The Inclusion & Equity Summit: MidWest

Samantha Rawleigh is Counsel at Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America. At Allianz Life she works as a Federal Securities Attorney supporting the variable annuities and registered indexed-linked annuity products.

Prior to her time at Allianz Life, Samantha worked in as an associate attorney at a law firm in St. Paul working on a variety of business matters including mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and intellectual property. Samantha is a graduate from Mitchell Hamline School of Law and the University of St. Thomas. 

Vineeta Bonthala joined BMO Financial Group in 2011 and serves as an Assistant Corporate Secretary for BMO Financial Corp. and BMO Harris Bank N.A.  She assists with all U.S. corporate secretary and subsidiary governance functions.   Prior to joining the bank, Vineeta was a corporate associate with Winston & Strawn LLP in Chicago and Kelley Drye & Warren LLP in New York.  She also serves on the Board of Apna Ghar, a Chicago non-profit that supports survivors of gender violence.  Vineeta has also assisted the American Cancer Society with various fundraising efforts.

Vineeta graduated from Williams College with a degree in History and Women’s Studies and received her Juris Doctorate from The University of Michigan Law School.   She enjoys chasing after her three boys and puppy, running, reading and gardening.

Isabel Gomes has completed her legal studies in her home country, Brazil. She also holds an MBA and an LLM in US Law.  

Isabel initiated her legal career as an associate in a large law firm in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She then moved inhouse as a Legal Manager with the Whirlpool Corporation’s Brazilian subsidiary. About 17 years ago, she joined 3M as the country General Counsel in Brazil.  In 2011, Isabel became the General Counsel to 3M Latin America. In 2013, Isabel was transferred to the 3M headquarters in St. Paul, MN, to serve as the General Counsel for 3M’s International business. Isabel is currently Vice-President and General Counsel for 3M’s global Health Care business.

Isabel has held the positions of President, Brazil-Minnesota Chamber of Commerce; President, 3M Brazil’s Foundation, and President, American School of Campinas. Her professional experience prior to practicing law includes owning and managing small businesses.  

Isabel is a proud mother of two girls, both currently in college. 

Caren Seenauth is Director Counsel of Retail Strategies, Marketing for Target Corporation in Minneapolis, where she supports marketing, creative production, strategic partnerships and cause marketing. She has held similar roles at companies like Best Buy, Buffalo Wild Wings and Arctic Cat. Prior to becoming an attorney, Caren was a beauty and fashion publicist in New York. She is passionate about volunteerism, diversity, equity and inclusion and youth advocacy and currently serves on the Board of Directors of MoveFwd; an organization that provides housing assistance and mental health counseling to homeless and at risk youth. Caren also serves on the board of directors of Everwood Farmstead Foundation and LegalCorps and is a faculty mentor at University of St. Thomas Law School.

Rebecca Weinstein Bacon tries and litigates complex cases for Fortune 500 clients. With over 20 years of experience, Rebecca has represented companies in some of their most important cases on a variety of claims: pharmaceutical products liability claims, antitrust cases, consumer class actions, and commercial disputes. She is an expert legal strategist with extensive trial experience, as well as the business sophistication and acumen to know when and how to obtain the best possible settlement for her clients.

Rebecca tried one of the only consumer class action cases to go to trial, which resulted in a defense verdict for Whirlpool. She also tried one of the only “pattern and practice” employment discrimination cases to go to trial. It was brought by the EEOC against Texas Roadhouse. She is currently leading the team defending FedEx Ground against sweeping claims by the EEOC relating to their treatment of deaf package handlers. She serves on trial teams for bellwether cases in pharmaceutical companies’ most important mass torts. She has tried and is slated to try pelvic mesh trials for Johnson and Johnson in 2019 and 2020.

Her representation of Bayer in the WeightSmart litigation led to one of the seminal class action decisions related to ascertainability. In this case, her leadership resulted in appellate review of the only certified state class which she argued before the Third Circuit. The Third Circuit reversed the class certification decision and denied plaintiffs’ request for rehearing.

Rebecca is a nationally recognized attorney. She is Chambers ranked, named one of Crain’s Most Influential Women Lawyers in Chicago (2017), a Benchmark Litigation National and Local Litigation Star, and one of the Top 250 Women in Litigation for many years, including 2019 and on the Lawdragon 500. Rebecca served as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University School of Law for three years where she taught a class on trial advocacy, and she has published and presented on a wide range of topics related to high-stakes litigation.

