Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Cooley is committed to being an active agent of change in the fight to dismantle systemic racism. Here are a few steps we have taken so far:
- To show support for the API community in and outside of the firm, Cooley’s Asian Pacific Islander Attorney Affinity Group compiled an API Allyship + Antiracism Resource Kit focused on ways allies can better understand and support the API community
- Cooley has signed on as an ally to the Stand With Asian Americans pledge launched by Asian American business leaders across the US to fight violence against the Asian Pacific Islander community amid an increase in hate crimes. Additionally, Cooley has signed on to Stand Against Hate, an initiative launched by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and six other national bar associations denouncing the surge in anti-Asian hate, violence and racism related to the COVID-19 pandemic
- In addition to ramping up civil rights and racial justice pro bono work, including representing organizations fighting for racial justice, such as Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council and Stop AAPI Hate, Cooley joined The Alliance for Asian American Justice, a national pro bono initiative committed to providing legal support and advocacy to victims of anti-Asian hate crimes and harassment
- With ongoing violence, harassment and hate crimes toward the Asian and Pacific Islander community, we stand with our API colleagues and commit to using Cooley's platform to raise awareness, educate and amplify API history, voices and stories. We hosted Dr. Russell Jeung, the leading academic authority on COVID-19 related anti-Asian discrimination, for a discussion in which he presented his research findings, the political rhetoric and media representation racializing COVID-19, its impacts and the actions we can take as activated citizens. Additionally, we hosted Jerry Kang, distinguished professor of law and Asian American studies at the UCLA School of Law and a leading scholar on implicit biases, for a talk on where implicit biases fit within multiple layers of individual, institutional and structural biases within the legal community and practical strategies for disrupting them
- Cooley expanded its one-day paid volunteerism policy to include work for social and racial justice activist organizations, and we extended billable credit to lawyers for such efforts
For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Cooley asked some of the API leaders and trailblazers we work with to reflect on their trajectories and share perspectives on leadership and diversity, equity and inclusion. We are proud to work alongside and represent these outstanding changemakers.
I think back to my childhood, when I would ask my parents for ‘normal’ lunches because I was the only kid with a bento box. Then, I think about the business I've built: one that embraces, leans on and amplifies the centuries-old traditions of Asian healing remedies and preventative medicine, many of which my mother taught me, and I am so proud.
Founder & CEO, Apothékary
Life is short. Whenever I’ve thought about a new challenge in the law, I’ve never thought about how much time I have to take it on in the future. I’ve only thought about how little time we all have left to make an impact.
Chief legal officer, Coinbase
The model minority myth masks the biases that affect how Asian and Pacific Islanders are perceived in the workplace. Perpetual foreigner. Risky. Invisible. Mixed loyalty. Lacking ambition. Technical but not strategic. The other. The only. This is part of the Asian and Pacific Islander experience, and if we’re going to make change, we must come together to find our voice and show that we are worthy of our place among leadership.
Vice president and deputy general counsel for product, IP and legal operations, Facebook
As an immigrant, I’ve benefited tremendously from mentors and managers who believed in inclusive leadership. And now as a leader and a manager, I want to invest in and serve as a mentor to others so they will have the same opportunities I’ve had, which means ensuring everyone – especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds – feels represented and supported.
Director & associate general counsel of IP litigation, Facebook
Leadership means communicating a vision of what needs to be accomplished without dictating how it is done. Leaders must empower people to think, solve problems and execute the mission in a collaborative and inclusive environment where diverse teams strive to reach a shared goal.
General counsel, GenapSys
In my early career, I was lucky to have mentors who did not look like me but who took me under their wing. I try to follow their example. It requires hiring beyond my network and being open-minded to people with different experiences, but the payoff is in a broader funnel of entrepreneurs and better decision-making informed by a diversity of viewpoints.
Partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners
If your company lacks diversity, get involved in diverse organizations in the community. Become a leader there and use that as a platform within your company to advocate for increased diversity initiatives. They'll take notice, as will future leaders whom you will inspire. Be brave. The first step is the hardest, and the momentum you create will make each step thereafter a bit easier.
Senior director, assistant general counsel and head of global litigation and employment law, Varian Medical Systems
Every successful leader should understand the importance of empathy. My family and I are refugees from Vietnam and arrived in this country with very little. We were able to build a fulfilling life in America through the empathy and goodwill of strangers and through our own perseverance. Always be kind.
Chief legal officer, Zynga
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