Women's Initiative
Working to everyone's benefit.
The mission of the Women’s Initiative is consistent with our firm’s diversity mission: to work towards an inclusive environment where everyone has ample and equal opportunity to contribute, grow and succeed. Through the Women’s Initiative, new attorneys receive the guidance and direction they need to develop client service strategies and attorney-client relationships that produce long-term benefits for themselves, the firm, and our clients.
We also have a strong community of more senior attorneys who have volunteered to mentor any woman either on a long-term basis or to assist with a specific issue. Our resources and culture encourage all team members to interact and work together, strengthening both internal and external relationships and providing value to our attorneys, our clients and our communities.
Impact Zones
We focus on four areas or "impact zones" — Teamwork, Support, Leadership & Transparency. Read on to learn more about what we're doing on each of these fronts to advance women's leadership and make Frost Brown Todd a great place to work and be for EVERYONE.
The Women’s Initiative fosters teamwork through:
- An ever-growing network of mentors who rally behind newcomers to ensure they have the right level of guidance and support and a meaningful and manageable workload.
- Offsite networking opportunities that connect female attorneys with female clients and a two-day Women’s Retreat that invites female attorneys from across the firm to not only share concerns, success stories, and advancement strategies but help shape new policies and change initiatives.
- A women-focused “targeted conversations” series, open to all attorneys, that fosters dialogue around gender diversity through presentations on implicit bias, team-building, and different pathways to promotion.
The Women’s Initiative empowers female professionals through:
- Regular professional and career development programming that supplements legal training with core business and marketing strategies designed to help female professionals enhance their legal practice, build out their client and peer networks and realize their evolving career goals.
- Alternative work schedule policies that are compatible with promotion and include remote and reduced-schedule arrangements; and a maternity/paternity leave plan for birth and adoptive parents, with additional resources for employees returning after an extended absence.
- A web-based instant feedback tool that encourages associates to request – or supervising attorneys to offer – input after a significant assignment, ensuring that both parties work together to maintain a fluid career progression.
The Women’s Initiative develops and recognizes female leaders through:
- Nominations for civic awards and board appointments that raise the national profile of our women leaders and the Frost Brown Todd Champion of Women Award, which recognizes any employee who’s gone the extra mile to empower his or her female colleagues.
- An inclusive “all levels” framework that invites non-equity attorneys to serve alongside equity members on several firm committees, ensuring that a range of voices are incorporated into the decision-making and strategic planning process.
- Broad, hands-on support for local and national organizations that engage, educate and empower young women and advance gender equality in our offices and communities — the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF), for example, which in 2020 awarded Frost Brown Todd our eighth Gold Standard Certification.
The Women’s Initiative is helping make Frost Brown Todd more transparent through:
- Structured panel interviewing and a competency-based advancement process that help protect against bias, democratize our promotion pipeline and ensure female attorneys are advancing at a rate proportionate to their male counterparts.
- A pre-evaluation process that allows associates to solicit feedback from practice group leaders before finalizing and submitting their self-assessments, thereby relieving some of the anxiety around the first-promotion experience.
- Routine employee surveys to monitor progress towards the firm’s inclusion goals, the results of which are shared internally to ingrain accountability in our processes; and both formal and informal feedback channels that ensure all employee concerns are heard, documented and addressed.
Recognition
Kim Mauer | Women’s Initiative Committee Chair
The Women’s Initiative Committee is comprised of individuals around our firm representing a variety of ages, experiences, and positions. In addition, we made the decision several years ago to add men to our committee because it takes all of us working together to make the changes set forth in our Impact Zones — and we all gain by doing so.
Women's Initiative Committee
-
Katherine L. BerkleyManaging Associate
Lexington, KY
-
Taylor A. BullardAssociate
Nashville, TN
-
Miao (Emily) ChengAssociate
Indianapolis, IN
-
Kevin L. CooneyPartner
West Chester, OH
-
Ariel M. FoxManaging Associate
Cincinnati, OH
-
Adam P. HallChief Executive Officer
Cincinnati, OH
-
Christopher (Chris) G. JohnsonPartner
Louisville, KY
-
Christopher L. JohnsonChief Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Belonging Officer
Lexington, KY
Louisville, KY
-
Haley A. JohnstonSenior Associate
Indianapolis, IN
-
Alicia S. KappersProfessional Development and Integration Director
Cincinnati, OH
-
Kimberly K. MauerWomen's Initiative Committee Chair
Cincinnati, OH
-
Elise N. McQuainManaging Associate
Columbus, OH
Charleston, WV
-
Patricia M. PlavkoPartner
West Chester, OH
-
Ali RazzaghiPartner
Cincinnati, OH
-
Sarah M. SmithAssociate
Dallas, TX
-
Jillian Nolan SniderPartner
Pittsburgh, PA
-
Andrea Hope J. SteelPartner
Houston, TX
-
Meghan Jackson TysonPartner
Louisville, KY
-
Yan (Michelle) XuSenior Associate
Houston, TX
News & Recognition
-
In the News:
The Case for Diversity, Equity & InclusionPublication: Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce (pg. 8)
Publish Date: March 9, 2023
-
-
Frost Brown Todd Selects Seven Students for Annual Zenobia Harris Bivens Diversity ScholarshipFebruary 6, 2023
-
MLK Day 2023: A Special Video TributeJanuary 13, 2023
-
