(NEW YORK) July 19, 2006 – LAWFUEL – Press Release Service – DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP has announced that Edwin Bowman has joined the firm as Eastern Regional Manager of Diversity. He will take a leadership role in the development of diversity programs, facilitate training efforts and track the overall progress of diversity programs. Bowman will focus on diversity programs involving the firm’s offices in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Tampa, Fla., Raleigh, N.C., Atlanta, and Northern Virginia. Bowman was previously a diversity manager at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
“DLA Piper has adopted as part of its strategic plan the goal of improving the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women and minority lawyers at the firm and is vigorously pursuing that objective,” said Peter C.B. Bynoe, a senior partner in DLA Piper’s Chicago office and chairman of the firm’s National Diversity Committee. “Edwin is uniquely qualified to focus on our progress throughout the eastern region and his addition is another important step in our campaign.”
“I look forward to working with everyone at DLA Piper and I am very enthusiastic about the firm’s progress in shaping an integrated, national diversity program,” said Bowman. “It’s clear that DLA Piper recognizes the importance of having a talented and diverse workplace as it seeks to provide legal services to the world’s leading companies.”
At Skadden Arps, Bowman executed strategic diversity initiatives that increased the firm’s recruitment, retention and promotion of minority and women attorneys. He provided advice and counsel to the firm’s diversity committee, developed an internal communications process that leveraged the firm’s intranet to provide information about diversity, launched the firm’s voluntary affirmative action plan, and created a series of informational and skills-building seminars for associates and partners on diversity issues.
Prior to his tenure at Skadden Arps, Bowman was vice president and manager of diversity development for Merrill Lynch U.S. Private Client. In that role he was responsible for providing advice and leadership in the execution of diversity initiatives, including: training, the support of employee networking, monitoring efforts and results, and the facilitation of programs and practices that advanced the understanding and awareness of the value of a diverse workforce.
Prior to joining Merrill Lynch in February, 2000, Bowman was a Senior Consultant and Director EEO Consulting Services at Organization Resources, Inc., an international management consulting firm based in New York. His responsibilities focused on project management of EEO, Affirmative Action, and diversity projects across industry sectors with a focus on Fortune 500 companies. He specialized in disability issues, Title VII discrimination, demographics, and the development of management strategies to reach organizational objectives in the areas of equal employment and diversity.
Bowman’s human resources experience also includes recruitment, salary administration, economic evaluation, performance management, and policy development. Bowman was also a consultant to the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission that developed published recommendations and guidelines to the White House for driving workforce diversity throughout both the public and private sectors. He is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management.
Bowman has a B.A. degree from Fisk University, Nashville, TN.
