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 an 11-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

Donald C. Bluedorn II
Managing Shareholder
Babst Calland

Vice Chair

Geovette E. Washington
Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Legal Officer
University of Pittsburgh

Treasurer

Peter Russ
Managing Shareholder, Pittsburgh Office
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

Secretary

Eric Cottle
Partner
K&L Gates

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

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

Joseph Milcoff
Vice President of Litigation and Risk
FedEx Ground

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

Tony J. Thompson
Partner
Meyer, Unkovic & Scott LLP

David B. White
Member, Executive Committee
Burns White LLC

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

The Executive Director

Susan Yohe (susan.yohe@pghlegaldiversity.org) practiced law for 34 years in Pittsburgh before assuming the role of Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. While in that position, she helped found the Coalition, and since retiring from private law practice, has devoted herself to ensuring the Coalition’s successful launch and development.

Communications Assistant

Megan Edwards (megan.edwards@pghlegaldiversity.org) has spent the last 13 years working in communications and public relations, most recently for the University of Pittsburgh and prior to that, the Moon Area School District. She looks forward to helping the Coalition further their communications offerings and help to spread the word about its important mission.

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
rosa.miller@fedex.com

Jessica Gangjee
Director of Attorney Recruitment & Professional Development
Burns White LLC
jlgangjee@burnswhite.com

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

Keith E. Whitson
Pittsburgh Office Managing Partner
Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP
kwhitson@schnader.com

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.

Co-chairs

Traci S. Rea
Partner
Reed Smith LLP
TRea@ReedSmith.com

Michael Komo
Associate
K&L Gates
Michael.Komo@klgates.com