number of blind and low vision employees of state, local, federal, and pseudo-government agencies that are members that are experiencing life as public servants, supporting this country at the local and state and national level. It is an honor to represent them and us in a variety of different circumstances, and I've gotten to do a lot of really cool things as a result.  Kevin: That's great. Thank you so much, Ronza. And Nick, if you'd like to share a little bit about your path that led you to where you are today.  Nicholas: Thanks, Kevin. And thanks to Reed Smith for having us. This is a great opportunity to speak about an important issue that impacts all of us on this call. I, like Ronza, I am a lawyer with a disability. I started my career right out of law school in-house, which is somewhat unusual, but it sort of led me to where I am today in the sense that early in my career, I was a true corporate generalist, and through various personnel changes and responsibility changes, I was at a consumer products manufacturing company and had the opportunity to pick up some, advertising and marketing and entertainment legal work. And I really enjoyed that type of work. It's a lot of fun. It's fast paced and it's highly creative and interesting work. So I've stayed in that sort of practice area as an in-house lawyer through my career to today where at Coinbase, I lead a global marketing legal team.  Kevin: Great. Thank you, Nick. And Laurie, we'd love to hear a little bit about the path you took to where you are today.  Laurie: Thanks, Kevin. And thank you again for inviting us to join you to talk about this great topic. So I am not an attorney. I work at Microsoft, as you mentioned. And I've been in tech for about 30 years. I've only been at Microsoft for a little over two. But my journey actually into accessibility started about nine and a half years ago when I had a spinal cord injury. and became quadriplegic. The only thing that didn't dramatically change about my life in that moment was my ability to do my job. And that's because of accessible technology that was available to me. And frankly, my job was quite literally a lifeline for me. So I'm so grateful that people came before me to create this technology. And about three years ago, I had this epiphany. How did this technology get created? And who built it? And why am I not part of the solution. So that's when I started pivoting my career into accessibility. So I feel quite fortunate to be in a role where I can combine my background in technology with my lived experience as a person with disability to help empower others like me, find meaningful employment, and succeed and thrive.  Kevin: Thank you so much. All of you have had such unique experiences and out to the successful careers that you are now engaged in today, but it hasn't always been easy for persons with disabilities in the legal profession and other professions to succeed. So I'd like to stay with you, Laurie, and to ask you, what do you believe are some of the barriers or challenges for persons with disabilities to find access to good jobs?  Laurie: And I think Ronza had mentioned it earlier, it's access to technology. It's discoverability, I find, that can be a barrier. People just don't know what technologies are available to support them in their work environments. And beyond that, it's finding companies who've built inclusive work environments for employees with disabilities, so that when they go through the interview process, they feel included, they feel supported, and as they're onboarded and as they can continue through their career. And then understanding that there are platforms that are available, like Mentra, for example, is a Microsoft partner. It's an amazing neurodiversity hiring platform. But I think just knowing what's available is sometimes quite difficult. And, you know, when people incur a disability like I did, they're starting from scratch, and they don't know what to ask for because it's a new environment for them.  Kevin: Thank you. That's a really good point. Having the access to the proper tools is key for anybody with a disability to succeed in any career path. Ronza, how about your perspective? How would you characterize some of the challenges people are facing and ways to overcome them?  Ronza: I think that the biggest challenge that the people with disabilities are really facing in terms of employment and just moving about society and contributing meaningfully in employment settings, but also in every setting, is the negative attitudes that people at large have about disability. Negative stereotypes. The unemployment rate for people with disabilities in the United States is over 50%. The unemployment rate for people who are blind and low vision in the United States is half again that almost at 75%. It's currently at 73%. That's mind boggling. These are people who want to work for the most part, but can't because nobody will hire them or because they don't have the proper training to be able to perform the jobs where there is a need. But all that really comes down to society's low expectations for people with disabilities and the barriers, artificial, usually, that society creates and puts in our way. One of the things that I really like to do as a hiring manager is I love meeting with and interviewing people with disabilities because they're so creative in their problem-solving. Their solutioning is out of the box thinking. And just to get to work in the morning, to get to the job, they have to have solved a whole bunch of problems in an environment, in a situation, in a society, not necessarily built for them. Whether it's the broken elevator, or whether it's the bus that didn't roll up to the bus stop where it was supposed to, or whether it's the technology that didn't work because somebody pushed a security update, so it broke its ability to communicate with assistive technology, or whether it's somebody, a well-meaning, you know, abled person who decided that they know where this person is trying to go and they're going to force them to go there as opposed to where the person is actually trying to go. All of those things, people with disabilities problem solve before they, you know, really start their day or as they're starting their day. And so I think we don't give enough credit to the workforce of folks with disabilities in terms of what they can do, wha

