Angela Machala & Sylvia James Join 100+ Law Firm & Inhouse Leaders to Tackle Equity & Inclusion Challenges

Los Angeles Office Managing Partner Angela Machala and Winston’s Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer Sylvia James participated in Diversity Lab’s 2024 “Moments to Movements” Hackathon—a shark-tank style pitch competition to solve some of the most challenging DEI issues facing the legal industry.

Over the course of five months—from March to July 2024—small teams banded together to brainstorm sustainable solutions for one of two industrywide DEI challenges:

• Improving workplace practices and processes to ensure fair and equal access to high-quality work, sponsors, and business/clients to level the playing field for all talent
• Defending and fortifying DEI across the profession to withstand downturns, leadership challenges, and anti-DEI rhetoric  

Sylvia served as DEI Lead for team Career Catalysts, which won an honorable mention for innovation, while Angela Machala was a member of the Inclusion Superstars team.

In early July, all of the Hackathon teams convened in New York City to pitch their best ideas to a panel of DEI luminaries and a standing room only audience of 200+ leaders at NYU School of Law. The ideas presented were evaluated on their potential for impact and the winning solutions will be developed by Diversity Lab and piloted by participating law firms and legal departments.

“Participating in the hackathon and collaborating with my team members was an amazing and inspiring experience. In addition, I was extremely impressed with the passion, optimism, and creativity embodied in the ideas presented by all of the teams on pitch day,” said Sylvia James, Winston & Strawn chief diversity and inclusion officer.

Diversity Lab’s 2016 Hackathon led to the creation of the Mansfield Rule, a data-driven, behavioral science-backed certification process to ensure that all talent has a fair and equitable opportunity to advance into leadership roles. Winston was an early adopter of the Manfield Rule and has achieved Certification Plus status every year since its inception in 2017.

Learn more about Winston’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.