Birnbaum Women's Leadership Network

Recorded in November 2017 - Carol Robles-Román ’89 is the new co-president and CEO of the ERA Coalition/Fund for Women’s Equality. She leads national efforts to advocate, educate and organize to ensure constitutional equality in the United States. The ERA Coalition is an umbrella of organization's for a national constituency in support of constitutional equality. She is the former president and CEO of Legal Momentum, where she spearheaded legislative, legal and policy efforts to ensure equal rights for women and girls, combat human trafficking and violence against women. Prior to joining Legal Momentum, Robles-Román was Deputy Mayor for Legal Affairs and Counsel to NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg for 12 years.

This podcast was recorded while Carol Robles-Román was president and CEO of Legal Momentum. She is now co-president and CEO of the ERA Coalition/Fund for Women’s Equality.

Recorded in October 2017 - Robin Steinberg ’82 is a leader and a pioneer in the field of indigent defense. She is the CEO of The Bail Project, a national organization modeled after The Bronx Freedom Fund, which she co-founded with David Feige in 2007. Steinberg is the founder and former executive director of The Bronx Defenders, a community-based public defender office serving low-income New Yorkers in the Bronx since 1997. She helped develop The Bronx Defenders’ model of holistic defense, a client-centered model of public defense that uses interdisciplinary teams of advocates to address both the underlying causes and collateral consequences of criminal justice involvement. She is also the director of Still She Rises, Tulsa, the first public defender office in the nation dedicated exclusively to the representation of mothers in the criminal justice system. Steinberg received her BA from UC Berkeley and JD from New York University School of Law. She is currently a senior fellow of the Criminal Justice Program at UCLA School of Law, where she works with faculty and students on bail reform initiatives and research.

Recorded in November 2017 - Mitra Hormozi ’95 is Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Revlon. She is responsible for overseeing Revlon’s legal affairs worldwide, including the Board of Directors, corporate governance, intellectual property, licensing, acquisitions and divestitures, regulatory matters, and litigation. Hormozi has extensive experience in both the public and private sectors of the legal field. Prior to joining Revlon, Hormozi was a litigation partner at two major law firms and served as Deputy Chief of Staff to then New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Hormozi also served as an Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting high profile complex racketeering cases in the Eastern District of New York. Hormozi received numerous honors during her time in both the public sector and private practice. Currently, she sits on the Board of New York University School of Law’s Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement.

Recorded in November 2017 - Alma Asay ’05 is the Chief Innovation Officer, Legal Solutions, at Integreon Discovery Solutions, a leading global provider of alternative legal services, where she focuses on opportunities to improve legal services delivery for both corporations and law firms by applying best modern practices across people, processes, and technology. Asay joined Integreon as part of its acquisition of her litigation management software business, Allegory, where she was founder and CEO. Allegory is used by Fortune 500 companies, Am Law 100 law firms, and top litigation boutiques, including firms in both Vault’s “Top 10 Law Firms” and “Best Litigation Boutique Law Firms.” Before founding Allegory, Asay was a successful litigator at top law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, winner of The American Lawyer’s biennial “Litigation Department of the Year” competition in 2010, 2012, and 2016. In 2017, Asay was awarded the prestigious “Legal Rebel” title by the American Bar Association and became the first female founder to have her legal technology business acquired. In 2016, she was named a Fastcase 50 award winner and by the ABA’s Legal Technology Resource Center as one of 10 “Women of Legal Tech.” Asay received a BA in psychology, with high distinction, from the Pennsylvania State University, where she graduated magna cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her JD, at age 22, from New York University School of Law.

Recorded in December 2017 - Faiza Patel ’91 serves as co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. Patel is an expert on national security and surveillance laws and policies, who focuses on how they impact minority populations. In addition to co-authoring the Center’s Extreme Vetting report, she has published research on countering violent extremism, efforts to incite fear of Islam, the NYPD’s surveillance program, and foreign intelligence surveillance. She is a frequent expert commentator for major print, online and broadcast media outlets and an editor of Just Security. Previously, she worked as a senior policy officer at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, and clerked at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Recorded in December 2017 - Marilyn Sobel ’78 is currently Of Counsel at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where she previously served as partner. She specialized in mergers and acquisitions, advising multinational corporations and private and hedge funds on business combinations and a wide variety of other strategic transactions. Sobel has acted as a legal and business advisor to a wide range of clients. She has advised on acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, and licensing transactions. As senior advisor on these matters, she has led teams of lawyers and coordinated closely with investment bankers and financing sources. Her role of trusted adviser has provided her with an understanding of a variety of issues critical to business transactions, including intellectual property, corporate governance, securities, tax, and finance.

