Women's Initiative

One Firm’s Approach to Helping Women Attorneys Succeed

Greenberg Traurig is an empowering and diverse firm where individuals are respected and have the opportunity to contribute, develop leadership skills, and grow their business. The Greenberg Traurig Women’s Initiative (GTWI) reflects these principles and supports the inclusion and advancement of women at Greenberg Traurig and in the legal profession through unique programming and resources to benefit the firm’s attorneys, their clients, and future lawyers.

From its inception, Greenberg Traurig has been dedicated to the advancement of women attorneys. GTWI has been successful in fostering the success of women attorneys, strengthening the firm’s culture, contributing to the firm’s financial health, and better serving firm clients.

Liaisons serve from every office around the globe and help make GTWI relevant to the attorneys and clients of their specific office or market. GTWI’s Advisory Group, comprised of senior men and women attorneys, plays a critical role in providing support at every level of the firm.

To see a sample of the awards and accolades that demonstrate this commitment to empowerment, click here.

Attracting and Retaining Talented Women

GTWI supports the recruitment, retention, and promotion of women attorneys at the firm. Many of the firm’s women attorneys are also recognized in their individual areas of experience. Exemplifying its commitment through GTWI, the firm takes thoughtful action to address such issues important to our attorneys and community. Recent Greenberg Traurig programs, available to both men and women attorneys include:

• “Making the Most of the Holiday Season” with Alycia Sutor from GrowthPlay
• “General Counsel Driving the Diversity & Collaboration Agenda” an interactive discussion between general counsel and Greenberg Traurig leaders led by Deborah Epstein Henry
• “Implicit Gender Bias: It’s Not What You Think (It’s How You Think),” led by Arin Reeves, J.D., Ph.D., and President of Nextions, following prior Implicit Bias Training led by renowned Harvard Professor Dr. Mahzarin Banaji
• “The Game Changing Factor Negotiation Skills to Advance Your Work and Life”
• “Difficult Interactions: Clients, Colleagues, and the Challenges We All Face”
• “Generational Differences in the Workplace and Your Practice”
• “Gender Matters: Tools for Effective Communications with the Opposite Sex”

Supporting Business Development for Women Attorneys

Greenberg Traurig actively supports women attorneys throughout their careers by providing the tools they need to successfully develop new business. GTWI sponsors G2G, a business development coaching program that invests in and supports the firm’s high-potential women shareholders as they continue to grow into strong business developers, collaborators, and leaders. The G2G program is coordinated by the firm’s professional development and marketing professionals and is facilitated by an external coaching partner, GrowthPlay, a professional services business development coaching firm. Through remote workshops, personal plans, sponsors, mentorship, and one-on-one outside coaching, participants spend six-months developing their business development skills and strategy, as well as building a foundation to foster connections amongst themselves that will support cross-selling and collaboration. The program has run three times to date, each spanning a duration of six months.

In addition to G2G, the firm offers a number of programs and training opportunities to support business development. A selection of recent programs includes:

• “Building Business Remotely” a firm-wide virtual program sponsored by GTWI 
• “From Relationships to Revenue Workshop” led by Alycia Sutor from Growth Play. The workshop focused on turning relationships into clients by enhancing the client experience.
• “Lady Leaders – Young Women’s Leadership Panel”, a millennial outreach panel co-hosted by Lady Leaders, LLC and the Arizona Foundation for Women. The panel featured successful women leaders, including Greenberg Traurig shareholder Caroline Pricher, as they shared their successes, challenges, and advice for the next generation.
• Ongoing “Road to Rainmaking” training.
• Multiple events in Greenberg Traurig’s Boston office co-hosted with Ellevate. Prominent speakers have included Linda Rossetti, who spoke on the transitions women face throughout their career and personal lives, as well as Malli Gero, the co-founder of 2020 Women on Boards, who spoke about national campaigns to increase women on U.S. corporate boards.
• Greenberg Traurig Denver’s Women's Leadership Initiative: Touch the Sky! - Greenberg Traurig welcomed Jean Galloway, chief executive officer of Galloway Group, to moderate a panel of top Denver executives.

Women’s Business Forum

The firm’s annual Women’s Business Forum, an educational summit and networking event, provides an opportunity for highly successful women business leaders to develop, maintain, and expand their career and business development networks. Started in 2007 and held at a different host city each year, the Forum is recognized as a setting for professional women to share ideas, develop skills, as well as meet mentors and business contacts.

