Tag Archive for: voice of experience

Voice of Experience: Miranda Brawn, Barrister and Director, Daiwa Capital

Miranda Brawn“Believe in yourself and exercise confidence,” said Miranda Brawn, Barrister and Director at Daiwa Capital in London. This, she added will help you face and overcome any hurdles you might encounter as you navigate your career to the top. “No one will invest their trust or confidence in you if you cannot invest it in yourself. Develop your skill base, learn and increase your knowledge to increase your confidence,” added Brawn.

One of Brawn’s first mentors advised her to treat this industry like a marathon, not a sprint. “There are far too many people who burn out and age rapidly due to burning the candle at both ends and not looking after themselves,” she said.

“Achieving a senior leadership role will not happen overnight,” Brawn added. “Stay focused and be patient.”

A Multitude of Experiences

When Brawn decided to enter the financial services industry after completing her A levels, she only intended to work for one year before entering University. Life, as it would have it, had other plans for her as she went on to enjoy a successful and multi-faceted career in the male-dominated worlds of financial services and law.

Since entering the workforce at age eighteen, Brawn has held many different roles at some of the world’s leading financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Deutsche Bank. She has also worked for law firms where she has acted as a consultant legal advisor. Currently, Brawn is a Director at Daiwa Capital, where her primary role is to manage the company’s legal risk across Europe for the derivatives and securities financing businesses.

“It is a transformational time for the industry right now as changes in banking regulations are presenting new challenges,” said Brawn.

Although she did not follow a strictly traditional path, Brawn is proud of the fact that she was able to complete all of her studies while working full-time in demanding positions. “I am not afraid of a challenge,” remarked Brawn, who has earned her MBA, Law degree, Journalism Diploma, and most recently, completed her studies in Political Philosophy at the University of Cambridge.

It is this same mentality that keeps Brawn busy outside of her daily 9-5 responsibilities. “I have other interests such as being a board director, barrister, freelance writer, motivational public speaker and now a brand ambassador for The Fold London,” said Brawn. Additionally, Brawn is also the founder and CEO of Pluto Law Limited.

Keeping Diversity on the Agenda

Brawn is very passionate about diversity issues, which is why she has been extremely committed to networking, mentoring, and sponsorship initiatives throughout her entire career. “I wish I had realized the value of having mentors early on in my career,” Brawn noted.

She continued, “It can be difficult for women to break into that established ‘old boys’ network especially within Front Office client facing roles where it is still pretty much a male dominated environment.” According to Brawn, women need to increase their networking efforts in order to gain the mentoring and sponsorship relationships that will ultimately have a positive impact on their career growth and advancement.

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Voice of Experience: Kim Posnett, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs

kim posnettWelcome to The Glass Hammer’s Celebration of Asian Heritage Month! All month long we will be profiling successful women here in the US who have Asian heritage as well as spotlighting some amazing women in Asia and discussing what it means to work there.

According to Kim Posnett, a Managing Director in the Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT) group in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs, diversity is something she became accustomed to early on in her life. “I was born in Nashville, Tennessee and raised in New York City. I grew up as an American kid in multi-ethnic family with a Vietnamese mother and Swiss father,” she explained.

“I was always comfortable being different. More importantly, I grew up with the instinct to bridge gaps and find commonalities among different people. That has carried over into my professional career and has been very helpful,” Posnett added.

Career in Investment Banking

“I had a non-linear career path,” said Posnett, who attended Yale University to study History and Theater. After graduating Yale, Posnett moved to California in her early twenties to work in the media and entertainment industry. Then, in her late twenties, Posnett decided to make a career shift, and attended The Wharton School of Business to study finance and earn her MBA. After graduating from business school, Posnett joined Goldman Sachs. Early in her career, Goldman Sachs asked her to cover internet and eCommerce companies, which she has been doing ever since. Posnett noted, “I am fortunate to work with the leading internet, eCommerce, software and technology companies that are disrupting their industries through innovation and technology.” She finds that working with visionary founders, CEOs and CFOs is the most rewarding aspect of her job, and is something she has remained passionate about throughout her decade of working as a banker in the industry.

“I feel most proud when I know I have earned the trust, respect and loyalty of my clients,” Posnett added. “I am also incredibly proud of our Goldman team’s commitment, integrity and singular focus on helping clients, and helping each other.”

