Kia Scipio serves as Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Ropes & Gray LLP, a global firm of 1,400-lawyers. Kia has nearly 20 years helping universities and law firms develop and sustain robust DE&I programs.
In this role, Kia has worked with leadership to create a comprehensive Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Strategic Plan built on the recommendations of the firm’s Racial Equity & Inclusion Task Force, which Kia headed. Executing the plan, Ropes & Gray implemented an annual requirement that all attorneys are expected to devote 20 hours to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
Additionally, the firm now allows non-partner attorneys to earn up to 100-hours of annual billable credit for participating in specific diversity mentoring, trainings, and other activities. As a result, the 2022 Summer Associate Class was the most diverse summer and first-year associate classes ever. Today, one-third of the firm’s governing policy committee are women while a majority represent gender and ethnic diversity.
Previously, Kia oversaw diversity and inclusion efforts in the Office of Career Strategy at Georgetown University Law Center and served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law Center and the University of Baltimore School of Law.
