MCCA Announces New Board of Directors Members

MCCA Names General Motors Company’s Craig Glidden and Lincoln Financial Group’s Kirkland Hicks to Board of Directors

Washington, D.C. – The Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) today announced the election of two new members to its board of directors, Craig Glidden, executive vice president and general counsel of General Motors Company and Kirkland Hicks, executive vice president and general counsel of Lincoln Financial Group. Their appointments are effective immediately.

“From their commitments to advancing diversity and inclusion in the legal field and the innovative strides they have each made to change the culture, processes and structures to drive progress in their own legal departments, Craig and Kirk epitomize MCCA’s mission and we are thrilled to have them join our board,” said Jean Lee, President & CEO of MCCA. “Their contributions to their respective organizations have helped disrupt the traditional corporate structure to create more vibrant workplace cultures and foster environments that help employees succeed, which is exactly the type of leadership we strive to cultivate.”

Craig Glidden has served in his current position at GM since 2015 and was previously executive vice president and chief legal officer for LyondellBasell, and senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. During his tenure at GM, Glidden led a global, practice-based re-organization of GM’s legal department and served as a guardian of GM’s business interests while navigating a series of lawsuits involving defective ignition switches. Glidden understands firsthand the critical role corporate legal departments play in driving the broader industry forward and has fostered innovative approaches to driving inclusive leadership and culture throughout his career.

Prior to joining Lincoln Financial Group in 2015, Kirkland Hicks served as vice president, general counsel, and secretary for Willis Towers Watson. Hicks also held several senior counsel positions at Towers Watson and Watson Wyatt Worldwide, Inc. In his time at Lincoln Financial, Hicks built his leadership team from the ground up bringing in new attorneys and promoting internal candidates to create a team with a diverse range of legal experience and backgrounds. Hicks has helped increase representation of women and minorities in senior leadership positions and cultivated a dedication to diversity, inclusion, and representation that has become part of the fabric of the Lincoln Financial.

“The MCCA Board is made up of some of the legal industries’ most innovative minds and Craig and Kirk will be great additions to the organization,” said A.B. Cruz III, Chairman of the MCCA Board and Senior Vice President of Enterprise Shared Services for the Chief Legal Office at USAA. “Both Craig and Kirk took on significant challenges at their companies and implemented exacting changes to the structure of their law departments. They are true champions of change and corporate innovation. We look forward to working together with them and leveraging their expertise in diversity, change management and inclusion to continue our progress of changing the face of the legal industry.”

With the appointment of Glidden and Hicks, MCCA’s board consists of 18 members: Board Chair A.B. Cruz III, USAA; President and CEO Jean Lee, MCCA; Incoming Board Chair Stuart Alderoty, CIT; Ricardo Anzaldua, Freddie Mac; Damien Atkins, Hershey; Duane Holloway, United States Steel Corporation; Sandra Leung, Bristol Meyers Squibb; Linda Lu, Nationwide; Suzan A. Miller, Intel; Samuel M. Reeves, Walmart; Robin Sangston, Cox Communications; Dawn Smith, McAfee, Richard J. Wallis, Microsoft; Neil Wilcox, First Data; Michael T. Williams, and Simone Wu, Choice Hotels.

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The Minority Corporate Counsel Association was founded in 1997 with the purpose of making the next generation of legal leaders as diverse as the world we live in. From publishing research insights to providing professional development opportunities to offering advisory services, today MCCA is the preeminent voice on diversity and inclusion in the legal industry. MCCA empowers members with the tools needed to disrupt business as usual – and to blaze a path forward for their company, industry and corporate America.