FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 12, 2018
CONTACT:
Rachel Bradford, 973-464-0900
rbradford@bpimedia.com
The Minority Corporate Counsel Association Launches “Inclusive Leader Program” in Partnership with Microsoft
Inclusion Index and leadership summit aims to drive inclusive leadership in corporate legal departments and law firms nationwide
Washington, D.C. – Today, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) launched its new Inclusive Leader Program in partnership with Microsoft Corp. to address the growing need for diverse and inclusive leaders to disrupt homogeneity in legal leadership.
The program is comprised of the Inclusion Index, developed with Russell Reynolds Associates, which will assess the diversity of leadership and opportunities for inclusion at law firms and in corporate legal departments across the country, and an Inclusive Leadership Summit to provide opportunities for leaders to share best practices and challenges in developing an inclusive workplace.
“By focusing on leadership and decision makers, we believe this program can help ensure the next generation of legal leaders are as diverse as the world we live in,” Jean Lee, MCCA President & CEO said. “We want to push leaders to think about what behaviors demonstrate inclusive leadership when they are hiring and considering their succession plan, to create awareness about biases within the workplace to better develop their pipeline and engage professionals in the organization to have a greater impact on workplace culture.”
Building on its track record as one of MCCA’s largest supporters, Microsoft will be the inaugural participant of the Inclusion Index and play a major role in the half-day leadership summit for corporate legal leaders and law firms. The summit will feature Microsoft executives and other industry leader speakers, panel discussions on inclusive leadership and an in-depth exploration of participants’ Inclusive Leadership Assessment results to design a path towards more inclusive practices.
“We are thrilled to be collaborating with MCCA to create the ‘Inclusive Leader Program’ to help companies like ours build leaders that are able to evolve culture and create an environment that is conducive to creativity, inclusion and engagement,” said Lisa Tanzi, a Vice President in Microsoft’s Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs department focused on the organization’s efforts to advance diversity in the legal profession. “Ensuring we have inclusive leadership in our legal department helps drive a culture that allows all of our employees to thrive.”
The Inclusion Index was created in partnership with Russell Reynolds Associates, a global search and leadership advisory firm. The survey will assess company leadership, practices, and culture to create a baseline metric of inclusion and measure progress over time to equip senior legal executives to lead more inclusively and empower and better prepare rising leaders for general counsel positions.
“The legal community plays a significant and meaningful role in advancing inclusion in the corporate and professional services communities and we are deeply committed to contributing our expertise to that effort,” said Cynthia Dow, Consultant at Russell Reynolds Associates. “While many companies strive to ensure there is diversity at the top of their organization, we know that inclusive leadership, regardless of race or gender, has a greater impact on a company’s overall progress and effectiveness,” added Tina Shah Paikeday, Consultant at Russell Reynolds Associates.
The Index will be comprised of survey data taken from general counsel and law firm leaders across the U.S. The 20 -minute, online survey asks participants to evaluate their company’s performance on a scale, measuring areas such as engagement, culture, diversity, retention, and performance and development processes. While MCCA will publicize participants of the survey, all responses will remain confidential. The full results of the survey and Index will be released in July 2018.
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The Minority Corporate Counsel Association is an organization committed to advancing the hiring, retention and promotion of diverse lawyers in law departments and law firms by providing research, best practices, professional development and training, and through pipeline initiatives. Find out more about MCCA by visiting.
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
Russell Reynolds Associates is a global search and leadership advisory firm. Its 425+ consultants in 46 offices work with public, private and nonprofit organizations across all industries and regions. The firm helps its clients build teams of transformational leaders who can meet today’s challenges and anticipate the digital, economic and political trends that are reshaping the global business environment.