DirectWomen to Host Gender Pay Equity Program on April 7-8 in St. Louis

St. Louis, MO, March 09, 2014 --(PR.com)-- DirectWomen, an organization formed to position women lawyers to serve on boards of public companies, will host and sponsor a program on gender pay equity from April 7-8 in St. Louis. The program will focus on gender pay disparities, gender diversity on corporate boards and gender equity in the legal profession. DirectWomen will co-host the event with The Missouri Joint Commission on Women in the Profession and programming will be held at Thompson Coburn LLP and Washington University School of Law.

The DirectWomen Host Committee in St. Louis is co-chaired by St. Louis attorneys Doreen Dodson, Senior Partner at Polsinelli and Member of the ABA Gender Equity Task Force, and Bill Bay, Partner at Thompson Coburn LLP. Event panelists will feature CEOs of large public companies, DirectWomen Alumnae and American Bar Association experts on gender equity. Speakers will cover topics such as gender diversity on corporate boards, strategies for closing the pay gap for women and how General Counsel can affect change in pay equity. Gold sponsors for the program are Bryan Cave LLP, Polsinelli and Thompson Coburn LLP. Silver sponsors are Gray, Ritter & Graham, P.C. and Husch Blackwell LLP. Additional sponsors include The ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, The Missouri Bar, The Missouri Joint Commission on Women in the Profession, Washington University School of Law and The Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater St. Louis.

Panelists include: Doreen Dodson, Senior Partner at Polsinelli and Member of the ABA Gender Equity Task Force;Arnold Donald, CEO and President, Carnival Corp.; Patricia Gillette, Partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and Member of the ABA Gender Equity Task Force; Ann Harlan, Retired Vice President and General Counsel, The J.M. Smucker Company; Director, The Gorman-Rupp Company; Mary Ann Hynes, Senior Counsel, Dentons; Director, GHD Group Pty Ltd; Roberta D. Liebenberg, Chair of DirectWomen and Senior Partner at Fine, Kaplan and Black, R.P.C.; Sheri Mossbeck, Vice President and Treasurer, Leggett & Platt, Incorporated; Meredith Perkins, Vice President, Corporate Counsel and Assistant Secretary, Enterprise Holdings Inc.; Stephanie Scharf, Partner at Scharf Banks Marmor LLC and Member of the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession; Reuben Shelton, Senior Counsel - Litigation, Monsanto; Diane Sullivan, CEO and President, Brown Shoe Co.; James Turley, Retired Chairman and CEO, Ernst & Young; Dr. Mark Wrighton, Chancellor, Washington University in St. Louis.

“This program is a unique opportunity to explore solutions to gender inequality in law and business,” said Hillary Sale, Walter D. Coles Professor of Law and Professor of Management at Washington University School of Law and one of the moderators of the program.

About:
The mission of DirectWomen is to increase the representation of women on corporate boards. DirectWomen identifies, develops and supports a growing group of accomplished women attorneys who have the experience, independence and diversity required for good corporate governance and board effectiveness. Partners of the program include Catalyst, the leading nonprofit membership organization expanding opportunities for women in business, and the American Bar Association's Commission on Women in the Profession.