    35 min

  5. 11/26/2024

    Empowering voices: The journey of LIWOCA and its impact

    In this episode, we highlight the achievements of the Leadership Institute for Women of Color Attorneys (LIWOCA). Reed Smith partner Kendra Perkins Norwood is joined by LIWOCA’s founder, Marian Cover Dockery, J.D., and vice president, Philippa Ellis, J.D., to discuss their efforts to support women of color in overcoming barriers within the legal profession. Marian shares insights into the challenges faced by women of color attorneys and the transformative impact LIWOCA has had over its 20-year history. From offering scholarships and hosting national conferences to fostering mentorship and professional growth, LIWOCA remains a beacon of empowerment and continues to drive change in the legal community. ----more---- Transcript: Intro: Welcome to the Reed Smith podcast, Inclusivity Included: Powerful Personal Stories. In each episode of this podcast, our guests will share their personal stories, passions, and challenges, past and present, all with a goal of bringing people together and learning more about others. You might be surprised by what we all have in common, inclusivity included.  Kendra: Hello, I am Kendra Perkins Norwood, a government contracts partner at Reed Smith LLP based in Washington, D.C., and I am elated to welcome you to this very special episode of the Inclusivity Included podcast. So this is a special series of Inclusivity Included, and it's dedicated to an organization that is very near and dear to my heart called the Leadership Institute for Women of Color Attorneys, otherwise known as LIWOCA. So Reed Smith was very gracious in agreeing to host and sponsor this LIWOCA series of Inclusivity Included. And as a Reed Smith partner and a member of the LIWOCA Board of Trustees, I could not be more proud to be a part of bringing this podcast to life. So thank you very much to Reed Smith for their generous support. Now, many of you may be wondering exactly what is LIWOCA. So it is an organization whose mission is to help women of color attorneys in law firms and corporate legal departments, develop skills to become leaders in the legal profession. LIWOCA is also dedicated to assisting law firms and corporations with retaining and promoting women of color attorneys. And last but not least, the organization is dedicated to fueling the pipeline of women of color attorneys through law school scholarships. Today, for our inaugural episode, we are so fortunate to have as our guests LIWOCA’s founder, Marian Cover Dockery, as well as a longtime LIWOCA member, Philippa Ellis. So I would like to welcome you both to the podcast. We're so excited to have you here, and I will just turn the mic over to you for you two to get started.  Philippa: Thank you, Kendra. It is quite an honor to have this time with you, Marian, as CEO of Leadership Institute for Women of Color Attorneys. And I am excited to talk to you about your role with starting Leadership Institute for Women of Color Attorneys. I'll call it LIWOCA. You know, LIWOCA has awarded over $300,000 in scholarships to deserving law students, hosted 20 national networking conferences for women of color attorneys from across the nation. And the organization has provided a platform for not only professional networking, but also professional development and mentorship connections. So as we're approaching a big number, 20th anniversary, coming up on the April 23rd through 24th conference in 2025, Marian, take us back to the moment in time when you initially had the idea to launch LIWOCA.  Marian: Thank you. And I just want to say before I launch into that, I want to thank Reed Smith on behalf of LIWOCA for underwriting this and Kendra Norwood, partner at Reed Smith, and Rachel Patterson of ORC who facilitated this podcast. Let me go back to the American Bar Association conference in Chicago, which was 20 years ago, the Commission on Women in the Profession were holding a session, and the session focused on a report, a riveting report called Visible Invisibility. That report chronicled the and detailed the sexual harassment, sexual discrimination, racial discrimination, and disrespect that women of color all across the nation were experiencing in law firms. So after that report was read, a colleague of mine, Julia Doolin, and I went back to Atlanta and decided that we could do something about this. So my idea was to have an annual conference, bringing all of these talented women into one space and giving them support through sessions, panel discussions, also just keynote speakers who could impart their knowledge and advice regarding becoming successful in law firms. We had to figure out, first of all, how we were going to put this on because we had to have money. So luckily, I had two contacts who were CEOs. One who I'd worked with on the Pace Academy board, the CEO of Rooms to Go, and another who was the CEO of Darden Restaurants, who I'd met through one of my good friends. He was her brother-in-law. And