Sobel was honored for her leadership by the Kate Stoneman Project. In 2012 through 2014, she was recognized as one of the Best Lawyers for Corporate and Venture Capital Law in America and in 2013 was named among the Legal 500 U.S. Technology lawyers. Sobel is respected for leadership contributions at Paul Weiss, where she chaired the Women’s Initiatives and Associates Committees. She also served as mentor and coach to women lawyers; led task forces related to recruiting, developing, advancing, and retaining women talent; and participated in recruitment and talent selection. She served as co-chair of the Internet, Technology, and Intellectual Property Corporate Group.

Sobel graduated magna cum laude from Boston University and holds a JD from New York University School of Law, where she was a member of the Law Review and Order of the Coif. She completed the Executive Women’s Director Development Program at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

Sobel lives in New York City and is the mother of grown twins, a daughter and a son.

Recorded in September 2017 - Linda M. Gadsby ’92 is vice president and deputy general counsel at Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, and a leading developer of educational technology. For more than 20 years, she has been providing counsel to employers on all aspects of employment law, and representing her clients before federal and state courts and administrative agencies. She has also managed union-organizing efforts, collective bargaining negotiations, grievance hearings, union arbitration, and various National Labor Relations Board matters.

Gadsby is responsible for handling all labor and employment law issues for Scholastic's approximately 7,000 domestic employees, plus the UK, Canada, Puerto Rico, and other locations. In addition, she serves as the primary attorney for two of the company’s largest divisions: Scholastic Book Fairs and the National Service Organization (manufacturing and distribution). She also manages the company’s immigration and employee benefits law areas, regularly advises and counsels top executives, and serves on the company’s Administrative Committee.

Gadsby holds a BS from Cornell University and a JD from NYU School of Law.

Recorded in May 2017 - Florence Davis ’79 has served as President and a member of the Board of Directors of The Starr Foundation since March 1999. A graduate of Wellesley College (highest honors, Phi Beta Kappa) and New York University School of Law (Root-Tilden Scholar), she began her legal career in private practice with Sullivan & Cromwell in 1979. From 1986-1995, Ms. Davis served in a number of positions at Morgan Stanley & Co., Incorporated, where she rose to become a Principal and Director of Worldwide Regulatory Affairs. From 1995-1999, Ms. Davis was Vice President and General Counsel of American International Group, Inc. ("AIG"). She is retired from the practice of law.

Ms. Davis is a trustee of New York University School of Law, a director of the International Rescue Committee, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a trustee of the New York Botanical Garden, and a member of the Advisory Committee of the Newman's Own Foundation. Ms. Davis served as a member of Mayor Bloomberg's Committee on Economic Opportunity, and the board of the Eisenhower Fellowships.

Recorded in December 2016 - Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan ’79 is a sitting judge on the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Term, First Department. She is the first woman of Asian descent to be appointed to an appellate panel in New York State. Before becoming a judge, she worked in the New York State Attorney General’s consumer fraud protection unit and has also served as an attorney for various New York Legal Services agencies representing indigent people. She earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Brooklyn College and a JD from NYU School of Law.

Recorded in November 2017 - Lisa Marie Boykin ’95 is Senior Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs/Television Group at Annapurna Pictures. Born in Philadelphia, PA, Boykin grew up in Sumter, SC, where she attended Sumter High School. She holds a BA in Government/Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame and a JD from NYU School of Law. Boykin started her legal career as a lawyer at the Wall Street law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. In her current role in the newly formed television group at Annapurna Pictures, she’s responsible for negotiating the talent deals with the writers/directors/performers on Annapurna’s television series as well as the deals to distribute these series on premium cable and new media platforms. Prior to joining Annapurna Pictures, she worked in the legal department at The Walt Disney Company. She’s also served as production and legal counsel at Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and PBS. Boykin lives in Baldwin Hills in Los Angeles, CA.