In The Press

Amsterdam News
WOMEN LAWYERS OF COLOR MOVE INTO NEW DIMENSIONS

By TANGACHI MFUNI
Amsterdam News Staff

From Los Angeles to Minneapolis, hundreds of women lawyers of color converged at Manhattan's Hilton New York last week for the first annual Career Strategies Conference.

Close to 400 attorneys from around the country attended the three-day conference put on by the Corporate Counsel Women of Color (CCWC).

"We sold out this conference back in June," said Laurie N. Robinson, founder of the counsel who says that there's a need for dialogue and mentorship among women lawyers of color.

Under the theme "Moving to New Dimensions," the conference challenged the attorneys to reach new professional and personal heights.

"As women of color, sometimes we wait for somebody else to advance our career," said Robinson who challenged attendees to soar. "See your worth not through the eyes of others, but really move into a next level beyond the glass ceiling, beyond climbing the corporate ladder, just be on a totally different level that nobody has ever been on before," she said.

The conference hosted speakers such as lawyer turned Hollywood producer Debra Martin Chase, recipient of the counsel's Diamond Award of Excellence. Other presenters included New York University professor and author Derrick A. Bell as well as Lisa E. Davis, among the country's foremost corporate lawyers.

Among the career planning workshops offered were "Transitioning from the legal side to the business side," and "Positioning yourself to serve on corporate boards."

"It's really easy to lose sight to managing your career and moving forward in the day to day," said Melissa Starkey, a Minnesota attorney who said the conference challenged her to be proactive about her career management.

The founder of CCWC began the organization just two years ago as a directory of ten lawyers. Months later, Robinson says the organization has blossomed to 1,000 members nationwide.

The organization plans to reach out to the next generation of female lawyers of color. In the spring of next year the counsel will host a presentation at Spelman College entitled "My Life as a Lawyer."

Robinson hopes the workshop will provide young people of color with role models in the legal profession.