I just sent both of them emails and told them what trying to do. And both sent big checks. And after that, we were on our way because posting those two companies as sponsors. All the Atlanta firms and other firms and companies followed. To put the program together, I just called friends and associates and really calls her friends and associates to work or serve on panels and to serve as keynote speakers. We had two keynote speakers that year. Chief Justice Leah Sears, who was the first African American to serve on the Georgia Supreme Court, and the youngest woman ever to serve on a state Supreme Court, and Judge Glenda Hatchett, the TV personality who was the former juvenile court judge. And we had a Fulton County. And we just had two great speakers. Glenda auctioned off one of her shoes, which launched an auction that we have an auction even today. But it's not her shoe. It's a quilt. We auction off quilts every year that O.V. Brantley, the former Fulton County attorney and DeKalb County attorney, donates to us every year. And that's how we got started. And we did that for two years, we were the Leadership Academy, and then we reincorporated as the Leadership Institute with a planning committee because it was too much work for a couple of people. And so here we are today.  Philippa: And 20 years later, Marian, you know, thinking about what you mentioned about Justice Sears being a first, you yourself have, you know, a checklist of firsts. You were the first woman and first diverse attorney in the legal department at FedEx. You were also the first African-American woman to serve in an executive management position at BP Oil. And those are just a couple of roles you held during your journey to serving as CEO of LIWOCA and at the same time you have an active labor and employment discrimination and wage and hour claims practice. You've practiced for 40 years and just looking at your trajectory and your journey in the legal profession, have you been able or do you feel you've been able to impart that type of support and meet your goals for the organization, as you mentioned, with a goal of supporting diverse women lawyers?  Marian: Absolutely. One of my goals for the annual conference was to bring experienced senior attorneys into a room with attorneys starting out who could impart their knowledge, their expertise, how to navigate racism and sexual harassment in the workplace without derailing your career. I've wanted more experienced attorneys to interface with the younger attorneys to give them informal mentoring. And we've done that. We've done that through just informally, but also we had some what we call speed mentoring sessions throughout the years. But more importantly, I don't think of it as a conference. I thought of it as an experience. It was so uplifting having all these wonderful, accomplished women in one room who were excited to see each other because so many of these women, as I was, are the only ones in their firm, maybe in their law firm, but maybe not in their section if they were in big law. Many women were unhappy with big law, and the study showed, Invisible Invisibility, showed that women of color were leaving the legal profession because they were so disillusioned and so disappointed and unhappy. But one of the goals was to present to them alternatives to working in big law. You could go to a smaller or mid-sized firm and be happier. You could go perhaps in-house or work in the government or work in nonprofits, but don't give up the practice of law because the social implications for that were just huge. And we put so many resources, money and time into going through law school and passing the bar and our hopes and dreams to give up the practice of law just because of bad experience at one firm was just something we didn't want people to consider.  Philippa: You know, Marian, you also, and just kind of thinking about all of the mentorship relationships that have been sparked from the LIWOCA conferences and all of the connections, you know, the legacy of LIWOCA is one of support. Sisterhood, professional sisterhood, and, you know, also the scholarships that have been provided to law students. Can you talk a little bit about how you decided to provide that support for law students, aspiring lawyers?  Marian: We decided to provide scholarships for lawless students, but that was only after we knew financially we could do so. We were a startup organization, and it was important for us to conserve our funds. So the idea for scholarships actually was Julia, who left the organization. And when we got to that point, I think it was maybe our third conference or maybe it was our second conference, we were able to offer some money. But running a business, you know, you want to have money in reserve. We were able to do that, but also what you were saying about the mentoring and support, the environment for leadership is one of support. It is one where people feel comfortable enough to walk up to you and say, at least many have just