The pace of innovation in internet and eCommerce is exciting for Posnett, who enjoys working in a dynamic sector that is undergoing fundamental shifts. “We are entering a post-PC era,” said Posnett, “where consumers can transact anytime and anywhere off their mobile devices. Companies are leveraging data and analytics to drive personalization and relevance for their customers. Powerful interest communities and vertical content companies are changing the way people browse, discover and shop online. There’s much more — it’s a very exciting time.”

According to Posnett, there can be misperceptions about what a career in investment banking actually means. “I don’t think young people grasp how interesting and dynamic investment banking can be,” she explained, “especially in technology banking, where our clients are entrepreneurs who are changing the world as we know it. The job can be incredibly entrepreneurial and creative.”

Women in Investment Banking

“I think it is really important for young women to figure out what they want in life. Everyone has a different definition of happiness and success,” said Posnett. She explained how lucky she was to have her parents as role models. “They both loved what they did for a living, and as a result, they always encouraged me to pursue what I loved most,” she added.

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Voice of Experience: Grace Wang, Chief Financial Officer, Green Dot Corporation

women shaking handsWelcome to The Glass Hammer’s Celebration of Asian Heritage Month! All month long we will be profiling successful women here in the US who have Asian heritage as well as spotlighting some amazing women in Asia and discussing what it means to work there.

“Early on in your career, the quality of your work will get you noticed.” said Grace Wang, Chief Financial Officer at Green Dot Corporation, “But as you grow older and move up the scale, you have to be cognizant of how you partner, how you are perceived, and how you are helpful to others around you.”

Sharing experiences and giving back to the upcoming generation of women is extremely important to Wang, and she encourages women at all career levels to make sure they are supporting other women along the way.

Making a Difference in Her Career

Currently, Grace Wang serves as the Chief Financial Officer at Green Dot, the top provider of prepaid debit card products and prepaid card reloading services in the United States, and creator of the award winning mobile bank account, GoBank. “Throughout my career, I have always been drawn to roles where I am part of a team that is driving both innovation and change,” said Wang.

Wang began her professional career in management consulting working for A.T. Kearney, and later Booz, where she focused on financial services, telecomm, media, and technology companies. For the last nine+ years, Wang worked at JP Morgan, where she started as the Head of International Strategy and Business Development. In this role, she ran teams in EMEA, Asia Pacific, and Latin America for their $8 billion Treasury and Security Services business.

After this role, Wang advanced to become CFO for Europe, Middle East and Africa for the same business where she was responsible for managing several hundred people primarily based in London. Wang continued to grow with JP Morgan, eventually becoming CFO for their Investor Services business.

“At the beginning of my career with A.T. Kearney, I had the opportunity to help build out the financial services practice,” said Wang. “This experience sparked my passion for building businesses in addition to doing my day job of analysis and advising large banks and corporations.”

One of the most rewarding aspects of working for Green Dot is the mission and purpose driven environment, according to Wang. “This is a company that believes in existing for the consumers, especially those who are unbanked –which is an astonishing 50 million people in the U.S. alone –and need a way to make purchases,” she explained. “The Green Dot product suite gives people that capability.”

For example, Green Dot is currently partnering with the Steve Harvey Show to provide pre-loaded Green Dot prepaid debit cards to individuals who have made an impact in their community. “It is our way to say ‘thank you’ and recognize people making a difference who could use a hand themselves,” said Wang.

She continued, “It’s about launching, promoting, and building new products that are transforming the financial services landscape for the future in a way that is helpful to the people who need it the most.”

An Advocate for Women in the Workplace

A key moment in Wang’s career came when she was nominated for the Asian Women of Achievement Award in the business category while working in London, where she was based for 15 years. “The award was for sponsoring and supporting diversity in the workplace,” said Wang, who founded and led JP Morgan’s Women MDs committee in EMEA along with two other senior women at the firm.

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Voice of Experience: Amy Tsui Luke, Managing Director, Accenture

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Amy Tsui LukeWelcome to The Glass Hammer’s Celebration of Asian Heritage Month! All month long we will be profiling successful women here in the US who have Asian heritage as well as spotlighting some amazing women in Asia and discussing what it means to work there.

“Find your mentors,” advises Amy Tsui Luke, Managing Director at Accenture.

“They have taught me, shared their networks with me and most importantly, stepped in with encouragement when I doubted myself.” According to Luke, the right mentors can help you find confidence within yourself, open doors that lead to career advancement opportunities and offer advice during critical transition points in your career.

Making a Difference at Work and Beyond

After graduating from Wellesley College, Luke began her career in investment banking before attending Harvard Business School to earn her MBA. Now, as a managing director at Accenture, Luke has the opportunity to do what she loves each day.

