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Mexico’s González Calvillo, SC received the Latin American Lawyer’s Diversity Initiative of the Year Award earlier this year. We spoke to the firm about the strides it has made to increase equality at the firm since launching its Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Forum in 2021.
Partners and lead members of González Calvillo’s D&I Committee Cristina Massa and Diana Pineda accepted the award at the Latin Lawyer ceremony in Sao Paulo in May.
Watch the full interview below:
González Calvillo was honored for several initiatives he launched within his D&I Forum, including schemes designed to boost the careers of his female lawyers.
As part of the forum, the firm launched ‘GC Virtual Coffees’, providing opportunities for women in the firm to connect with leading female professionals at the top of their careers, from CEOs to senior government officials. The meetings allowed González Calvillo’s female workforce to receive advice on career advancement, work-life balance and other professional challenges women face.
Another initiative within the forum, ‘GC Clusters’, has provided a safe and open space for women to discuss more personal topics and experiences, where they are also invited to share any concerns. The Diversity Forum has several focus areas to increase the representation of minority groups. “In addition to gender, we also included sexual orientation, religion and people with disabilities,” Massa explained.
Speaking about the impact of the D&I forum, Pineda explained that: “it opened up the conversation not only for people from different backgrounds, but for everyone at the firm.” She said that every one of the firm’s attorneys was invited to participate in the forum— and they have been active in it.
“Some of these initiatives actually come from underrepresented groups in the firm, for example with the clusters and virtual cafes, women lawyers themselves are actively involved in shaping these programs; getting the speakers in and determining the topics,” Massa said. “It gives everyone a sense of belonging,” she added.
Along with the launch of its D&I forum, Latin Lawyer also recognized González Calvillo’s work in collaboration with NGOs on diversity issues. The firm also participates in the 50/50 Women on Boards programme, which campaigns for large corporations to have equal representation of women in their leadership teams. González Calvillo was also one of the firms that helped the non-profit organizations AbogadasMX and UN Women produce a report known as Minimum Standards for Diversity and Inclusion in Mexican Law Firms, which suggests methods to improve gender diversity in Mexican law firms .
González Calvillo’s efforts are particularly commendable given that Mexico is one of the Latin American jurisdictions with the fewest women in partner positions compared to men.
Listening to the people within the company is instrumental in building a successful diversity strategy, Pineda said. “We try to deconstruct our own assumptions, so sometimes we think we know what people need, but the biggest impact comes from asking people what they need or want,” she added.
Stay tuned for more interviews with Latin Lawyer individual award recipients in upcoming briefings.
To find out more about all the winners of the Deal of the Year awards, click here.
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