Anapata Beta

Today, we are happy to announce the results of the inaugural Anapata Diversity Scholarship Contest. We awarded one Anapata Diversity Scholar winner and four additional Anapata Diversity Scholar finalists. The winner, Irma Khoja of University of Miami School of Law, will receive a $1,000 scholarship award for her leadership, dedication to public service, academic achievement, and insightful essay submission. The Anapata Diversity Scholars finalists are:

- Asari Aniagolu, Columbia Law School
- Merritt Baer, Harvard University School of Law
- Jeffrey Hegewald, University of Miami School of Law
- Nader Raja, Wake Forest University School of Law

We will be dedicating several upcoming blog posts to highlighting the accomplishments and applications of the Anapata Diversity Scholars, in addition to introducing them through a new “Anapata Diversity Scholars” section of the website.

A portion of each student application was the submission of an essay addressing the applicant’s experience and views on diversity in the legal profession as well as his or her ideas on how technology can promote diversity in law. Winner Irma Khoja highlighted the application of technology to build successful mentor-mentee relationships, “mentorship programs should be set up electronically to allow students to find a mentor related to their interests” and “a comprehensive and detailed database of attorneys who are willing to be proactive in such a relationship should be readily accessible for students and new graduates.” After six months of surveys, interviews, and product development, Anapata will launch its Online Law Firm Coaching Program in April to match attorneys with a dedicated group of diverse law students from around the country for a web-based mentorship experience.

Thank you to all of those who participated in the Anapata Diversity Scholarship Contest. We will be hosting many more scholarships and career opportunities on Anapata in the coming months. Make sure to subscribe to the Anapata blog or check back regularly to stay informed as we release new products and programs for our law students!

Ray Ocampo is an invaluable advisor to Anapata, both as an experienced attorney and as a committed diversity advocate. On Feburary 6th, Ray will receive the Spirit of Excellence Award (http://www.abanet.org/abanet/media/release/news_release.cfm?releaseid=825) from the ABA for his life long commitment to diversity.

His many accomplishments include being the first minority director of the Legal Educational Opportunity Program at Hastings College of Law (http://www.uchastings.edu/academics/jd-program/leop/index.html), then promoting the implementation of diversity initiatives as general counsel at Oracle. He was a founding member of the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California (http://fbanc.org/) , has mentored many leading attorneys of color, and written extensively on issues of diversity in the legal profession.

And in case you mistook Ray for just an extraordinary lawyer — Ray also competed in the 1988 Calgary Olympics as the sole member of the Phillipine’s National Luge Team. (http://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/29/sports/olympic-profile-raymond-ocampo-one-man-luge-team-with-tale-of-2-flags.html?pagewanted=1)

ABA Commission Chair on Racial and Ethnic Diversity, Fred Alvarez, captures Ray’s unique contributions and vision:

“Ray Ocampo has been a tireless champion of diversity throughout his career and has encouraged other leaders in the profession to embrace and promote diversity as well. He worked to increase the pool of diverse lawyers in such ways as personally funding scholarships, and was a visible leader in making opportunities available for diverse individuals once they became lawyers. Ray was a vocal leader during a time when silence about inequities was the professional norm. He went against the grain time after time and, as general counsel for Oracle Corporation, he demanded that outside counsel assign women and minorities to Oracle’s cases. A true leader, Ray took risks in the name of creating a fair and impartial workplace. from the ABA for advancing diversity in the legal profession- a great honor and also an apt gesture in recognition of his life work.”

We are looking forward to celebrating Ray’s award at the ABA Midyear conference, and we are grateful for his continued leadership in the new frontier of advancing diversity through technology.

Careers: Your Secret Weapon — How to get a job through your student group

You’ve listed your student group on your resume – thatʼs great. But what are savvy students getting from your student organization that youʼre not? What are the real job recruiting powers of a student group? How can you maximally leverage your organization in this seasonʼs cutthroat recruitment process?

When you are part of a student organization you are part of a brand. Members of identity groups carry the diversity brand, and with law firms specifically investing in diversity efforts, such members stand out amongst a crowd of unemployed new graduates. Right now, saying the job market is competitive is an understatement. Professional networking is no longer an edge but simply standard procedure. The news is blogging to you about it, career services is preaching to you about it, and now every student is online networking like mad – emailing alumni, boosting their LinkedIn profile, and searching for recruiting events.

But you have a secret weapon. And only a few people know how to use it. Itʼs your student group. If you get your group working for you, you will have a unique edge in the race to get a job. Here are the ways you go beyond the resume line item, and get the most from your student group. (And for group leaders, here are the ways that you can unlock the recruiting power of your group and provide better opportunities to your members.)

1) Leverage your diversity brand. A partner is more likely to have lunch with you when you invite them to speak with your group than if you just call them cold. You will be viewed as an active member of your community and you have a great reason to build a relationship. Your group brand is your “in” to law firms, enabling you to arrange firm tours, lunches, and happy hours, to meet the important law firms and the lawyers you need.

Quick Tip: Make an email signature for yourself and list your groups.

In post #2, we’ll discuss group leadership roles and its place in maximizing your hiring potential.

Recently, NPR has been hosting a series on Morning Edition about diversity in the workplace. A piece discussing the efforts to provide executive level mentoring to managers really caught our attention. Companies like Google, Target and Fannie Mae, are even turning to outside resources to support their managers of color. The result? According to Hayling Rice, owner of a corporate coaching firm, “it is too early to judge the impact of corporate coaching, but the approach seems to be catching on.” His corporate clients have doubled and, in some cases, even tripled the number of minority managers they are sending to him for coaching.

The issue of coaching in the workplace seems intuitive and for many is constructed as an informal mentor-assignment process. But for many of the interviewed, ambitious and talented diverse professionals in the workplace, the coaching experience provided an approachable resource to gain information and discuss workplace strategy, which they could not readily obtain from the “usual” or less formalized channels.

The guidance and expertise from those of similar background, affiliation, interest or standpoint is a great tool for the goal of promoting diversity within institutions. A great way to create more dedicated and thriving professionals is to offer coaching early on, even as part of the hiring process. At Anapata, we create personalized coaching relationships, connecting student organizations and seasoned attorneys by matching preferences in practice area, geographic location, and school affiliation, as part of our “Law Firm Coaching” program.  Anapata will launch the “2010 Law Firm Coaching” program this coming February. We look forward to not only starting our Law Firm Coaching program, but also piloting a new model for coaching in general. Our program operates as a group-focused coaching system that is entirely web-based. We aim to save coaches time and money by allowing them to mentor multiple young attorneys at once, from the convenience of their office chair (or living room couch). NPR – We’ll send you our program results!