Luke has always believed in having a clear and direct voice, even if it means occasionally deviating from the status quo. “Early in my career, I found myself in situations in which I felt I needed to make my points of view known,” says Luke. “I decided that if I wanted to be a leader, I needed to speak my mind and have the strength to make tough decisions.” Displaying courage and confidence have been instrumental in making Luke the influential leader she is today.

Not only does Luke find it gratifying to provide her clients with practical business solutions, she also is very active in her community through Accenture’s corporate citizenship initiative, Skills to Succeed. “Education was the gateway to opportunity for my family,” explains Luke, whose grandfather emigrated from China on a scholarship. “He was skilled in engineering but he didn’t speak English and struggled to communicate and fit in. Despite these challenges, he persevered, acquired skills and created a new trajectory for all of us who followed.”

Her grandfather’s experiences inspired Luke to become the executive sponsor of a recently launched LaGuardia Community College program that helps non-native English speakers who hold an advanced degree in accounting or bookkeeping from their home country find jobs in this field in the US. “We provide these students –who typically range in age from 29 to 41 years old –with both hard and soft skills to enable them to pursue jobs with strong career growth opportunities,” she notes.

Inspiring Professional Women

According to Luke, giving back through mentoring is one of the most rewarding aspects of her role at Accenture. She underscores the importance of creating a diverse network that includes many different types of mentors. “Often, I find that people look for a mentor to be an ideal role model across the many dimensions of their lives – professional, personal, etc. This expectation is unrealistic; I advise people to have a variety of mentors along many dimensions with varying skills – a personal ‘Board of Directors’ so to speak. You never know the type of advice and help you may need in life. ” explains Luke.

“I am always ready to help others, lend a supportive ear or provide words of advice. I try to create an inclusive environment, with my team and with my mentees, so they can feel comfortable to try new things, take chances and even make mistakes. It is this combination of exposure and encouragement that builds resilience and confidence.”

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Voice of Experience: Karen Fang, Managing Director and Head of Cross Asset Solutions & Strategies, Global Banking & Markets Division, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Karen FengWelcome to The Glass Hammer’s Celebration of Asian Heritage Month! All month long we will be profiling successful women here in the US who have Asian heritage as well as spotlighting some amazing women in Asia and discussing what it means to work there.

“I have been very lucky in my sixteen-year career to have always been involved with the things that I am passionate about,” said Karen Fang, Managing Director and Head of Cross Asset Solutions & Strategies, Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Career in Banking

Originally from China, Fang attended college at the University of Tokyo in Japan, where she gained a lot of exposure to the world of Investment Banking and Capital Markets as an Economics major. “My fascination with Finance began when I was a sophomore in college and had multiple internships at different investment banks.” said Fang. She spent the majority of her time interning at Merrill Lynch, and ultimately decided to accept an offer as a derivatives structurer from Merrill Lynch in Tokyo after graduating in 1998.

“Because I was trilingual, I was fortunate enough to be transferred to the London office to work on our cross-border structured products business and then eventually relocated to New York,” explained Fang. She worked for a couple of different firms including Goldman Sachs before returning to Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York where she is now the Head of Cross Asset Solutions & Strategies in the Global Banking & Markets division. According to Fang, learning as much as possible about every single asset class, whether it is fixed income, equities, or commodities, as well as the various client industries, to be able to truly understand clients’ strategic issues before responding with effective solutions, is one of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of her role.

“Using technical knowledge to provide C-Suite clients with a complex set of solutions, help them navigate our firm, and deliver the firm’s strengths is very fulfilling,” explained Fang. “I am proud of running a business –and managing a team –that is truly cross asset and cross industry. Given that the banking industry is going through a major transformation as a result of the new regulatory environment post financial crisis, our business model is changing very rapidly,” said Fang, “and a major focus for our team right now is to figure out how to optimize our balance sheet in a way that creates a win-win situation for the clients and our firm.”

This creates a lot of opportunities for Fang and her team to think outside the box and get innovative. “We shine when the problems are complex and the solutions require collaboration of multiple divisions and teams,” she said.

Women in Banking: Embrace Being Different

One of the biggest obstacles that Fang identified for women in banking is the limited amount of networking opportunities that can help foster relationship building and career development. “We need more senior level women leaders in sales and trading, and banking,” said Fang. She applauded the efforts of the industry as a whole to become more diverse, she cited many efforts that Bank of America Merrill Lynch put in over the years to increase Diversity & Inclusion and noted the positive changes that she has witnessed throughout her career in the industry. “Things are very different now, not just in policy, but on people’s minds and in their day to day behavior. More diversity is good for our business.”