The 2022 Anniversary Women’s Business Forum in Denver, Colorado, included remarks from the following speakers:

• Cristin C. Bracken, Chief Legal Officer/Senior Vice President, Gates
• Shelby Noble, Managing Director, Special District Group Piper Sandler
• Robin Wise, President/CEO, Junior Achievement – Rocky Mountain, Inc.
• Janelle Anderson, CEO, Fresh Vine Wine
• Meghan Marsden, Co-Founder, Veil Intimates
• Erica Reid, Founder, nécessité
• Megan Bushell, CEO, Defy
• Laura Luzietti, MD, Pediatrician & Executive Director, Every Child Pediatrics
• Fraser Nelson, Co-Founder and Managing Director, National Trust for Local News
• Tamra Ryan, CEO, Women’s Bean Project

Previous keynote speakers and host cities include:

• Jenny Champlin, President, National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) and Anastasia Soare, Founder/CEO, Anastasia Beverly Hills (Denver)
• Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Kate Parker, photographer and author of Strong is the New Pretty and Heart of a Boy (Phoenix)
• Brad Johnson and David Smith, former United States Naval Academy professors and authors of Athena Rising: How and Why Men Should Mentor Women (Houston)
• Jennifer Hyman, CEO and Co-Founder, Rent the Runway (New York)
• Tina Tchen, Assistant to President Barack Obama and Chief of Staff to First Lady Michelle Obama, and Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls; Melody Barnes, CEO of MBSquared Solutions; and numerous elected officials (Washington, D.C.)
• Kate Cole, who at the time held the position of CEO of Cinnabon (Atlanta)
• Agnes Taile, Journalist and Past Award Winner, IWMF Courage in Journalism Award, who was interviewed by Sharon Waxman, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of TheWrap.com (California)
• Jan L. Jones Blackhurst, Executive Vice President of Communications and Government Relations for Caesars Entertainment Corp. (South Florida)

A highlight of the Forum is GTWI’s presentation of the Diana P. Scott Integrity in Action Award, dedicated to the memory of our former colleague, Diana P. Scott. In addition to being an exemplary attorney and a mentor who led by example, Scott was also an early leader of GTWI. Previous award recipients and host cities include:

• Judge Christine M. Arguello, United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado (Denver)
• Brenda Warner, New York Times best-selling Author and Philanthropist (Phoenix)
• Laura Arnold, Co-Chair, Laura and John Arnold Foundation (Houston)
• Reshma Saujani, Founder and CEO, Girls Who Code (New York)
• Judith L. Lichtman, Senior Advisor for the National Partnership for Women & Families (Washington, D.C.)
• Hala Moddelmog, the first female President and CEO of Metro Atlanta Chamber (Atlanta)
• The Honorable Lee Smalley Edmon, Los Angeles Superior Court (California)
• Kim M. Keenan, General Counsel of the NAACP (South Florida)
• Katie Orenstein, Founder and CEO of The OpEd Project (Chicago)
• Ambassador Nancy Brinker, former Chief of Protocol for the U.S. and Founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure (Dallas)

Serving as Industry Leaders

GTWI prides itself in leading by example and working with like-minded organizations to address women’s issues in a wide variety of industries and communities. Recent sponsorships include:

• Greenberg Traurig is an ongoing sustaining sponsor of the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL):
  • In July 2019, Greenberg Traurig sponsored NAWL’s Mid Year Meeting in which Shareholder Arleen Nand served as Program Co-Chair, spearheading the substantive programing.
  • In November 2018, Greenberg Traurig sponsored the 14^th Annual General Counsel Institute, during which Shareholders Kendyl T. Hanks and Brigid Cech Samole led a panel titled “Tour of the Ivory Tower: The Supreme Court Decisions that will Affect your Business,” which discussed major developments in the U.S. Supreme Court over the previous term, with an emphasis on major business cases.
  • In July 2017, Eva Spahn, was awarded with the NAWL Virginia S. Mueller Outstanding Member Award. The award is presented each year to a NAWL member on the basis of personal and professional achievement, as well as for their exemplary work and contributions to NAWL. She has also served as a board member since 2017.
• Greenberg Traurig annually sponsors the Corporate Counsel Women of Color’s® (CCWC) Annual Career Strategies Conference. Past Greenberg Traurig speakers include Nikki Lewis Simon who moderated the breakout sessions “Harnessing and Honing Strategic Thinking” and “20 People Skills You Need at Work.” CCWC promotes the success and career advancement of in-house women of color and global diversity in the legal profession and workplace.

Developing Leaders

As an international law firm, Greenberg Traurig has the opportunity to promote and support women and to influence others in the legal profession to do the same. In addition to working with like-minded organizations, internally, Greenberg Traurig works to provide ample leadership opportunities for its women attorneys.

Mentoring Program

Offered to all associates, GTWI utilizes this program to ensure women associates, specifically, receive the guidance, support, and in-depth business development training they need to succeed in an increasingly competitive legal market. This program not only fosters women associates to become strong industry leaders, but for many senior women attorneys, it provides an opportunity to mentor junior attorneys.