Adelante! Moving Forward Event
The North Carolina Bar Association’s Minorities in the Profession Committee (MIP) presented the annual ¡Adelante! | Moving Forward event on Saturday, January 29, 2022, via Zoom.
Preetha Suresh Rini (Robinson Bradshaw) and Giovonni Wade (UNC Law) co-chaired the event and participated in the program.
The event was presented to inform law students from diverse backgrounds about the skills necessary to succeed in law school, to transition from law school into the workforce, and to effectively network with professionals in the legal community and beyond.
The agenda featured an hour-long panel discussion entitled “What I Wish I’d Known in Law School: Navigating Law School as a Diverse Student.” The panel was moderated by Dayatra Matthews (Local Government Federal Credit Union), and the speakers were Judge Ashleigh Parker Dunston (Wake County District Court), Judge Sam Hamadani (Wake County District Court), Josue Jimenez (Duke Law), Tara Cho (Womble Bond Dickson), and NCBA President-Elect Clayton Morgan (Duke Energy).
The event concluded with breakout rooms for students to network with attorneys in different fields. The breakout rooms included the co-chairs, panelists, and other attorneys, including Alison Ashe-Card (Wake Forest Law), Julianna Cherry (NCDPS), April Giancola (Campbell Law), Lakethia Jeffries (NCCU Law), Tadra Martin (Disability Rights NC), Agustin Martinez (Ellis & Winters), Teresa Reed (Duke Energy), and Learla Stefanics (Pfizer).
As Tara mentioned during the panel, the conversation focused on encouraging minority students to “elevate” themselves in their own eyes. Several students commented that the program had left them feeling “inspired.” You can view the one-hour panel discussion here.