“You don’t have to act like a man in order to thrive in a male-dominated industry,” she advised. This is something that Fang wishes she had realized earlier on in her career. “Many women that I coach and mentor have this notion that emulating the behavior of a man will help them go farther in their career, when in fact, that may not be true,” said Fang.

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Voice of Experience: Elinor Hoover, Co-Head, Financial Strategy and Solutions Group and Vice Chairman of Capital Markets Origination, Citi

Elinor-L.-HooverWelcome to The Glass Hammer’s Celebration of Asian Heritage Month! All month long we will be profiling successful women here in the US who have Asian heritage as well as spotlighting some amazing women in Asia and discussing what it means to work there.

According to Elinor Hoover, Co-Head, Financial Strategy and Solutions Group and Vice Chairman of Capital Markets Origination at Citi, it is important to maintain contacts, nurture relationships, and build networks from the moment you begin your professional career.

“When you are starting out in your career, you might be so focused on building up your technical skills that you fail to recognize the value of establishing relationships that can serve as key factors in your career development and advancement,” she added.

“This networking extends beyond your colleagues and communities,” said Hoover. “You need to think about networking on a global level and understand how this is a component of driving business forward.”

Career in Banking

Hoover entered the financial services industry in the late eighties with an academic background in music, biophysics, and biochemistry. “I was not your typical business, economics or finance major, but I decided to go into investment banking,” said Hoover. “After working for a couple of years in the healthcare investment banking area at Credit Suisse First Boston, I accepted a position at The Blackstone Group, which was focused on M&A.”

When Hoover joined Blackstone, it was building its private equity business. At the same time, cross-border activity between Asia and the United States was really heating up. “I was interested in this opportunity by virtue of my heritage to spend some time in the Asia region,” explained Hoover, who went on to perform M&A advisory work with Blackstone in Tokyo for two years.

After she returned from her international assignment, Hoover earned her MBA from Harvard Business School and continued to follow her passion for banking in her next role within the Derivatives Products Group at Morgan Stanley. “I had investment banking experience, but I was not as familiar with the sales and trading aspect. Since my background was in mathematical based work, I decided that a structured products group would be a good fit,” said Hoover.

During this time, there was a strong interest in reorganizing the derivatives business and starting an effort around corporate clients, according to Hoover, who was selected to help launch that effort based on her previous experiences in corporate finance and derivatives. “I helped grow the business domestically in North America, and then globally,” Hoover noted.

In the early 2000s, Morgan Stanley launched another effort to integrate the derivatives business with the cash businesses. “Once this effort was underway, I was in charge of Fixed Income Capital Markets, and later became the Vice Chair of Capital Markets, where the goal was to integrate derivatives, equity, and debt in order to create a much more suitable offering to our clients,” Hoover said. This experience sparked her interest and passion for developing holistic product offerings, something she carried over to her current role at Citi.

A few years ago, Hoover began to look at Citi and recognized the company’s strength in capital markets, and its relationship management process, which was being implemented to elevate its client franchise. “After nearly 20 years at Morgan Stanley, I decided to join Citi,” said Hoover. “I saw this as a tremendous opportunity to join a firm with an established capital base and global reach.”

Serving Clients with Innovative Solutions

Hoover views her current role at Citi as a culmination of her past professional experiences. “The effort is to be cutting-edge and innovative on corporate finance and risk management topics, and as a result offer holistic solutions to clients around important thematic issues,” explained Hoover.

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Voice of Experience: Eu-Lin Fang, Partner, PwC Singapore

Eu-Lin FangWelcome to The Glass Hammer’s Celebration of Asian Heritage Month! All month long we will be profiling successful women here in the US who have Asian heritage as well as spotlighting some amazing women in Asia and discussing what it means to work there.

According to Eu-Lin Fang, a Partner at PwC Singapore, the professional world can be demanding, and in order to persevere, you cannot lose sight of you who are at the core. “It is important to continue to ask yourself, ‘Who am I, how do I live my life purposefully?’” Fang said.

“A rewarding career can consume your time, but it is good to devote some time for yourself to regroup and spend time on areas that bring balance to your life,” noted Fang.

