On September 26 WILEF held its 2019 annual meeting at the New York offices of Milbank located at the hot new area of New York City—Hudson Yards.
WILEF leadership and board members from around the country, as well as London and Paris, participated. Among the highlights:
Pictured left to right—Erin Hanson, Maja Hazell, Betiayn Tursi, Sherri Snelson, Jessica Chen
The WILEF Second Annual Above and Beyond Award was presented to White & Case LLP. WILEF’s Global Chair, Betiayn Tursi said: “White & Case hosted both the WILEF London and WILEF Paris Inaugural events. Without the firm’s Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Maja Hazell and partner, Nicole Erb this could not have happened. White & Case is a WILEF Founding Law Firm Diamond sponsor and I am pleased to announce that just this week the firm achieved its first WILEF US Gold Standard Certification meeting every criteria. [The following week the firm achieved WILEF UK Gold Standard Certification being only one of four firms to achieve the dual honor.] I am so grateful to the firm and now I would ask that Maja, partners Sherri Snelson, Jessica Chen and associate and Member of the WILEF East Young Lawyers Committee, Erin Hanson join me to accept this award.”
Leadership Announcements: Global: Global Director of Administration, Silvana Del Carpio Crawford, Donnelley Financial Solutions; Co-Chair, Diversity Committee, Peter Wilson, Proskauer LLP, WILEF East: Co-Chair, Meaghan B. Miller, Donnelley Financial Solutions; WILEF DC: Co-Chairs, WILEF DC Young Lawyers Committee, Nicole Erb, White & Case, Ellen Ostrow, Lawyers Life Coach; WILEF Southern California: Co-Vice Chair, Merle J. Vaughn, Major, Lindsey & Africa, Co-Chair, Jodi Karpel, Walgreen Co., Co-Chair, Deborah Stein, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Chair, Young Lawyers Committee, Stacy Horth-Neubert, Sidley Austin LLP, Executive Director, Jennifer Ganesh, Sidley Austin LLP; WILEF Boston: Co-Chair, Inez Friedman-Boyce, Goodwin, Co-Chair, Jody L. Newman, Partner, Hogan Lovells Co-Chair, Cynthia Johnson Walden, Fish & Richardson, P.C.; WILEF Houston: Co-Vice Chair, Anna G. Rotman, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Co-Chair, Fermeen Fazal, Universal Pegasus International; WILEF London: Executive Director, Aissa Rice-Tagon, MLegal Group; WILEF Paris: Co-Vice Chair, Somesha Ferdinand, Wells Fargo Securities Europe. Co-Chair, Cecile DiMeglio, Director, Société Générale, Co-Chair, Celine Domenget Morin, Goodwin. Executive Director, Adriana Ingenito, Hughes Hubbard & Reed
Kevin Vermeulen
Steve Andersen
Guest speakers: Kevin Vermeulen, Partner and COO of WILEF’s Exclusive Social Media sponsor, Good2bSocial and Steve Andersen, Vice President, Content and Client Strategy of WILEF’s Exclusive Public Relations sponsor, Infinite Global, did presentations relevant to everyone in the room on storytelling and the impact of social media as important marketing tools that are imperatives in today’s “connected environment”
Betiayn’s Closing Remarks: Included in Betiayn’s closing remarks were two book recommendations that dovetailed with the guest speaker presentations: What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence by Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO and Co Founder of Blackstone and Face to Face: The Art of Human Connection by Brian Grazer, the Oscar winning producer and Co-Founder, along with Ron Howard, of Imagine Entertainment
Cocktail Reception: Following the meeting, attendees adjourned to a cocktail reception that featured spectacular views, champagne, hors d’oeuvres and the sounds of the Columbia Metrotones, Columbia University’s premiere all-female a cappella group.