    29 min

  6. 10/16/2024

    Celebrating UNIDOS: Voices of Reed Smith’s Latin/Latinx leaders

    In this episode, we spotlight members of Reed Smith’s UNIDOS business inclusion group for Latin/Latinx attorneys and staff. Join DEI talent development supervisor Bareeq Barqawi as she moderates an insightful conversation with senior associate Daniel Avila, senior paralegal Kathy Puente-Ladisa, and associate Isabella Lorduy. They share their unique career journeys, how their Latin/Latinx identity has influenced their professional experiences, and the powerful role that UNIDOS has played in fostering community and support within the firm. ----more---- Transcript: Intro: Welcome to the Reed Smith podcast, Inclusivity Included: Powerful Personal Stories. In each episode of this podcast, our guests will share their personal stories, passions, and challenges, past and present, all with a goal of bringing people together and learning more about others. You might be surprised by what we all have in common, inclusivity included.  Bareeq: Welcome everyone to another episode of Inclusivity Included, Reed Smith's DEI podcast series, where we dive into the experiences, stories, and insights of our diverse firm members, clients, community members, and allies. I'm Bareeq Barqawi, Reed Smith's DEI Talent Development Supervisor, and today I'm thrilled to be joined by three distinguished members of our UNIDOS Business Inclusion Group for Latin and Latinx attorneys and staff, Danny Avila, Kathy Puente-Ladisa, and Isabella Lorduy. So Danny, Kathy, Isabella, could you each briefly introduce yourselves to our listeners and tell us about your current roles at Reed Smith. Danny, I will start with you.  Daniel: Perfect. Thank you so much, Bareeq. So I'm based out of the Houston office of Reed Smith. I'm part of Reed Smith's international arbitration team and the complex disputes teams. I'm currently the global chair for UNIDOS, our Hispanic Latinx business inclusion Group, as well as the head of our pro bono for our Houston office.  Bareeq: Thank you, Danny. And Kathy?  Kathy: Hi, everyone. Thank you, Bareeq, so much for having me. My name is Kathy Puente Larisa, and I am originally from Quito, Ecuador. I joined Reed Smith over 10 years ago, starting as a paralegal for the transportation group. However, I just recently transitioned into a newly created role as the industry group administrator for the transportation industry group. It's a bit of a hybrid role. And I am also the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion staff liaison for the New York office.  Bareeq: Fantastic. Thank you. And Isabella?  Isabella: Hello, everyone. I am Isabella Lorduy. I am originally from Colombia, and I am an associate at Reed Smith, where I'm part of both the Energy and Natural Resources group, focusing on international arbitration cases. And I'm also part of the Latin American business team. And And I'm also a member of the UNIDOS group here at Reed Smith.  Bareeq: Wonderful. Thank you so much for your introductions. It's always inspiring to hear about the variety of roles within our firm. So let's dive into what brought you here. I'm really inspired to learn more about your stories and inspired to learn what made you pursue a career in law or the legal industry, specifically maybe in your current role, and how did that lead you to Reed Smith specifically? I'm actually going to start with you, Isabella.  Isabella: So from a very young age, I've always been passionate about international politics and relations. And when I discovered the world of international law, particularly arbitration, it truly clicked for me. It's a field where I get to do what I love, which is interacting with diverse cultures, languages, backgrounds, and even different laws. So I think there are three key moments in my journey that led me to where I am today and being at Reed Smith. First, pursuing a career in international law through law school in Colombia, and then finding great mentors who not only guided me in law, but also taught me important life lessons. And then doing my LLM at NYU, passing the bar and transitioning into the US legal market. I thought that being a Latino was kind of a handicap or a difficulty in the American market. But when I discovered Reed Smith and found it as a place where I could leverage my civil law background, but also my common law knowledge and my diverse Latina background and everything that I have learned before coming to Reed Smith, I thought it was the right place, especially in the Latin American business team. So that's kind of the story of why I am here today.  Bareeq: That's so interesting, Isabella. Thank you so much for sharing. I love to hear about how you thought it would be maybe something of a hindrance, but actually your Latin identity ended up being something of a strength for you. That's great. And let's go to Kathy. What about you? How did you find your way to read Smith?  