Career Path

With a degree in accounting and finance, Fang naturally decided to pursue a career in accounting. Fang was drawn to the firm because of its reputation for being one of the best and biggest global accounting firms. “I came to PwC because I wanted to qualify as an accountant,” recalled Fang, “like others, I was fortunate to be given opportunities by the Firm to develop myself professionally”

An auditor by training, Fang was able to work on several bank audits and regional audits, as well as audits in the oil and gas, property and retail amongst others. “In my earlier years as an auditor, one was able to cover a few industries, but now given the complexities within each industry including increased regulation in those industries, there is inevitably more specialization”

Before she made manager, Fang had the opportunity to be seconded to the PwC London office in 2005 until 2007. “It was a different business environment,” said Fang, “and I had a very steep learning curve which I overcame quickly.” When she returned to Singapore, Fang observed many positive changes as a result of the demand for more specialization occurring in the profession. Soon after returned from London she joined PwC’s Financial Services Industry Practice (“FSIP”) to specialize in financial services and made partner in FSIP.

“Making partner was a surreal experience and something that I am proud of,” remarked Fang. “It drives me and motivates me to keep going forward in my career.”

Currently, Fang continues to serve as a financial services auditor specializing in banking, and she also is part of the Risk Assurance department which offers risk advisory services for clients. “Our team is very solutions based,” said Fang, “which results in a very collaborative work environment. We work on so many different engagements, and yet I observe that there is rarely conflict or disagreement. This aspect of teamwork is something I greatly appreciate about working for PwC.”

“It’s been quite a journey,” said Fang, who has been with PwC for her entire career.

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Voice of Experience: Gigi Freeman, Executive Director, MSCI, Inc.

women smilingIdentifying opportunities for career advancement is something that has served Gigi Freeman, Executive Director at MSCI , very well throughout her entire career.

She graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in Earth Science, and she envisioned herself establishing a career in science before realizing that financial services held a lot of opportunity for anyone willing to work hard and learn at a fast pace, regardless of their educational background.

Although Freeman could have chosen to pursue a scientific career, she chose to follow her heart –and her instincts –instead.

Career Path

Freeman accepted an internship at a financial research firm where she learned about equity markets. This experience ultimately sparked her interest in returning to school to earn her MBA, but before she did that, Freeman was fortunate enough to secure a position in a rotational trader training program.

During the summer between her first and second year of business school, Freeman accepted an offer to be a summer associate at Goldman Sachs in their Equity Sales and Trading group, which led to a full-time position in the Boston office after she completed her MBA.

After working with large asset management clients in the Boston area, Freeman accepted an international assignment that brought her to London to be a US shares sales trader covering continental accounts. “This was great exposure for me to see how business is done in London as well as how different cultural norms affect the business space,” noted Freeman.

Freeman’s career path changed directions when she joined a small boutique investment research firm which almost had a startup environment, according to Freeman. She recalled, “This was such an interesting point in my career because I had the opportunity to perform several different tasks. With only 35 people in the entire company, I really felt like I was part of building something from the ground up.”

This firm was eventually purchased by RiskMetrics, and later RiskMetrics was acquired by MSCI, Inc., where Freeman serves as an Executive Director, overseeing MSCI’s Sales Training and Online Client Experience. “Due to these acquisitions, my role changed,” explained Freeman. She continued, “I was responsible for relationship management, and was approached several times about joining the sales team, but I knew that was not the right fit for me at that point in my career.”

Being able to accept challenging roles and transition into new territory is something that Freeman is especially proud of. “I was asked to changes roles and take a little bit of a risk when I moved into a Director of Operations position, but I knew I was a quick learner and I had confidence in my abilities,” said Freeman. “Accepting this role allowed me to learn more about our business and it led to my current role where I am involved in strategic IT products and broader business initiatives,” she continued.

“There is a lot of innovation right now in the marketing technology space,” said Freeman, which is something that really drives her daily work. “I am spending a lot of time looking at marketing automation, mobile apps, and optimizing our CRM,” she added.

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Voice of Experience: Amanda Blanc, CEO of Commercial Lines and Personal Intermediary, AXA Insurance UK

amanda blancAmanda Blanc began her career in 1989 as the first female and youngest branch manager at Commercial Union. She achieved many other top positions during the following years, which taught her one important lesson: a lack of confidence can stop many women from reaching their true dreams.

When she mentors other women she realizes that, when looking at the list of competencies in job descriptions, they focus on that one particular qualification that they do not meet. In contrast men will feel qualified for the job if they meet six out of ten competencies.

