In an interview with Corporate Counsel Business Journal, Chicago partner Amber McGraw Walsh discussed McGuireWoods’ Women in Private Equity and Lending initiative. Walsh, who chairs the firm’s Healthcare Department, leads a team of women lawyers who organize industry-focused events that provide a platform for investors, lenders and McGuireWoods lawyers to make connections, discuss deal prospects and create thought leadership opportunities.
In the Q&A exchange, Walsh said the client-focused initiative was a natural extension of the firm’s focus on diversity.
“As I was growing into management at McGuireWoods, it occurred to me that as active as the firm has been in seeking to make positive change in supporting women at the law firm, we also had this opportunity to not just be observers, but actually help make positive change for our clients,” she said. “It was especially easy to kick this off after I became confident that our clients were also seeking to make the same change and were really struggling with how to do so.”
Walsh discussed the success of a women’s networking event held during the firm’s annual Healthcare and Life Sciences Private Equity and Finance Conference in February in Chicago, and new opportunities generated by this ambitious initiative.
The article, “Promoting Women in Private Equity,” is published in the magazine’s May/June edition.