20160805_Diversity Scholar Program_PRINT

DIVERSITY “Diversity: The art of thinkingSCHOLAR independently together.”PROGRAM - Malcolm Forbes



Table of ContentsWho is PracticePro? 1Diversity Scholar Program Overview & Purpose 1Program Description 2Program History 3Law Firm Sponsors 4Benefits of Becoming a Diversity Sponsor 5Who Are Some of Our Diversity Scholars? 6Where Are Some of Our Diversity Scholars Now? 12Testimonials 14



Who Is PracticePro? Diversity Scholar Program Overview & Purpose PracticePro is a San Francisco-based legal education startup. Through The legal profession as a whole has training, coaching, and technology struggled when it comes to recruiting for new associates and law students, and retaining diverse talent, and we strive to change the way new has acknowledged the need for lawyers learn to practice law and comprehensive diversity strategies. make transitioning to practice easier The PracticePro Diversity Scholar for everyone involved. Program is an all-inclusive training and coaching program. Its purpose In addition to training and coaching is to provide diverse law studentsat law firms and law schools, we host with adequate skills training and two conferences — the PracticePro career coaching so they can be betterCareer Conference and New Attorney prepared to handle the rigors of the legal profession and enter practice Basics Conference — in Chicago, on an equal footing with their non- Houston, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. diverse counterparts. 1

The Diversity Scholar Program is an all-inclusivetraining and coaching program that strives to helptrain practice-ready diverse attorneys. The first-yearlaw students who are accepted into the program:- Attend a Career Conference in the spring oftheir first year, where they learn the soft skills andcompetencies required of them as summer associatesand in their early years of practice.- Participate in a six-month intensive career coachingprogram, starting the summer of their first year,to help them navigate law school, interviews,networking, and long-term career planning.- Benefit from mentoring throughout law school.- Attend New Attorney Basics as a third-year lawstudent or recent graduate, which will providethem with a preview of the legal, managerial,and administrative tasks expected of stellar juniorassociates. Program Description 2

Program History PracticePro started the Diversity Scholar Program in the San Francisco Bay Area and Texas in the 2014-15 academic year. Since then, we have: Experienced a 300% increase in the number of applicants Admitted 16 (2014-15) and 39 (2015-16) first-year law students into the program Partnered with 12 law firms as sponsors Expanded to new geographies: Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C. Quadrupled attendance at our Career Conferences3

Law Firm PracticePro partners with law firms,Sponsors corporate departments, and bar associations who help fund first-year law students’ participation in the Diversity Scholar Program. 2015-16 Firm Sponsors: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Alto Litigation Barnes & Thornburg Beck Redden Ferrari & Associates Gardere Wynne Sewell Haynes and Boone Jackson Walker Jones Day McDermott Will & Emery WilmerHale Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati 4

Benefits of Becoming a Diversity SponsorRecruit Highly Qualified Diverse Talent • Have your sponsorship benefit the law school(s) of your choice. In addition to sponsoring one or more students to participate in the Diversity Scholar Program, your sponsorship includes a training workshop at your selected school(s). PracticePro will plan and coordinate the event with the law school(s), then invite your attorneys to help teach at or attend the workshop. • Recruit from the entire class of PracticePro Diversity Scholars. • Receive an invitation to speak at Career Conferences. • Recognition at all our Career Conferences and Diversity Receptions, and inclusion in our quarterly newsletter, student organization emails, social media, and corporate website. • Receive an invitation to all PracticePro law school presentations (certain sponsorship levels*). • Consult with PracticePro on your recruiting needs (certain sponsorship levels*).Train & Retain Your Associates & Summer Associates • Receive tickets to our Career Conferences for your incoming summer associates. • Receive tickets to New Attorney Basics training (5 hours general CLE) for your incoming associates (certain sponsorship levels*). • On-site training workshops and transition-to-practice coaching for your summer associates and associates (certain sponsorship levels*).Collaborate with corporate clients to show commitment to adiverse legal profession • (Optional) Partner with a client to sponsor a Diversity Scholar or name your scholarship after a client. Together we can improve diversity in the legal profession.*Sponsorship Table Enclosed 5

WHO ARE SOME OFOUR CLASS OF 2018 DIVERSITYSCHOLARS? 6

SOPHIA CARRILLO (Stanford ‘18) “My father did not finish high school, but I knew I wanted to be an advocate and pursue a law degree. As a result, I adopted an entrepreneurial and tenacious appetite for learning, research, and self-taught exploration of the legal profession.” STEPHEN MORRIS (University of Virginia ‘18) “Since birth, my life has been anything butordinary. During labor, my mother suffered a severe stroke that rendered her blind for six months and caused critical complications for me that made doctors predict a low chance of survival. My momeventually recovered her full eyesight and we both made remarkable recoveries.” OLIVIA MORA (University of Texas ‘18) “The mélange of my father’s insecurities and my mother’s fierce pride in their respective cultures gave me the distinct understandingthat knowing someone’s ethnicity or nationality is not enough to fully characterize them. Instead, it is the combination of lineage and experiences that form an identity.” 7