Kathy: So my career started right after I graduated from John Jay College. I always found law to be so fascinating, but my original career path was to join the NYPD. While I was in the process of going through the program, my path took a very fascinating turn when I was introduced to the world of law firms, and I was given the opportunity to work at Holland & Knight as a paralegal in the aircraft finance group. I found the work to be interesting, and I knew that that was going to be the kind of work that was like a great fit for me. And I then joined Watson Farley as a corporate and shipping finance paralegal. And I built a really great connections there. So all those experiences ultimately led me to the transportation group here at Reed Smith, when they were just starting to expand the transportation group in the New York office. And there was a great need for a paralegal support. So that's how I got my start here at Reed Smith.  Bareeq: I love that insight, Kathy. Thank you so much for sharing. And Danny, what about you? Did you have similar experiences or was your path different?  Daniel: I guess there's two different points here. The first, the path to law. And the second one is to Reed Smith, which I think deserves a little bit of separation. For law, my mom worked for United Blood Services her entire career, which is now called Vitalant. It's one of the biggest nonprofit blood banks in the country. She was the regional president for that company. That company supplies blood to hospitals and helps get donations. Blood donations throughout the communities and make sure that there's blood on the shelves so we don't have to scramble to try to get blood in a case of emergency, say of a car accident or something else, which is the case in several countries. In several countries, if your uncle or your parent or somebody is hurt or needs blood, you literally have to call siblings and family members to donate blood. Here in the U.S., we have great companies like Vitalant who make sure that there's blood on the shelves in case of these emergencies. So growing up, I would see how much my mom benefited from helping the community out. But more importantly, I would see her company being sued for something very trivial, like say you got a bruise when you're donating or say something else, right? And as a child, it made me very angry and I wanted to defend them. So as a child, I said, I want to be a lawyer for these companies that are helping our communities. And now full circle Vitalant is a client of mine and I was able to assist them in a dispute in Texas. It was really incredible to see that full circle as a child and now being able to help by talent, which was my dream. To Reed Smith, I think, is even is another more. It goes back to Reed Smith's values and their dedication and attention to diversity. When I was going through law school application or law firm applications in law school, I looked for firms that really had a focus in diversity initiatives, who put their money where their mouth is. And it wasn't just lip service. And Reed Smith did that. And when I was in law school, I applied for a diversity scholarship through Reed Smith, and I was very fortunate to get it. And Reed Smith not only gave me a position through the diversity scholarship, but paid for my 3L in law school, which was amazing given that I was working during law school. So it was through Reed Smith's diversity initiatives that actually got me in the door at Reed Smith and what's kept me here so many years.  Bareeq: That's fantastic and incredibly inspiring. I love those full circle moments that you're having. So thank you all for sharing your experiences. It's clear that each of you has had a unique path that led you to Reed Smith. Now I'd love to hear a bit more about your career journeys. Was there a key moment or decision in your career that shaped where you are today? Feel free to share any specific challenges or obstacles you've overcome in your time. And Danny, I'm actually going to start with you and go the other way around.  Daniel: Absolutely. I think one of the obstacles I had is I wanted to do international law, but my profile was very Texas-specific. I went to undergrad and law school in Texas. So I wanted to have a more diverse international profile. So what I did in law school was I applied and worked at a law firm in Bogota, Colombia. And that experience exposed me to how work is done in Latin America, working in the Spanish language. And it just kind of opened up the door to everything I do now, which is Latin American arbitration disputes and work in Latin America. So I think that was probably my biggest obstacle to overcome was to how do I create a more international profile? And yeah, I guess that's what I've overcome.  Bareeq: I love that. Thank you so much. Isabella, what about you?  Isabella: I can't think of a specific moment that really challenged me, but I guess my answer to this would be being constantly exposed to situations that I am really scared of and doing it anyways. I remember during law school, I was the youngest parti

