Sheila Davidson
Executive Vice President,
Law & Corporate Administration
New York Life Insurance Company, including its subsidiaries, is a Fortune 100 company with over $215 billion in assets under management and more than $10 billion in operating revenues. It operates throughout the United States and internationally through offices in Argentina, China, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. It offers a variety of insurance and investment products, including traditional life insurance and annuities, institutional asset management, and trust services.
Diversity starts at the top for New York Life’s law department. In April 2005, the company named Sheila Kearney Davidson, executive vice president, law & corporate administration, reporting to the chairman and chief executive officer. In this position, she has responsibility not only for the office of the general counsel, but also for the office of the secretary, the office of governmental affairs, human resources, corporate communications, corporate services, and employees’ health. The Office of General Counsel reflects the company’s commitment to diversity. Of 44 full-time attorneys, 56 percent are women and minorities. Women and minorities hold five out of 10 vice president–level positions.
“We believe diversity is a fundamentally sound business proposition, whether we’re talking about our workforce or our goods and services providers,” says Davidson. New York Life’s attorneys participate in numerous professional development activities, including networking and mentoring opportunities through the company’s Minority Interchange program. The department was one of the first signatories to the New York City Bar’s Statement of Diversity Principles. When retaining new outside counsel, New York Life routinely asks law firms about the composition of their partnership, their hiring and retention of minority and women associates, and the number of part-time associates and partners. It also tracks fees paid to minority-owned firms and matters staffed by minority partners.
Department attorneys actively contribute to the community and the profession, through organizations such as the New York Women’s Bar Association, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and National Association of Minority & Women Owned Law Firms.
New York Life was honored as one of the “Best Companies for African Americans” for the third year in a row by Family Digest magazine. It was also named to the “Latin Business’ 2005 Corporate Diversity Honor Roll,” and was among the “Top 100 Employers for M.B.A. Students,” as compiled by a Universum Communications survey. Essence magazine recognized the company as one of the “35 Great Places to Work” and Hispanic Magazine featured it as one of the “Corporate 100 Best Places to Work for Latinos.” New York Life also made the “Top 50 Corporations for Supplier Diversity” in Hispanic Trend magazine’s debut list.
At press time, the N.Y. dinners had not been held. Group photos of the award winners for the Northeast region will appear in the Jan./Feb. 2006 issue of Diversity & the Bar®.
From the November/December 2005 issue of Diversity & The Bar®