Supporting Minorities’ Advancement
At the start of 1997, MCCA reported that only three minorities were leading the law departments of the 500 largest U.S. corporations, as determined by Fortune magazine. Each year since, the numbers have increased. This year is no exception. In fact, gains made by the Asian American community within the Fortune 500 reached historic levels, particularly within the last few months. MCCA’s mission includes advocating for expanded promotion opportunities for minority lawyers in corporate law departments. One measure of progress in this area is the number of lawyers of color who are appointed general counsel of top corporations. Although the association has not set any numerical goals for knowing when its mission is achieved, in my opinion we’ll know we’re “there” when the representation of minorities at the chief legal officer level approximates the general diversity of our nation’s population. Supporting Minorities’ Advancement Until then, what steps will this association take to spur progress? We will:
- Spotlight talented minority lawyers so that no one doubts that there are many who are capable of ascending the ranks;
- Disseminate information about key job openings in corporate law departments so that more minorities can be considered for them;
- Offer opportunities for general counsel to share their stories, and thereby provide role models and inspiration to others;
- Introduce top executive-search professionals to the outstanding lawyers in our network;
- Present educational seminars that enable our attendees to develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to prepare them for top general counsel positions; and
- Host great networking events to enable the attorneys in our network to build relationships with key decision makers from top corporations.
We’ll also continue to celebrate each year as the number of minorities in the chief legal officer role increases. DB
Veta T. Richardson
From the September/October 2007 issue of Diversity & The Bar®