Winston Holds DEI Retreat in Nashville

Approximately 225 Winston lawyers came together in Nashville last week for the firm’s biennial DEI Retreat. The three-day event was filled with networking, collaboration, strategic planning, and professional development.

A foundational element of the firm’s diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy, the retreat included:

• A fireside chat with chairman Steve D’Amore, moderated by Kobi Kennedy Brinson, partner and Diversity & Inclusion Committee Chair
• A keynote presentation by Professor, Activist, Author, Minister, and Political Commentator Michael Eric Dyson
• A diverse corporate counsel panel moderated by Winston partner Krishnan Padmanabhan and featuring in-house clients Jimmie M. Covington, Vice President, Counsel with AllianceBernstein; Jesse Ruiz, Partner, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer with The Vistria Group; and Rozan Simoni, General Counsel--North America with COFCO International
• Affinity group breakout sessions for members of the firm’s Black Lawyers Network, La Alianza at Winston, MENA, Winston Asian Leadership Initiative, and Winston Pride
• A well-being boost led by Diane Costigan, Winston’s Director of Coaching and Well-Being
• A diverse partners panel moderated by Winston partner Angela A. Smedley, featuring partners Cristina Calvar, Robert Kang, Imad Khan, and Sean Suber
• A presentation by Justin Jones, Policy and Activism Fellow for the John Lewis Center for Social Justice at Fisk University titled “We’re Not Going Back: Advancing Racial Justice in a Time of Retrenchment”

The retreat also included breakout sessions led by Werten Bellamy, President of Stakeholders, Inc.; Sylvia James, Winston’s Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer; Donna Joseph, Vice President at Bernstein Private Wealth Management; and Morenike Williams, Founder and CEO of Revision Coaching.