2021
U.S. Chief Strategy and Operations Partner
ASIAN
LEADERS Worth Watching
TM
INTERNATIONAL
Education: JD, University of California, Berkeley; PhD, molecular biology, Princeton University; AB, biochemistry, Columbia College, Columbia University Company Name: Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP Industry: Law Company CEO: Jeff Cody Company Headquarters Location: New York, New York & Houston, Texas Number of Employees: 1,800 Your Location (if different from above): Austin, Texas Words you live by: “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” – George Bernard Shaw Who is your personal hero? My maternal grandmother What book are you reading? Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro What was your first job: Paper route Favorite charity: Advancing Justice | AAJC Interests: Baking and cooking, watching kids soccer games, and traveling Family: Philosophy professor husband; son finishing high school; twin daughters finishing junior high; supporting parents and parents-in-law; and many aunts, uncles, and cousins
“You Play Basketball?” The first time I got the eyebrow raise and that question, it was unexpected because I grew up playing in a large Los Angeles community of Japanese-Americans who had a basketball tradition that started before and persisted through the World War II internment camps. Since third grade, I had played many hours of basketball—with Japanese-American (JA) girls, middleand high-school teams, coed JA summer leagues, college intramurals, with my best friend or family, in afternoon coed scrimmages in grad school, and weekend coed games with other mostly Asian American law students. I was no superstar, but basketball helped me develop confidence and I loved playing. As a 5’1” Asian woman living outside California, I understood the question. This time, it came from a senior lawyer at the law
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firm where I had recently started a new job. He hadn’t given me any work yet, and I sensed his hesitation. The first-year associates had a weekly game, and the senior lawyer played with us one night. After that, he started to give me assignments. While he likely would eventually have given me work anyway, I believe his seeing that I could, in fact, dribble, pass, and shoot on a court led him not only to give me a project, but also made him feel more at ease in doing so. This experience doesn’t mean that I should challenge everyone with unconscious biases to a one-on-one. Instead, I learned about needing to connect with different people in different ways in order to gain trust. Looking back over my career, I realize that with some people that connection came from a common educational background or from common
interests. Or it may have come in the form of a project, where I provided an analytical perspective that contributed to what others were trying to achieve. While undoubtedly we want to continue realizing the benefits of remote working learned this past year, I recognize that in-person working provides advantages. The ability to connect is especially important for those more likely to be the targets of unconscious bias and for those in underrepresented groups who may be at greater risk for marginalization. As my firm considers strategies, plans, and policies for how we will work in the future, as the chief strategy and operations partner, I want to be sure we maximize opportunities to connect with one another in order to minimize unconscious biases that can be impediments to a fulfilling legal career.
www.diversityjournal.com
AWARD
Gina N. Shishima
