DirectWomen to host gender pay equity program on April 7-8 in St. Louis

DirectWomen, an organization formed to position women lawyers to serve on boards of public companies, will host and sponsor a program on gender pay equity from April 7-8 in St. Louis. The program will focus on gender pay disparities, gender diversity on corporate boards and gender equity in the legal profession. DirectWomen will co-host the event with The Missouri Joint Commission on Women in the Profession and programming will be held at Thompson Coburn LLP and Washington University School of Law.

Follow the Joint Commission on Women in the Profession on Twitter (@MoWomenLawyers) for updates from the two days of sessions.
 
The DirectWomen Host Committee in St. Louis is co-chaired by St. Louis attorneys Doreen Dodson, Senior Partner at Polsinelli and member of the ABA Gender Equity Task Force, and Bill Bay, partner at Thompson Coburn.

Event panelists will feature CEOs of large public companies, DirectWomen alumna and American Bar Association experts on gender equity. Speakers will cover topics such as gender diversity on corporate boards, strategies for closing the pay gap for women and how general counsel can affect change in pay equity.

“This program is a unique opportunity to explore solutions to gender inequality in law and business,” said Hillary Sale, Walter D. Coles Professor of Law and Professor of Management at Washington University School of Law and one of the moderators of the program.

Schedule of events:
Monday, April 7, 2014
Location: Offices of Thompson Coburn LLP at One US Bank Plaza - 35th Floor
4:00-5:30 p.m. “Gender Pay Equity: Is Progress Being Made?”
5:30-7:00 p.m. Reception

Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Resetting Performance Expectations: The Role of Directors and General Counsel in Developing Diversity and Gender Equity
Location: Anheuser-Busch Hall, Washington University School of Law
2:00-3:30 p.m. “Power of the Purse: How General Counsel Can Impact Pay Equity for Women Lawyers” (Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom)
4:00-5:30 p.m. “Becoming an Effective Public Company Director” (Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom)
5:30-7:00 p.m. Networking Reception (Crowder Courtyard)

Panelists for the two days of programming include: Doreen Dodson; Arnold Donald, CEO and President, Carnival Corp.; Patricia Gillette, partner at Orrick and member of the ABA Gender Equity Task Force; Ann Harlan, retired vice president and general counsel, The J.M. Smucker Company and director, The Gorman-Rupp Company; Mary Ann Hynes, senior counsel, Dentons, and director, GHD Group Pty Ltd; Roberta D. Liebenberg, chair of DirectWomen and senior partner at Fine, Kaplan and Black, R.P.C.; Sheri Mossbeck, vice president and treasurer, Leggett & Platt, Incorporated; Meredith Perkins, vice president, corporate counsel and assistant secretary, Enterprise Holdings Inc.; Stephanie Scharf, partner at Scharf Banks Marmor LLC and member of the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession; Reuben Shelton, senior counsel of litigation, Monsanto; Diane Sullivan, CEO and president, Brown Shoe Co.; James Turley, retired chairman and CEO, Ernst & Young; Dr. Mark Wrighton, Chancellor, Washington University in St. Louis.
 
The program is sponsored by Bryan Cave, Polsinelli, Thompson Coburn, Gray, Ritter & Graham, and Husch Blackwell. Additional sponsors include The ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, The Missouri Bar, The Missouri Joint Commission on Women in the Profession, Washington University School of Law and The Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater St. Louis.