The Legal Inclusion Team The CDW Legal Inclusion Team

In this episode, Laurent Masson, an Intellectual Property and Technology lawyer with over 30 years of experience and now leading Global Commercial Legal for Boston Consulting Group, shares his approach to advancing diversity and inclusion for a team of 85 lawyers based in 26 countries with more than 30 nationalities. Laurent discusses why he believes that diversity and inclusion is not a program, and why DEI should be naturally embedded in our way of working and made an integral part of who we are as a team, how we operate, and how we respect and interact with one another. It all starts by creating a safe environment based on company values and hiring the right people with the right mindset. The outcome is a workplace where everyone feels they belong.

Tom Langefeld, Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, discusses the importance of empathy as a commercial lawyer leading a diverse transactions team within a multinational organization. Tom also shares some pivotal moments early in his career when he recognized empathy as the primary catalyst for building relationships based on trust and for creating spaces where coworkers feel empowered and valued.

A conversation with Sepideh Smith, CDW’s VP Assistant General Counsel for Employment & Ethics.  Sepideh shares her story as we discuss the concept of Intersectionality, the idea that people are not linear, and how intersectionality shows up in her practice as an employment lawyer. 

In this episode, Dr. Nancy Lai, a business strategist and innovator and a recovering particle physicist by training with over 20 years of business experience, shares her reflections on DEI and the growth mindset as an Asian-American woman in business.  She offers her thoughts on the importance of getting diverse perspectives, how to measure success and achievement, and the need to address structural and systemic injustices.  She reminds us to be confident in ourselves and to learn from each other's experiences.

In this episode, we’re talking about leadership with Shannon Toolis, CDW’s VP and Deputy General Counsel.  During the conversation, Shannon shares her approach to building and leading diverse teams. We’ll discuss the power of proactively seeking out and developing talent with diversity being top of mind.  As well as the importance of empowering team members to safely show up as their authentic selves and to confidently offer their unique ideas and perspectives for better outcomes.

In this episode, we speak with Diversity Lab, a leading organization dedicated to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the legal profession. We discuss their work to increase the number of
minority lawyers in the workforce, promote diversity in law firms, and create a more inclusive legal environment. CDW believes that Diversity Lab is doing important work, and we are excited to share their insights with our listeners.