Latham Associate Honored in the Top 20 on EMpower's 2021 Ethnic Minority Role Model List

EMpower has recognized Washington, D.C. associate Jennifer Kent in the top 20 on its 100 Ethnic Minority Future Leaders’ List 2021. The award celebrates role models across sectors and industries who are “breaking down barriers at work and working hard to smash the ceiling for ethnic minorities in the UK, Ireland, Europe, and people of color in the United States and Canada.”

Kent represents private equity sponsors and private and public company borrowers in secured lending and other financing transactions. Kent just completed a two-year term as a Global Chair of Latham’s Black Lawyers Group (BLG), which provides a global platform to enable Black lawyers to establish and maintain broader networks; attract, retain, and promote Black talent; and foster an inclusive culture supporting the long-term success of Black lawyers. In that role, Kent worked to revise the strategy for recruiting Black candidates, ensure that substantive pro bono projects on issues of importance to the Black community are provided to Black lawyers, develop initiatives to retain and promote mid- and senior-level Black associates, and moderate firmwide conversations on racial equity and social justice for Juneteenth and Black History Month. During her tenure as a BLG Global Chair, Kent was also Co-Chair of the firmwide BLG retreat and recognized as a Latham “Diversity Champion.”

Prior to serving as a Global Chair of the BLG, Kent served as the leader of the BLG’s local Washington, D.C. chapter for two years. In addition, Kent is a founding member of, and advisor to, The Black BigLaw Pipeline, a non-profit organization established in 2018 to promote positive outcomes for Black attorneys in large law firms. Kent is also committed to supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal field through mentoring efforts which extend to coaching women attorneys and attorneys from other traditionally underrepresented groups.

EMpower’s annual Ethnic Minority Role Model Lists showcase business leaders who have not only achieved success in their own careers, but are actively driving more inclusive workforces for ethnic minorities. An independent panel of judges selected this year’s honorees based on their business achievements and impact on ethnic minority inclusion inside and outside of the workplace. View the full list of honorees here.