Toasting Your Success!
It’s time to ring in the New Year and put your personal plan of action in place for 2004.Then set your sights on what you want to accomplish this year and go for it with all you’ve got! Should you have any doubts that hard work, dedication, and a commitment to client service are the keys to success in this profession, I invite you to check out the many outstanding lawyers spotlighted in this issue of Diversity & the Bar®.
For those whose thoughts are focused on their own personal career development, this issue is one that I recommend to keep on-hand to refer to throughout the year. The pages that follow are chock full of worthwhile information, inspirational profiles, and tips regarding rainmaking strategies and building stronger mentoring relationships.
Throughout 2004, MCCA® will be focusing more of its time, energy, and resources on offering you the information needed to take charge of your career. While we will continue our role as a catalyst for managerial reform aimed at building a more diverse legal profession, our platform is expanding. The MCCA Board and I believe that smart management is already awake to the importance of diversity and is undertaking step to create workplaces of inclusion. Therefore, this association will increasingly focus on ensuring that as opportunities expand, those in our network are well-prepared and poised to seize the day.
If you’ve attended MCCA events in the past, you’ll be pleased to learn we have a full calendar planned for 2004. And if you have not yet attended, make 2004 the year that you decide to do so. In addition to offering our signature series of Diversity Dinners in five cities, MCCA will host twelve networking forums, and two major educational conferences. In fact, the first conference in our line-up, the Third Annual CLE Expo, will take place at the Chicago Downtown Marriott on March 31- April 2. This conference, focused on the educational needs of in-house counsel, is one of our most celebrated and well-regarded programs. Mark the date and hope to see you there!
Last but not least, MCCA will launch a new pipeline initiative aimed at assisting minority law students to meet the challenges of financing a law school education. We plan to host our First Annual General Counsel Invitational Golf Tournament on June 15, 2004 at an award-winning PGA course. This tournament will be a fundraising event, the proceeds of which will enable the launch a new scholarship initiative: The Lloyd M. Johnson Jr., Scholarship Program. The scholarships are named in honor of the founder of both MCCA and Diversity & the Bar® Magazine, Lloyd Johnson, who will be resigning from the MCCA Board of Directors at the end of this year to dedicate more time and attention to his own publishing and consulting business.
So the bottom line is that MCCA has a lot in store for you in 2004. We encourage you to consult our online event calendar at www.mcca.com and hold the dates. We look forward to working with you toward a successful New Year!
Veta T. Richardson
From the January/February 2004 issue of Diversity & The Bar®