Page 16 - April2019_BarJournal

spent a short period of time as Vice President
1 https://www.thecandidcounsel.com/home/the-simple- Valissa Turner Howard, Esq. is First of Corporate Insurance at KeyCorp, Darlene
solution-to-the-demand-for-diversity-in-the-open-letter- Assistant Deputy Inspector General decided to once again combine her litigation,
to-law-firm-partners-with-seven-practical-tips-to-make-
it-happen. and Chief Diversity Officer at the risk management and insurance skills into
2 https://www.mcca.com/call-action-sara-lees-general- Cuyahoga County Agency of an in-house role for a quasi-public entity. She
counsel-making-diversity-priority/ Inspector General, where she previously served as Deputy Director of the
3 https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/images/ primarily focuses on ethics and compliance issues. Cuyahoga County Department of Law,
racial_ethnic_diversity/Innovator_Vol02Issue01_.pdf
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activi
4 Prior to joining the AIG, Valissa was an Associate overseeing the Risk Management Division,
ty:6495355575147335680/ Attorney with a legal and consulting firm in the for almost six years. Prior to that she was a
5 https://store.legal.thomsonreuters.com/law-products/ San Francisco Bay Area with a particular emphasis partner at the law firm of Gallagher Sharp
solutions/fearless-confidence/LF-Founder. on employment discrimination law. Valissa also where she practiced law in the areas of general
6 Id
served as a federal judicial law clerk in Akron, OH, litigation and professional liability for 12
7 Id
worked as a law firm diversity manager and law years. Darlene has been a CMBA member
8 https://lnclusionatwork.wordpress.com/2018/04/27/
black-womens-resistance-as•a-model-for-diversity- school senior administrator in Cleveland, OH, and since 2018. She can be reached at
inclusion/. practiced with a mid-size law firm in San Diego, Dwhitelawmail@gmail.com.
9 https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2019/01/30/a- CA. She currently serves as the 2018 – 2020
black-partner-responds-to-gcs-on-law- firm-diversity/.
President of the Norman S. Minor Bar Association
10 Women and minorities are often penalized when they
raise concerns about or advocate for I&D. By contrast, and on the Board of Directors for Women of Color Marquettes D. Robinson has spent
white men face no consequences, and are actually In Law, Inc. Valissa has been a CMBA member the majority of her career
rewarded by being viewed as more competent leaders, since 2015. She can be reached at (216) 698-2101 litigating complex contract, tort
when they champion I&D. See “A workplace-Diversity
Dilemma: What if the employees best positioned to hire or at Valissa.Howard@gmail.com. and statutory cases for local and
undervalued minority candidates are … white men?” national businesses. For six years
The Atlantic, by Bourree Lam, April 7, 2016, https://
www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/04/stuts- she was a shareholder at a majority women-
diversity/477228 Darlene E. White is currently the owned law firm that later bore her name.
11 “Written in Black & White: Exploring Confirmation Bias Assistant General Counsel of Recently, Marquettes joined Eaton as Counsel
in Racialized Perceptions of Writing Skills” by Dr. Arin
N. Reeves. See also “Pushing for diversity and inclusion Operational Risk at The for the Electrical Sector. Marquettes has been
in the legal industry” by Sheryl L. Axelrod, Thomson MetroHealth Systems in a CMBA member since 2009. She can be
Reuters, https://store.legal.thomsonreuters.com/law-
products/solutions/fearless-confidence/LF-Founder Cleveland, Ohio. Having recently reached at marquettes.robinson@yahoo.com.

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dedication, and service to our clients, our communities, and our firm.

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