In the Headlines
June 16, 2020
Eight Current Overseers Share Their Unique Stories
The Harvard Gazette
Partner Marilyn Holifield was featured in an article in The Harvard Gazette profiling members of the Harvard Board of Overseers, one of the university's two governing boards. Ms. Holifield was recently appointed to the board's Executive Committee, and in the article she talks about her passion for mentoring young lawyers and her family's history advocating for civil rights and fighting discrimination. While reflecting on her experience at Harvard, she credited the relationships developed during her time in law school with helping her both to have success in corporate law and to diversify the practice.
"At that time, very few black lawyers had been successful in major corporate law firms in urban areas and certainly not in Florida. And the real reason so many minorities struggle in climbing the next rung on the ladder to equity partnership has to do with the capacity of that person to generate business," she said. "My Harvard friends sent me clients, and I did the same, and that network really helped me become successful."
READ: Eight Current Overseers Share Their Unique Stories
"At that time, very few black lawyers had been successful in major corporate law firms in urban areas and certainly not in Florida. And the real reason so many minorities struggle in climbing the next rung on the ladder to equity partnership has to do with the capacity of that person to generate business," she said. "My Harvard friends sent me clients, and I did the same, and that network really helped me become successful."
READ: Eight Current Overseers Share Their Unique Stories