Leadership

The work of the Coalition brings together managing partners, general counsel and lawyers and other legal professionals employed by our members in various positions and at all levels, ranging from brand new hires to senior practitioners.

The Coalition is led by a 12-person board of directors and an executive director. In addition to ad hoc committees put together around particular and time-limited goals, it has three standing committees reflecting the three key imperatives of the Coalition’s work: Recruitment, Retention, and Community Building.

The Board

Chair

Eric Cottle
Partner
K&L Gates

Vice Chair

Frances Woodward
Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary
Gateway Health

Secretary

Joseph Milcoff
Vice President of Litigation and Risk
FedEx Ground

Treasurer

Peter Russ
Shareholder, Pittsburgh Office
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

April M. Barton
Dean and Professor of Law
Duquesne University School of Law

Donald C. Bluedorn II
Managing Shareholder
Babst Calland

Jeff Heeter
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Alcoa Corporation

 

Jennifer S. Park
Shareholder/Director
Director of Diversity & Inclusion
Cohen & Grigsby, P.C.

Tony J. Thompson
Counsel
Dollar Bank

Keith Whitson
Managing Partner
Schnader
(Term starts in Jan. 2022)

Amy J. Wildermuth
Dean and Professor of Law
University of Pittsburgh School of Law

Tishekia Williams
Director, Regulatory Legal
Duquesne Light Company

The Executive Director

Ena Lebel, a corporate attorney for over a decade (most recently for Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky) and a project consultant for Common Impact, Inc., also serves as the President and Board Chair of Healthy Start, Inc. She has extensive volunteer experience with efforts around diversity and inclusion, and holds a passionate belief that we can inspire, empower, and connect people to change the world.

Communications Director

Megan Edwards has spent the last decade and a half managing communications and public relations for nonprofits, education, and health care; most recently for the University of Pittsburgh and prior to that, the Moon Area School District. She believes that being invested in an organization’s mission is vital to success, and looks forward to spreading the word about the Coalition’s endeavors.

The Committees

Recruitment

The Recruitment Committee develops and implements strategies to (1) attract diverse legal talent to Pittsburgh from elsewhere; (2) retain in Pittsburgh diverse law students graduating from Pittsburgh and other area law schools; and (3) maximize opportunities for diverse lawyers currently practicing in Pittsburgh to obtain employment that matches their aspirations and abilities. The Committee also plans programs and initiatives to assist members with their own recruitment efforts.

Co-chairs

Rosa Miller
Senior Counsel, Litigation
FedEx Ground

Jessica Gangjee
Director of Attorney Recruitment & Professional Development
Burns White LLC

Retention

The Retention Committee is charged with offering programs and a shared infrastructure to enhance opportunities for the growth, development and advancement of diverse lawyers. It also seeks to educate our members on the latest research and to provide them with skills and best practices relating to the retention of diverse lawyers.

Chair

Krista Staley
Attorney

Community Building

The Community Building Committee develops and implements programs and initiatives to provide opportunities for diverse lawyers to develop a sense of community with other diverse, as well as non-diverse lawyers and other professionals in the area; and to make sure that spouses and families of diverse lawyers have the resources and opportunities they need to feel at home in Pittsburgh, too.

Chair

Aarthi Murty
Senior Counsel
PPG