Oregon Women Lawyers

Workplace Leader Award

Join OWLS on Friday, October 22, 2010 at 6:00 pm at the Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown Portland to celebrate the recipient of the 5th annual Workplace Leader Award.

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Purpose of the Workplace Leader Award
The mission of Oregon Women Lawyers is "to transform the practice of law and ensure justice and equality by advancing women and minorities in the legal profession." Law as traditionally practiced has included barriers to the advancement of women and minorities, and has not always been a friend to those seeking a healthy, balanced life. Through the Workplace Leader Award established in 2006, OWLS is seeking to encourage and celebrate change that will help eliminate those barriers and imbalances. We believe the profession will be stronger as a result.

How can employers help to ensure that women don't lose so much momentum in their careers while their children are small that they give up on becoming leaders in the profession? How can part-time employment work, for both employer and employee? What can legal employers do to promote effective mentoring relationships? How can they attract and retain qualified women and minority lawyers? How should firms value contributions that are not captured by the usual tools for quantification, such as billable hours?

The OWLS Workplace Leader Award is designed to showcase specific tools to help address those questions. The award recognizes a legal employer who is making an innovative and effective effort to promote one or more of the following values:

• a healthy balance between work and life;
• acquiring and maintaining a diverse workforce; and
• maximizing opportunities for women and minorities to succeed in the workplace and advance to positions of influence and leadership.

OWLS does not expect one employer to exemplify all of these virtues. Instead, the award aims to recognize a specific program, policy, or project that is successfully addressing one or more of the concerns outlined above.

Previous Workplace Leader Award Recipients

2009 The Legal Department of the Knowledge Learning Corporation (Portland)

2008 Gartland, Nelson, McCleery, Wade & Walloch (Eugene)

2007 Farleigh Wada Witt (Portland) and Bodyfelt Mount (Portland)

2006 Markowitz Herbold Glade & Mehlhaf, P.C. (Portland)