NOTICED successfully hosted an event to celebrate Black History Month at the offices of Herbert Smith Freehills on 22 October 2018.
The panel discussion, chaired by Faria Ali, focused on the experiences of women, from ethnic minority backgrounds, who have charted successful careers in the legal profession. Panellists included:
- Funke Abimbola (General Counsel, Roche);
- Melissa Trovoada (Associate General Counsel, IHS Towers);
- Nina Bowyer (Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills); and
- Rashida Abdulai (CEO of Strand Sahara).
In particular, the panellists were invited to provide their views on which factors are most critical to hindering the the progress of women, how easy it has been to make a case for promoting multiculturalism and gender equality in the organisations that the panellists have worked in, and what the most effective techniques are for maintaining such a dialogue going forward.
Panellists also provided some insight into their personal journeys and reflected not only on the challenges they had faced but also on the opportunities that they had been presented with by virtue of their background and experiences.
The session concluded with the panellists agreeing that whilst much had been done to level the playing field for women of colour, there remains room for improvement.
