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AnonymousInactiveWHO IS IVY McKINNEY @ XEROX CORP
?
Xerox’s Ivy McKinney works long
and hard on mentoring, diversity effort
A Corporate Lawyer With A
Can-Do Attitude
Ivy Thomas McKinney is at the point of her life
where her children are grown up and have moved out of the house. Her
daughter is a junior at Princeton and her son is in a doctorate program
at Yale.“All of my free time went to family when I was young,” said
McKinney, a 1980 Yale Law School graduate who is vice president and
deputy general counsel at Xerox Corp. Now that her children are on their
own, she’s embarked on an impressive array of public service, mentoring
and pro bono work. She says it’s her way of giving back. “Along the
way, I’ve had a lot of people who supported and helped me,” she
explained.McKinney, 53, is in charge of all company litigation
at Xerox whose legal department totals nearly 200 people in the U.S. and
around the world. She provides counseling on issues regarding
employment benefits and human resources.Ivy also mentors
minority law students and young professionals through the Minority
Corporate Counsel Association’s KAN-Do! Mentoring Program, the Women’s
Alliance, and the Black Women’s Leadership Conference.She says
she mentors a “few people” at Xerox. Her boss says that she’s being way
too modest. While her formal mentoring at Xerox may consist of only a
few people, “other people consult with her on all kinds of matters, from
professional to personal,” said Don Liu, the senior vice president and
general counsel at Xerox. “There are a large number of people who count
on her. Many people say, ‘Maybe I’ll go talk to Ivy.’”Liu notes
that corporate lawyers haven’t traditionally been known for doing a lot
of pro bono work. He said that unlike private law firms, where attorneys
get credit toward their billable hour requirement for doing pro bono
work, corporate legal departments don’t reward off-the-clock efforts.
But that is changing somewhat. McKinney is active in The Pro Bono
Partnership, an organization made up of corporate lawyers who provide
legal advice to non-profit organizations in Connecticut, New Jersey and
New York, particularly organizations that help provide programs for the
poor and disadvantaged. McKinney said she has done fundraising for the
group as well as provide pro bono legal help.Race Relations
One
other area where McKinney shines is when it comes to promoting
diversity. She is a member of a committee at Xerox that makes sure the
law firms with which Xerox does business have a diverse staff.Outside of
the workplace, McKinney is also the co-chair of the Connecticut chapter
of Princeton Prize in Race Relations, an awards program that honors
high school students who do outstanding work to advance the cause of
race relations.Every year, the program invites all public and
parochial students to submit a project. There is a $1,000 reward for the
best one. “Some of these kids do phenomenal projects,” McKinney said.
“It almost brings tears to my eyes.”One student from Norwalk,
she recalled, put together something on how immigrant parents can be
advocates for their children in the school system. Some of the students
did voter registration projects. Others did projects on the genocide in
Darfur, she said.“It’s amazing what they are doing at such young ages,”
McKinney said.She is also on the board of directors of WESFACCA
(the Westchester, New York/Southern Connecticut Chapter of the
Association of Corporate Counsel), has been on the board of the Urban
League of Southwestern Connecticut and is also on the development
committee for Just the Beginning Foundation. Her role with the
foundation is to develop and nurture interest in the law among young
people from racial and other groups under-represented in the legal
profession.The list goes on. McKinney is a member of the Fairfield
County Chapter of the Links Inc., a women’s organization which
undertakes community projects. Additionally, she’s helped organize
health fairs and film festivals that feature works produced by African
Americans.How does she get this all done and still earn praise from her
boss for as being “a trooper” at Xerox? “I end up working late,” she
says.•
http://www.ctlawtribune.com/getarticle.aspx?ID=35863 -
AuthorJanuary 4, 2010 at 11:05 AM
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