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Beyond Diversifying Your Board, Part II: Investor-Driven Diversity - Online Program

Beyond Diversifying Your Board, Part II: Investor-Driven Diversity
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
12:00-1:00 p.m. EDT
 

Please join NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network; All Places; and the Beyond #MeToo Working Group on Corporate Governance, Compliance, and Risk for a conversation focused on how investors can act as allies to advance diversity goals. The panel will cover how investors can drive companies’ approach to corporate governance, particularly as regards diversity, inclusion, and belonging; how regulators influence diversity decisions at companies; and how investor diversity can contribute to board and company diversity.

  • Jessie Gabriel (Welcome Remarks), Founder and CEO, All Places
  • Kelly Williams ’89 (Moderator), CEO, The Williams Legacy Foundation; Founding Chair, Private Equity Women Investor Network
  • Solange Fernández Brooks, Chief Executive Officer, New America Alliance
  • Erica Duignan Minnihan, Founding Partner, Reign Ventures
  • Pamela Gibbs, Director, Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Kindly register via Zoom. Attendees will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link and password after registering.
 

Continuing Legal Education (CLE)

This event has been approved for one New York State CLE credit in the category of Areas of Professional Practice. The credit is both transitional and non-transitional; it is appropriate for both experienced and newly admitted attorneys. (Out-of-state CLE: NYU School of Law is an accredited provider of CLE in New York State. If you are seeking CLE credit for a different state, we recommend you consult with your state’s CLE Board to ascertain regulations on reciprocity.)

For a password-protected link to the PDFs of the CLE written materials, please email womensleadership@nyu.edu. Materials are linked to their original source below.

CLE Written Materials

Panelist Bios

Jessie Gabriel headshot

Jessie Gabriel (Welcome Remarks) is the founder of All Places, a business and legal strategy firm that supports women asset managers and entrepreneurs. Jessie is a champion for women, and a prominent voice on the role of capital ownership and control in achieving gender equity. Raised by a single working mother in Southern California, Jessie's success came with a deep appreciation of how gender norms and unequal access to capital contribute to a systemic lack of opportunities for women-identifying entrepreneurs and executives. Her personal vision and passionate advocacy are fueled by the desire to create true change — All Places is the culmination of her expertise and ethos, a space for women to formulate businesses of all kinds, receive trusted legal and strategic guidance, and ultimately cultivate long-term financial success. Jessie started her career in economics, working first at a consulting firm before moving to a major think tank. As a lawyer, she has worked at some of the country’s most prestigious firms, including Cravath, Swaine & Moore and BakerHostetler, where she was the youngest woman to lead her own team and launched the firm’s Investment Funds practice. Her clients have ranged from Fortune 10 companies to trailblazing pre-seed startups, and have included numerous women-founded private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds. Jessie is the General Counsel of the New America Alliance, an organization that advocates for the Latinx asset management community, and Chair of the Board of New Destiny Housing, which builds permanent, beautiful, affordable housing for families that have survived domestic violence. Jessie received her BA in economics from Dartmouth College and her JD cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif, won the Campbell Moot Court Competition, and served as Executive Editor of the Michigan Journal of Race and Law.

Kelly Williams '89 headshot

Kelly Williams ’89 (Moderator) is the CEO of The Williams Legacy Foundation and a recognized leader in the alternative investment industry, having founded the Customized Fund Investment Group (CFIG) at The Prudential Insurance Company in 1999. CFIG was a market leader in providing customized investment solutions in private equity, real estate and infrastructure, and Ms. Williams and her team grew the business to $30 billion in assets managed on behalf of clients. The business was moved to DLJ in 2000 (subsequently acquired by Credit Suisse AG) and Ms. Williams served as its Managing Director and Group Head until 2014, when she led the sale of the business and remained as its President until June of 2015, and a Senior Advisor from 2015 to 2019. Prior to the founding of CFIG, she was an Executive Director with Prudential’s private equity group, where she specialized in product development. Prior to joining Prudential in 1993, Ms. Williams was an associate with Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy specializing in project finance. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of The National Philanthropic Trust, one of the largest managers of donor-advised funds in the U.S., where she serves as vice-chair of its Nominating and Governance Committee. Ms. Williams is the Chair of the Board of Commissioners of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, having previously chaired its Nominating Committee. She is Vice Chair of the board of the Robert Toigo Foundation, and is the founding board chair of the Private Equity Women Investor Network. She also serves on the board of trustees of the NY School of Interior Design and The Olana Partnership. Ms. Williams has received many awards throughout her career in the financial services industry and was named in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 as one of The Most Powerful Women in Finance by American Banker Magazine. She graduated magna cum laude from Union College in 1986 and received her Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law in 1989.

Solange Fernandez Brooks headshot

Solange Fernández Brooks joined the New America Alliance Inc. (NAA) as the Chief Executive Officer in January of 2020. The national organization is committed to building on American Latino success to forge a stronger America. NAA leadership and members leverage their influence to increase capital access for women and minority-owned firms, and to accelerate diverse leadership in entrepreneurship, corporate America, and public service. Through the NAA Institute, member firms and donors create opportunities that uplift the next generation of leaders in diverse communities with programs aim to inspire the succeeding generation of investors. Previously, Mrs. Brooks was a Portfolio Manager within the Investments Branch of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) with current assets of $311 billion (July 2021). She was part of a 7-member senior team who reviewed, analyzed, and invested in private equity global investments -- $8-9 Billion in annual commitments. She managed a global portfolio of limited partnerships in buyout, venture, growth, and separate managed accounts, including mega-funds, funds-of-funds, and emerging manager funds. Important to note is that CalSTRS provides a secure retirement to more than 975,000 members whose CalSTRS-covered service is not eligible for Social Security participation. Solange Brooks is a U.S. Air Force veteran and has served as an adjunct professor at Sacramento City College. Her undergraduate education is in international business and economics and has earned a master’s in business administration (MBA) from the California State University, Sacramento.

Erica Duignan Minnihan headshot

Erica Duignan Minnihan is Founder and General Partner at Reign Ventures, a Seed Stage Venture fund that invests in consumer tech and software startups with underrepresented founders. Erica has been an active investor in and advisor to early-stage companies for over 15 years. Before launching Reign, she was Founding Partner of 1000 Angels, Managing Director at DreamIt Ventures in NYC and Executive Director at both STAR Angel Network and Golden Seeds. Prior to beginning a career in venture, she practiced Investment Banking at Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Cantor Fitzgerald. Erica earned her BA in Business Economics from UCLA and an MBA in Finance with honors from Columbia Business School.  She has also made regular appearances on network television for MSNBC and CNBC on App Wars, Your Business and Crowd Rules as a startup investor. She is also a mother of three and lives with her family in New York City.

Pamela Gibbs headshot

Pamela Gibbs was named Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion in January 2012. Prior to the SEC, Ms. Gibbs was Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Before that, Ms. Gibbs spent 18 years at the U.S. Department of Labor, where she started as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division and was later Acting Deputy Director for Program Operation in the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, and Director of the Equal Employment Opportunity Unit in the Employment Standards Administration. Ms. Gibbs is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and holds a master’s degree in public administration from George Mason University.