    24 min

  7. 09/25/2024

    Fireside chat with co-chairs of the Hispanic National Bar Association’s Health & Life Sciences section

    Learn about the history, purpose and work of the Hispanic National Bar Association’s Health & Life Sciences section, as shared by its co-chairs, Gelvina Rodriguez Stevenson, general counsel at the Wistar Institute and Mildred Segura, litigation partner at Reed Smith. The discussion will be moderated by Anna Lozoya from Sentara Health. ----more---- Transcript: Intro: Welcome to the Reed Smith podcast, Inclusivity Included, Powerful Personal Stories. In each episode of this podcast, our guests will share their personal stories, passions and challenges, past and present, all with the goal of bringing people together and learning more about others. You might be surprised by what we all have in common, inclusivity included.  Anna: Welcome back to Inclusivity Included. And today's episode is in partnership with the Hispanic National Bar Association. And today we'll be learning about the Health and Life Sciences section, along with co-chairs Gelvina Rodriguez-Stevenson and Mildred Segura. Gelvina Rodriguez is the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Wistar Institution, an international biomedical institute. Gelvina's career spans various sectors of the healthcare industry, including hospitals, academic medical centers, and pharmaceutical companies in government. Gelvina serves as the co-chair of the Hispanic National Bar Association's Health and Life Sciences Section and as a board member of the American Health Law Association. Mildred Segura is a litigation partner at Reed Smith LLP, a full-service global law firm. She is based in Los Angeles and is a member of Reed Smith's Life Sciences Health and Industry Group, specializing in complex products liability litigation, matters focused on medical device and pharmaceutical litigation in state and federal courts across the United States. Well, Mildred and Gelvina, excited to have you here so we can learn more about the Health and Life Sciences section of HNBA. Gelvina, can you give the audience a brief history of what was the inspiration to create the section and a brief overview of the history of the section?  Gelvina: Yeah, great, Anna. Thank you. Thank you for that that introduction for putting together this session. Very happy to talk about the health and life sciences section of the HNBA. So we started this section of the HNBA years ago. And, you know, really the idea came when I had started my first in-house job, and it just happened to be in the health sector. It was at an academic medical college. And, you know, I got there. I was like, oh, I don't know anything about health law. So let me, you know, look for mentors. And I've been fortunate through my career to always be able to find, you know, wonderful mentors through the HNBA and, you know, LaLSA, when in law school. And I started looking around to find other attorneys who were in this sector and really couldn't find anyone. I looked around, you know, my, the legal department where I was, you know, other organizations and just really couldn't find any mentors, role models to figure out how to navigate this area. So, you know, having always been active with the HNBA, you know, doing law school and having served as a regional president for the HNBA, I knew that there were very active sections within the HNBA in other areas, business law, labor and employment, employment, compliance. And I thought, gosh, it'd be great if there were a health law section where I could meet other Latino and Latina lawyers working in this space and kind of learn how it works. So I proposed to leadership at the HNBA the idea of forming this section. They thought it was a great idea, and it was formed. So then at that point, sections formed, and we had to build the community. So basically, me and our co-chair reached out to people we knew who were in you know, pharmaceutical device companies, hospitals, and invited them to join. And then also when you're part of the HNBA, you can check off what section you're interested in joining. So we had members join that way. And, you know, over the years, it's grown to be a really wonderful network of Latino and Latino lawyers across the country who are either working in healthcare and life sciences or interested in it. And it really has become, you know, that mentoring, you know group that what didn't exist years ago so really really excited to you know have that come to fruition have it become what it's become.  Anna: That sounds like really great work and it sounds like we needed that and you recognized that was something we needed so good work there and and for contributing that.  Gelvina: yeah and so wonderful that the HNBA was just so open and willing to you know jump on a new idea and move it forward so that's always wonderful.  Anna: Yeah yeah definitely HNBA is It's big about innovating. And as we grow as a legal community as well, expanding to meet the needs of the members. But I'm sure Mildred, as it sounds from Gelvina, that this is growing and growing. What do you find to be the most rewarding and most challenging aspects of co-chairing this vastly growing and expanding section here?  Mildred: That's a great question, Anna. And I've been co-chair, Gelvina invited me to serve in that position maybe three, four years ago now, Gelvina, maybe, right? And prior to that, there were other co-chairs. But I know Gelvina has been there since inception, as she just described. And I would say, you know, during my tenure these last couple of years, I would say the most rewarding aspect of co-chairing the section has been the opportunity to make a tangible impact on our community, which is health and life sciences, lawyers, policymakers, students, right? People who are interested in maybe getting into this space or maybe don't even have a clue what the space really is. And I've had the privilege of working with really, you know, brilliant people like Gelvina, like yourself, Anna, and others that are in our section and learning just how vast this practice area really is, right, of health and life sciences and how much it encompasses. Purposes and um and it's nice as Gelvina said you know it's a place of like-minded people doing you know they're in different practices but under the same umbrella and we're all our goal is the same right to advance health care and life sciences while ensuring that our voices are heard in these critical areas whether it's representing our clients you know in big law or in public interest or in the government and so wherever you are it's it's a nice sort of place to come together and be be able to showcase, you know, what's going on in your practice or in this area. And it's a really collaborative spirit as well, where people bring ideas. You know, if someone comes to us and say, hey, I have an idea for a webinar that I want to put on, focused on health and life sciences, it's great, right? And we're learning as we go, too, because I'm a litigator. And so there may be ideas and trends that I'm not even aware of. So it's a really great way to stay abreast of what's going on in this space as well. And Gelvina mentioned mentoring. And so we do have students that are members. version. I would say that's the other rewarding aspect of this is the ability to mentor young attorneys is incredibly fulfilling, right? And we put on a CLE panel presentation at one of our corporate council conferences for the HNBA, which was focused on careers in life sciences and healthcare, because a lot of students have no clue, you know, well, what does that mean? You know, what kind of careers do you have within that space? And there was a panel of litigators, government attorneys, policymakers. Gelvina moderated that panel. I was on it as well. And it was great to see the type of questions that we were getting from these up-and-coming, soon-to-be lawyers. And on the flip side, you asked me what's been the most challenging. I would say is balancing the diverse interests of our members within the section, right? Because like I said, that I'm a litigator, Gelvina's in-house, we have people in government, you know, all across the board in transactional spaces. And so it's really, you know, trying to cater to our members, ensuring that we are responsive to their needs and what they're interested in. And so we try and cover a broad range of topics to ensure that we provide value to our members, which requires, you know, careful planning, constant communication. But these challenges also present opportunities for growth and innovation. Like I said, as a litigator, I'm learning a lot about other aspects of health and life sciences beyond what my firm offers, obviously, which also does a little bit of everything within the life sciences space. So that's what I would say have been the most rewarding and challenging aspects of being co-chair of the section.  Anna: Oh, that's a lot. But it sounds like you and Gelvina have a good handle of that and having such a wide spectrum of individuals from law students to seasoned attorneys. And it sounds like your panel regarding careers in health and life sciences really try to hold in on the great plethora of opportunities for someone who's interested in our great section, our section that we love.  Mildred: That's exactly right.  Anna: From this section's name, health and life sciences, Gelvina, who do you think should join this section? And like, what are the benefits of joining HNBA's Health and Life Sciences section?  Gelvina: Yep. So in terms of who should join, I think, you know, Mildred touched on this a bit. And I think she went over sort of the diversity of this field, right, and the breadth of who is a healthcare lawyer, who is a life sciences lawyer. And it's really anyone who's like, you know, knee deep in that space. Like you're on a hospital attorney or someone at a pharmaceutical company in healthcare and life sciences, or it could be someone just sort of interested in maybe exploring that space. Or it could be so

