Page 14 - Phoenix Vol 11 No 2

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Gust Rosenfeld P.L.C.
1 E. Washington Street, #1600 Phoenix, AZ 85054
(602) 257-7422 www.gustlaw.com
PRACTICE AREAS
Public Law Municipal Law
EDUCATION
Juris Doctor, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, 2007
Bachelor of Science, Business Administration & Marketing, University of Arizona, 1998
ADMISSIONS
Arizona Bar 2007
HONORS
Arizona Business Magazine’s 2016 Most In uential Women
2016 Top Minority Business Leaders 2015 Generation Next 40 Under 40
Lists
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Arizona Black Bar, President, 2018 Ladder Down Program, Planning
Committee, 2017
National Bar Association
State Bar of Arizona, Former Executive
Council Member
State Bar of Arizona, Public Law
Section
Leadership Institute, 2010
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Tom Tom Dance Foundation
HOBBIES
Hot Yoga Spin Class
FAVORITE BOOK
“And Still I Rise: A Book of Poems” By Maya Angelou
ship also extends to the le and the right of you. ere are colleagues, law school classmates and other counterparts who are an integral part of a mentor and support circle.
Harris mentors high school, undergraduate and law students, as well as young attorneys. As the chair of the rm’s diversity commit- tee, she looks for opportunities to reach out to diverse candidates for internships and clerkships. Harris and the rm collaborate with the Maricopa County Bar Foundation’s Diversity Legal Writing Program, which works to improve the retention of minority lawyers in the state. A student from ASU Law School who came to Gust Rosenfeld as a clerk through the program is now an associate with the rm, and men- tored by Harris.
Harris also has worked with the University of Arizona Black Alumni group doing outreach to minority undergraduate students. rough that organization she has mentored many students, including a young man now in his 20s, who is preparing for medical school in New York.
She mentors law students through the ASU Black Law Students As- sociation, some of whom now work for judges or are associates at pri- vate rms. She also works with students from her former high school through the Arizona State University Diversity Pipeline to Law pro- gram, preparing them for the regional moot court competition. Harris states, “It is rewarding to stand in front of a group of minority students and say, I once stood in your shoes and you can also achieve your goal of becoming a lawyer.”
When asked how she sees the legal profession evolving for women and minorities, she says, “I was just looking at some statistics on this issue and the numbers for African Americans are still stagnant and have been for the past 10 years. Women of color remain underrepre- sented as law rm leaders and overrepresented among the attorneys who leave their rm.
“When I look at my own progression, I know I am outside the norm, which is why I acknowledge the unique positions I hold. I am a part- ner and the chair of the diversity committee at Gust. I have hope for the future, which is why I continue to try and reach back and mentor younger attorneys—black women and black men too,” Harris says.
In addition to career mentoring, Harris nds time in her busy sched- ule to perform community service. She has served on several chari- table boards, most recently with the Tom Tom Dance Foundation, a nonpro t that brings dance to low-income, minority kids.
For several years, as a member and president of the Arizona Black Bar (ABB), Harris was involved with holding community forums on a variety of issues such as election procedures, o cer involved shoot- ings, and natural hair styles in the workplace and the law. She has worked with ABB members on highlighting issues related to diversity on the bench and advocating for the appointment of black lawyers to the judiciary. Harris also performs other work through the rm’s vol- unteerism program.
Away from work, Harris enjoys traveling and visiting with family and friends. She has plans to visit the African American Smithson- ian Museum in Washington D.C. and to visit Morocco this year. Her mother and brother are near her in Phoenix and her father lives in Tucson. Sadly, she recently lost her step-mother to cancer and that ex- perience especially, has focused her attention on spending time with people important to her and adjusting her priorities. Harris loves hot yoga. She also hikes and takes spin classes.
What is she most proud of in her career?
“It is a huge accomplishment to be a black woman and a partner at a private law rm in Arizona,” she says “I’ve worked extremely hard to get here and look forward to the next stage of my career.”