Saminaz Akhter Selected as City Lead in Washington, D.C. for Leadership Council on Legal Diversity
Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that partner Saminaz Akhter was selected as a City Lead in Washington, D.C., for the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (“LCLD”), a role that serves to further promote LCLD’s mission of advancing diversity and build a more equitable legal profession throughout the United States. City Leads for the LCLD 2021–2022 term were announced during the Tenth Annual LCLD Alumni Leadership Symposium, held virtually from June 17 to 18, 2021.
Saminaz previously served as a LCLD 2015 Fellow and currently serves as a LCLD mentor and diversity and inclusion ambassador. Saminaz has also formed an internal LCLD community within Blank Rome comprised of Krystal Studavent Ramsey, Blank Rome’s Director of Diversity & Inclusion and current LCLD mentor; Melanie Carter, LCLD 2021 Fellow and 2017 Pathfinder; and Ernestine Mings and Asima Ahmad, LCLD 2021 Pathfinders. They will work together to identify diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) opportunities to advance LCLD’s initiatives within the firm and legal industry at large.
In collaboration with LCLD Regional Leads and the Program Development Chair and Vice Chair, City Leads are responsible for planning and executing at least two programs for local alumni that focus on substantive programming content and networking opportunities, both virtually and in-person. To learn more about LCLD’s leadership and mission, please visit Leadership Council on Legal Diversity.
At Blank Rome, Saminaz focuses her practice on corporate and securities law, with an emphasis on acquisition and divestiture transactions in a variety of industries. In addition to her legal practice, she is dedicated to connecting with clients on DEI issues that are of shared importance, making it a priority to assist clients in advancing their DEI goals. Saminaz has also developed unique and meaningful DEI programming for clients and colleagues, including previously hosting the Black History Month Easel Project in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office, exclusive U Street Walking Tours of civil rights and cultural landmarks, and leading the firm’s sponsorship of Leaders Among Us, as part of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s In-House Counsel Dinner Series. In 2019, she received the Fifth Annual Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones Diversity and Inclusion Award for demonstrating outstanding leadership in promoting diversity and inclusion.