    26 min

  8. 09/12/2024

    Is it possible to bring your true authentic self to work?

    In this episode, we consider how to be our authentic selves in the workplace. Joining Clare Sutton, Reed Smith’s EMEA DEI coordinator and Multicultural Network (MCN) co-chair, are three of the MCN’s esteemed members: Dashni Khimji, Saiya Guo and Arlington Todman. The team delves into shared experiences and insights on being your true self while remaining professional at work. ----more---- Transcript: Intro: Welcome to the Reed Smith podcast, Inclusivity Included, Powerful Personal Stories. In each episode of this podcast, our guests will share their personal stories, passions and challenges, past and present, all with the goal of bringing people together and learning more about others. You might be surprised by what we all have in common, inclusivity included.  Clare: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Inclusivity Included. My name is Clare Sutton, and I am DEI coordinator for EMEA. I also co-chair ReadSmith's Multicultural Network. Today we have a very special episode discussing authenticity and being your authentic self in the workplace. I'm really excited to be joined by three MCN colleagues, Dashni Khimji, an associate in our real estate group, Saiya Guo, an associate in our global corporate group, and Arlington Todman, a desktop support specialist in our IT team. So thank you to everyone for joining me today. I'd like to ask you one by one to share a little bit about yourselves and your background, starting with Dashni please.  Dashni: Hi Clare thanks for having me as always. I joined Reed Smith back in 2015 as a paralegal. I think it was in the real estate group. It feels like it was such a long time ago now and I've since actually qualified into the group. It's definitely been a bit of a journey for me and so I'm actually looking forward to having some real and raw discussions questions on authenticity.  Clare: Okay, and Arlington?  Arlington: Good morning, everyone. Morning, Clare. Thanks for having me as well. I'm in IT. I've joined Reed Smith in 2023. I love it here. I've been doing computer for 35 years, and I just like the chance to, you know, share some of my technical knowledge with the staff and the people and everyone listening.  Clare: Thank you, Arlington. And Saiya.  Saiya: Hi everybody, I'm Saiya. I'm originally from New Zealand and I joined Reed Smith around the end of ’22, start of ’23, so it's been about 18 months now.  Clare: Brilliant, thank you all for sharing. So let's get started. So we often show the more professional side of our personalities, a more polished version of ourselves. Instead of bringing our whole selves to work, we bring a different version. So Arlington, what does it mean to you to bring your true self to work?  Arlington: Well, it means to be able to, when I come to work, to speak to my colleagues as the same way I would speak to my family in a nice manner. Sometimes, you know, we get upset, but I let that, I try to let that fly. And what I do is I take the instances that I have with the team members here and the users and I actually just try to make it work and seem like it's friendly, common, and normal. As far as my original self, I try to be soft-spoken, don't get too angry, and I just let it flow.  Clare: Thank you. And Saiya?  Saiya: I think it means when you think about bringing your true self to work, it means that you're not putting on a different persona or that you don't feel like you need to be an entirely different person for work. I think you can just feel a bit more relaxed that you can feel yourself when you're at work.  Dashni: Yeah, I sort of echo that as well. So to me, bringing your true self to work, you know, it goes beyond just trying to be your best in a professional environment. It's all about staying true to who you are and openly sharing all of your strengths and that that's what makes you who you are but I think a huge part of bringing your true self to work requires a lot of self-discovery and accepting who you actually are as a person so I echo what's already been said by Saiya and Arlington so if you're not bringing your true self to work you're almost masking who you are which can lead to a lot of confusion and wasted energy so I think bringing your true self to work provides a means to really succeed. It allows you to reach your true potential and feel safe enough to really be challenged. And I guess bouncing off from that, Clare, I actually have a question for you. What do you feel are the benefits of bringing your whole self to work and why does that matter?  