Elizabeth A. Campbell -- Partner and Chief Diversity Officer, Andrews Kurth LLP

By Beth Douglass Silcox Elizabeth A. Campbell looks at diversity as a leadership strategy. Trained as a labor and employment lawyer, she finds her work in the area of diversity and inclusion not only intellectually stimulating, but also an essential component to business success. “There are some companies that talk about diversity and inclusion, but what they are really talking about is equal employment opportunity,” Campbell says. “But I look at compliance as the floor, not the ceiling.” Adopting diversity and inclusion as a business strategy takes companies beyond compliance. Campbell’s work in diversity and inclusion as a business strategy matured during her tenure as corporate diversity officer with ARAMARK, a large food service/facilities management company. She had a seat at the table with the CEO, operations leadership, and heads of staff departments like human resources, finance and communications. “Diversity and inclusion elements were included in virtually every business process. It was clear, this was a business strategy,” she says. Some 20 years plus post law school, Campbell turned her attention to cultivating legal talent using diversity and inclusion. In 2007, she struck gold at Andrews Kurth. The law firm gave Campbell the space to develop and grow professionally, and the platform to create a winning formula for recruiting and retaining diverse talent that can serve our clients’ legal needs. “There was a time in the legal profession, if you delivered quality legal services to a client, you kept that client. Today’s market is so competitive that many of the larger companies put legal work out to bid,” Campbell says. A two-fold diversity/inclusion business strategy, like the one she created at Andrews Kurth, relies on attracting, developing and retaining a diverse workforce at the firm, then leveraging diversity and inclusion to develop business, and attract and retain clients. Diversity and inclusion is essential to successfully compete within today’s marketplace. “Clients ask for reports, not just representation reports, but they want to know the demographics of who is working on their matters and maybe even supplier demographics. They want to ensure that the law firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusion lines up with theirs,” she says. “Diversity and inclusion is the right thing to do and a nice thing to have,” Campbell says. “But in challenging times, the nice thing to do sometimes gets left behind because we have to focus on the core values. At Andrews Kurth, diversity and inclusion are “core values.” The organization that sees the business value in diversity and inclusion won’t leave it behind. Bringing diverse groups together generates ideas and you need that creativity, especially in challenging times.”

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