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Holland & Knight Women's Initiative Holland & Knight's commitment to its women attorneys is a long-standing core value that is a part of the firm's overall dedication to diversity, equity and inclusion. Holland & Knight created the Women's Initiative 25 years ago to focus on the recruitment, retention and advancement of the firm's women attorneys and to provide a positive and supportive environment for them to succeed. With strong professional development programming and a network of resources, the Women's Initiative benefits our attorneys and helps attract the best and brightest women in the field.
RISING STAR® PROGRAM Holland & Knight launched the Rising Star program in 2003. Each year, Holland & Knight selects a group of talented women attorneys to participate in this dynamic and intensive program of leadership, marketing, management and professional skills development, professional mentoring and experiential learning. The goals of this yearlong program are to help prepare participants for leadership opportunities at the firm, elevate their profiles within the legal profession and community, and increase their success in business development. Graduates of the program have become leaders within the firm, including serving on the Directors Committee and as executive partners and practice group leaders.
OUR WOMEN LEADERS Women occupy or have occupied almost every level of management within our firm. Seven women serve on the firm's Directors Committee, which is currently chaired by a woman. Women also currently fill the roles of Government Section Leader, Professional Growth and Development Partner, Diversity Partner, Chair of the Diversity & Inclusion Engagement Initiative, Chair of the Industry Sector Committee, Chair of the Federal PAC and Deputy Section Leaders of Litigation and Real Estate. We have more than 30 women serving as executive partners, practice group leaders, team leaders and hiring partners.
LOCAL OFFICE PROGRAMS Holland & Knight continually seeks ways to enhance and improve its Women's Initiative program at the local level by encouraging and promoting new ideas and input from its attorneys. Each office's Women's Initiative regularly meets and hosts a variety of events to provide forums for networking with businesswomen, corporate counsel and various women's organizations in their respective region. Local offices hold educational programs, luncheons and breakfast meetings that feature lectures by prominent women attorneys, judges, authors and community and business leaders. In addition, local offices organize social events to provide quality networking opportunities. The firm's commitment to women is further demonstrated through our support of local charitable organizations that help women in need.
MENTORING PROGRAM One of the Women's Initiative's goals is to advocate for policies, programs and benefits that help our women attorneys succeed. Over the years, the Women's Initiative has helped to implement a firmwide women's mentoring program for associates, which currently has more than 70 mentoring relationships.
CONFERENCES The Women's Initiative sponsors and participates in conferences focused on professional development and networking opportunities for women. Our women attorneys have attended and spoken on panels at numerous conferences, often with clients, including the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) Mid-Year Meetings, Centerforce Women Leadership conferences, the Women's Power Summit on Law and Leadership, the Jacksonville Women's Leadership Forum (JWLF), Diversity Lab's Mansfield Rule Client Forums, LaddHer Up retreats and Ark Group summits.
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RECOGNIZED FOR DIVERSITY
One of only 67 firms to earn "Mansfield Certified Plus" status in 2020 (the third consecutive year); the honor recognizes – in addition to meeting or exceeding the pipeline consideration requirements for certification – that women, minority, LGBTQ and disabled attorneys represent at least 30 percent of a significant number of firm leadership roles and committee positions Recognized as one of the "2021 Best Law Firms for Women" by Working Mother (now known as Seramount) for leading the industry in creating and using best practices in recruiting, retaining, promoting and developing women attorneys Named a finalist for "Best Gender Diversity Initiative by an International Firm" at the annual Americas Women in Business Law Awards (WIBL) ceremony in 2020 Received a perfect rating of 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality, every year since 2015 Named "Most Pioneering Firm for Female Lawyers" at the 2019 Chambers USA Diversity and Inclusion Awards Recognized as one of WomenInc.'s "Top 100 Law Firms for Women" in 2019 Named one of the "Top 10 Female Friendly Firms" by Yale Law Women in 2018, and honored as one of the firms at which women make up at least 50 percent of associates Earned the Gold Standard Certification from The Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) from 2011-2018 Named one of the top 2017 law firms by Equality Illinois for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality and inclusiveness, the firm's third consecutive year
CIVIC AND CHARITABLE SERVICE Holland & Knight attorneys and staff believe the time-honored traditions of civic, charitable and pro bono service have a central role in the modern day practice of law. The Women's Initiative supports various organizations, including: Women's Power Summit on Law and Leadership, an invitation-only program that convenes preeminent women in law Diversity in Law Hackathon, an innovative and solution-oriented event for the purpose of advancing women and diverse attorneys in the legal profession National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), which devotes itself to the interests of women attorneys and their families National Women's Law Center, which strives to protect and advance the progress of girls and women in virtually every aspect of their lives Women Executive Leadership, whose mission is to increase the number of women serving on corporate boards and in the executive suite by recognizing and connecting accomplished women and further expanding their influence within their respective business communities Legal Momentum (formerly known as NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund), a long-time leader in advancing the rights of women American Bar Association Presidential Initiative on Achieving Long-Term Careers for Women in Law, which analyzed the disproportionately high rate of attrition among senior women attorneys and identified best practices to retain them
CONTACT US Judy Nemsick Partner New York 212.513.3514 judy.nemsick@hklaw.com
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