Women in the insurance industry have several barriers which they must overcome, and confidence is one of the qualifications that keeps this business, as Blanc described, “a man’s world, particularly at executive level.”

However, Blanc’s belief in her potential has led her to work as a consultant for Ernst & Young, as the regional director for AXA’s commercial intermediary business, as the distribution and customer services director at Groupama in 2003, as Chief Executive of Towergate Retail Division in The Towergate Partnership and, starting in 2011, as CEO of Commercial Lines and Personal Intermediary in AXA.

Her confidence in her abilities is only one of the reasons for her success. “I don’t do regrets or looking back. You just need to learn from any mistakes and move on without dwelling,” she explained.

Insurance and the Financial Crisis

Blanc identifies transparency as one of the key issues that the insurance industry must face, and knows that AXA’s effort to be more transparent with their customers is an important challenge.

“Insurance is notorious for indulging in acronyms and technicalities that are all but impenetrable to the man on the street. We are working on being much clearer, in layman’s terms, about what is and isn’t covered in a policy and what steps our customers can take to ensure that they do not breach any of the policy conditions. It might seem like a small thing, which it is, but it is pretty fundamental. I want our customers to be absolutely clear about what it is they are buying and how they use the policy when they need to.”

She also recognizes that “banking has received most of the public vitriol following the financial crisis, but the wider financial services community had much to feel sheepish about too, and insurance has certainly not been immune to some of the behaviours that have had such a catastrophic impact on banking. As financial institutions, we have lost the faith and trust of our customers, [whose] starting point now is that we are going to fleece them, and so they treat us accordingly. That is a shocking situation to find ourselves in and one that we must change.”

“It’s not going to change with lip service or marketing ploys. The only way we are going to get the customer back onside is by changing the way we behave, creating business models that deliver shareholder value through good customer experience and making sure that the necessary change in culture genuinely permeates throughout the business,” Blanc said.

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Voice of Experience: Heather Kafele, Partner, Shearman & Sterling

Heather kafeleLooking back on her career, Heather Kafele, a Washington, DC-based litigation partner at global law firm Shearman & Sterling, remembers that she was not exactly sure which career path she wanted to take. She was certain about one thing, though: “I was very passionate about the world’s injustices.”

Before going to law school, Kafele had the opportunity to reside in Kenya on a grant to study international development. There, she was able to do some soul searching and considered many different options, including earning a Ph.D. in philosophy and staying in academia or taking an alternative route to practice law. After taking both the GRE and the LSAT admissions exams, Kafele decided to pursue a legal career.

“I loved law school,” said Kafele, “and I continued to follow a non-traditional path.” Instead of spending her summers at big law firms, Kafele worked at the public defender’s office and was convinced this is where she would start her career after graduating from law school. However, faced with a pile of debt after graduation, Kafele made the prudent decision to join a big firm before pursuing her passion of becoming a public defender.

Life had something else in store for Kafele, however. She discovered that the type of work she did at Shearman & Sterling was extremely rewarding as it involved cutting-edge and thorny legal issues, diverse clients and industries, and an opportunity to travel and see the world.

“I never expected to stay at a big firm, but I found myself passionate about the work,” Kafele said. “Being a trial lawyer means working with witnesses, documents and facts to weave together a compelling story and draw judges and jurors into that story. This process is both challenging and thrilling.”

“Women have a unique ability to connect with other people – including judges, jurors and witnesses – which are a true asset for women litigators,” she added.

One of the most significant and memorable experiences in Kafele’s career came when she had the opportunity to participate in a three-week jury trial on a big antitrust case. “These cases rarely go to trial so this experience was very unique and exciting,” Kafele noted. Recently, Kafele represented Ardagh Group in a high-profile litigation brought by the Federal Trade Commission challenging Ardagh’s acquisition of Saint Gobain’s US glass container business. And just this week, Kafele scored a significant victory on behalf of several major banks upholding New York’s “separate entity rule” and extending it (for the first time) to document subpoenas.

Special Interest in Cartel Law and Pro Bono Work

Kafele has extensive experience in international cartel enforcement matters, handling complex multi-jurisdictional cartel and grand jury investigations, as well as class action litigations. According to her, many more jurisdictions other than the US and EU are developing cartel laws or enforcing existing cartel laws, making it an international norm and changing the way companies do business. She explained, “The dynamic of cartel law has really changed, which makes it a very exciting area to work in. Since Shearman & Sterling is a global firm, I advise companies all over the world and help them investigate issues, understand the US process and coordinate with counsel in other jurisdictions.”

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