SARA KIM (University of Chicago ‘18)“I am the first in my family to complete collegeand attend law school in the United States, and am committed to excellence.” TINA NGO (UC Berkeley ‘18) “I am a child of Vietnamese refugees and a first generation professional. Born in Saigon, I relocated with my family to California in 1989 as part of the reverberating aftermath of the Vietnam War.” JOSE RICO (UC Davis ‘18) “My parents were unable to attend school past sixth grade. Since I did not have family members or close friends growing up who were professionals, everything was new, and I learned as I went.” 8

ERICA SANTAMARIA (Georgetown ‘18) “Finding myself in a naturally disadvantaged position since childhood - the product of a turbulent home surrounded by addiction and violence - I have refused to let those circumstances define my future.”JUVIAN HERNANDEZ (SMU Dedman ‘18) “I am the first in my family to go to law school and have worked hard to put myself in the position I am now. Being the trailblazer has not been easy. I have endured a number of obstacles, including racism, lack of resources, and most importantly lack of mentorship.” ELY ZUNO (UC Hastings ‘18) “I was born in poverty and raised by illiterate Spanish-speaking parents. At an early age, Ihad to learn how to navigate the school systemto get a better education so I could live a better life.” 9

JAY ZHANG (University of Houston ‘18) “As one of the five Chinese students in an entering class of one hundred and fifty, I have learned to direct the challenges we face to focus on our source of strength and opportunity.”MALLORY MORALES (UC Berkeley ‘18) “I am a first generation Latina at Berkeley Law. As one of the first in my family to attend college, let alone law school, I had very few role models growing up who had professional careers. I am grateful for my working class,immigrant background because it has made me resourceful and independent.”ADEDAMOLA SOKOYA (Howard ‘18)“As a first-generation Nigerian-American, I wasthe first in my family to earn my undergraduate degree and enroll in a professional program. The opportunity to improve the world and myself is one I do not take lightly. I witnessedfirst-hand the perils that come with the absence of effective law and am determined to use the law to effect change.” 10

MASHAL SHAH (George Washington ‘18) “Growing up in Saudi Arabia and havingexperienced the limits on personal freedoms, I want to work harder to maintain the freedoms that are denied to people I grew up with and the freedoms that are taken for granted in the U.S.” BYRON BAILEY (Texas A&M ‘18) “I am a product of a public school system andneighborhood that allowed me to witness more of my colleagues being killed or incarcerated than matriculating into college. Fortunately, I was and still am a dreamer.” MICHAEL CHOI (University of San Francisco ‘18)“I first felt out of place in elementary school, as one of a handful of Asian-American students in my class. I began to neglect my Korean heritage, preferring English-speaking parents who volunteered for the PTA to parents who spoke broken English with an accent, and normal meals to rice.” 11

WINNIE WONG ISAIAH DEPORTO (UC Berkeley ‘17) (Stanford ‘17)Haynes and Boone O’Melveney & Myers Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & FeldWhere Are Some of Our CHRIS GARCIA NARE ALEKSANYAN (UC Hastings ‘17) (UC Berkeley ‘17)Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati DLA Piper 12

KIRSTEN JOHANSSON BALTAZAR SALAZAR (University of Texas ‘17) (Texas Southern University ‘17) WilmerHale | Winstead United States Attorney’s OfficeDiversity Scholars Now? TANESKA JONES MACY JONES-SMITH(University of Houston Law Center ‘17) (Texas A&M ‘17) Coane & Associates Munsh Hardt Kopf & Harr 13

TESTIMONIALS “PracticePro is uniquely positioned to help law students, especially first generation law students like myself, through its Diversity Scholars Program. As a Scholar, I received invaluable resources to navigate the job hunting process and develop practical skills to be a great attorney. The career conference and coaching sessions helped illuminate the ways to best position myself for my desired opportunities.” - Winnie Wong, Berkeley Law ‘17 “I must say that the PracticePro Career Conference was the most practical and informative legal career preparation workshop that I have ever attended. Niki’s energy, enthusiasm, and passion for serving her students filled the room with every word uttered. The panelists were some of the most esteemed attorneysfrom some of the most prestigious law firms in the country. They all gave practicaladvice while also humanizing the message. I left with about 5 pages of notes and the confidence to shine at whatever legal job that may come my way.” - Byron Bailey, Texas A&M School of Law ‘18 “In my mind, PracticePro equals opportunity. Not just the opportunity to gain the skills one needs in order to find success in the legal profession, but the opportunity to better oneself and gain the confidence necessary to thrive in any environment. It is because of PracticePro that I, the first in my family to pursue a law degree, have had many opportunities to interview with and work for incredible employers, as well as opportunities to travel across the country to places I have never before been. Without PracticePro and everything I havelearned from being part of the Diversity Scholar Program, I would be much more nervous about what uncertainties lie beyond graduation day.” - Drew Neumann, Houston College of Law ‘17, PracticePro Diversity & Scholarship Relations 14

HELP US TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF DIVERSE LEADERSBECOME A SPONSOR Yasser Madriz (Haynes and Boone) with Olivia Mora (University of Texas ‘18) and Kwame Mensah (University of Texas ‘18) 15

[email protected] 415.237.3703