Clare: Oh, great question, Dashni. Thank you. So for me, there are several benefits to being your authentic self, especially in the workplace. place. And I'll just run through the top six that kind of work for me. So trust and respect. And that's like trusting the judgments and the decisions that you make, because that means others will trust and respect you in return because you're standing by your actual values and your beliefs. Integrity is another big one you know just doing the right thing um so you never have to second guess yourself then the ability to deal with problems is uh having the strength and the openness to deal with issues quickly instead of procrastinating you know i kind of find that once i start doing that i don't actually focus on what it is that i want to say or you know how i want to project myself realizing your potential is another big one so for me that's trusting yourself and doing what you know is right instead of letting others dictate what's best for you having confidence and self-esteem which means that you can trust yourself to make the right decisions when you're being genuine and doing the right thing which in turn leads on to a higher self-confidence and higher self-esteem and then lastly just having less stress. Just imagine the happiness and the self-respect you'd feel every day if you said what you meant and stay true to yourself being authentic to yourself is a lot less stressful than being someone you're not. And that kind of leads me me back to what you guys were saying previously so for me bringing my true self to work means leveraging my unique perspectives and experiences for my personal and professional growth. It's about being brave enough to be yourself and align who I am and by that I mean my personality my values and my emotions what I do my competencies and what I do well and then what I project so how I show myself to others that's very very important to me and I don't think that means that you have have to give everyone you know. Your personal details your family life you know what you do every weekend but. I do think it means that you behave in the same way as. You do at home so you don't create a different persona when you're in the office you should always be the same in the office as you are at home. So authenticity to me means being genuine and real but in the workplace we often feel like we have to hide our true selves or we tell ourselves that we need to act a certain way or say things to colleagues so that we fit in, even if it goes against how we actually do feel. So being someone that you're not is effectively telling yourself that who you really are isn't okay, which can make us feel lonely or disconnected from others.  Dashni: Yeah, just to weigh in there. I think I read recently about this concept of masking. So many people put on this mask at work, don't they? And they try and put on this persona of an acceptable character. And it's mostly to just try and fit in. and I remember during my training contract and actually you know shortly after when I qualified, I felt as though I couldn't be myself if I wanted to succeed in this legal world so this this actually took a huge toll on me where I actually became quite reserved I was constantly comparing myself to others and I felt this great deal of anxiety and actually in turn this actually halted my performance at work and it became a barrier. And it was actually a barrier that I created myself. So I think you know when it comes to being your authentic self it's all about self discovery you know that that's a huge thing we're all constantly learning and constantly working out how to unmask but when I discovered who I was and I started putting all of my energy into that instead I ended up you know bringing my true self to work and it almost felt like a great deal of relief. I became slightly more confident and more accepting of feedback and I started to really to excel in my role.  Saiya: No, I think it's true. And I think it goes to that concept of kind of the amount of energy that you would put into masking and also what Clare said about less stress. And I think unless you actually see the difference between when you're doing it and when you're not, you don't realize how much energy that you've actually put into doing it and how much that energy can be used into other things.  Arlington: And going off of what Saiya said, it's the amount of energy that you dedicate to trying to mask and pretend to be someone for everyone else, when in turn, you're not being true to yourself. You're not being authentic. And that, to me, that's difficult. But I try to do my best to be authentic in many given situations.  Clare: Have you kind of come across any situations where you were made to maybe change your natural authenticity and and how did you actually deal with that on the spot? Because sometimes something could come up and you may not actually realize that it's happened and then you walk away and suddenly think oh hold on a minute I've actually changed who I am just to be that other person. Have you ever had any kind of situations like that and what did you do to kind of get past it? How did it make you feel?  Arlington: Well, I have a technician in my office and he's actually been here 25 years. And some of the things that he instructs me about, it sort of gets under my skin because of the way he speaks to people. And whene

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Everyone – regardless of their background – has something we can learn from and be inspired by. In each episode, our guests will share their personal stories, passions, and challenges – past and present – all with the goal of bringing people together and learning more about others. You might be surprised by what we all have in common.

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