Rebecca graduated from Columbia University School of Law as a Kent and Stone Scholar and earned her bachelor’s degree from UCLA with honors.

Yinka Owolabi is Senior Counsel and Trust & Compliance Officer at IBM Corporation, where she manages complex legal and compliance matters and leads daily compliance operations for IBM’s healthcare and research focused business units.  Previously, Yinka had responsibility for enhancing IBM’s healthcare compliance program. In this capacity, she advised internal clients on legal and compliance issues relating to sales, marketing, research, and commercial operations, and provided strategic and tactical leadership in compliance program management, policy and procedure development, transparency reporting and daily compliance operations.

Prior to joining IBM, Yinka worked at a medical device company where she managed a U.S. compliance program in accordance with applicable laws and regulations consistent with best practices and industry guidance. She’s also worked at international law firms, where she provided transactional and regulatory counsel to a broad range of healthcare clients, including hospitals, managed care plans, academic medical centers, pharmacies, and life science companies.

Before going to law school, Yinka worked at Walgreens Health Initiatives, Inc., where she managed the implementation of pharmacy benefit programs and assisted clients in providing prescription drug coverage customized for Medicare and Medicaid populations.

Yinka earned her law degree from the University of Illinois College of Law and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Lake Forest College. While in law school, Yinka was a member of the Illinois Law Review and Editor in Chief of the Illinois Law Update publication of the Illinois Bar Journal. 

Yinka has been a Board Member of Trilogy Behavioral Healthcare since 2019, a non-profit organization that helps people recover from mental illness and reclaim with wellbeing. Yinka also serves as Chicago location lead for IBM’s Legal and Regulatory Affairs Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

Matthew High represents clients in all aspects of civil litigation. Matthew has defended municipal entities and Fortune 500 corporations in cases involving discrimination, wrongful termination and breach of contract. He advises clients on complex workplace issues and assists in developing sound personnel practices, along with strategies to avoid litigation.

Prior to joining Wilson Elser, Matt was the Director of Legal and Labor Affairs for a local school district.

Angela Carter is the Compliance Director for Owens Corning, where she leads a global team in managing the Company’s compliance programs, including policy management, training and awareness, risk mitigation, and continuous improvement.  With their colleagues in the Global Legal Organization, Angela and her team work cross-functionally to deliver a comprehensive set of solutions on a broad range of compliance topics such as FCPA/Corruption, Export/Trade, Competition Law, Data Privacy & Security, and Contract Management.  Prior to joining Owens Corning, Angela held positions at the Whirlpool Corp. (Compliance), Walmart Inc. (Compliance), Johnson & Johnson (Tax/Finance), and the City of Detroit Law Department (Property, Environmental & Municipal Law).  She holds a BS from Western Michigan University, a JD and an LL M (Tax) from Wayne State University Law School, and an MBA from University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business.  Angela is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and is registered as Corporate Counsel in OH.   She is a member of several professional and community organizations, and is currently living in Ann Arbor, MI.

Maryam Arastu is Counsel at AbbVie, Inc., where she provides strategic advice to AbbVie’s global research and development (R&D) and health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) functions on a broad range of legal, regulatory, and compliance issues, including FDA regulations, False Claims/Anti-Kickback, OIG Guidance, Good Clinical Practice regulations (GCPs), and competition laws in connection with pre-clinical and clinical studies as well as strategic research collaborations. Prior to joining AbbVie, Maryam worked both in-house and in a law firm setting supporting life sciences research and intellectual property matters. 

Maryam holds a Juris Doctorate and Master of Science in Biotechnology from Texas Tech University and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Texas Christian University. In her spare time, she enjoys trying out complex new recipes, learning more about personal finance, and exploring the outdoors.

Julie Miceli has concentrated experience advising colleges and universities on legal issues related to campus safety, including Title IX, the Clery Act, serving minors and emergency planning and response; financial aid, including Title IV compliance, loan servicing and collections; as well as development matters, including fundraising, major gifts and permissible use of charitable contributions. She also provides legal counsel on issues and litigation related to faculty tenure, student conduct, disability accommodations and employment issues. Before joining Husch Blackwell, Julie served as the deputy general counsel for higher education and federal student aid at the U.S. Department of Education, and prior to that, as the chief of staff and special counsel to the general counsel for that agency. Most recently, Julie served as associate general counsel at Northwestern University, a major research institution in Evanston, Illinois.

Melissa Green joined the American Medical Association (AMA) as an Assistant General Counsel in November 2019.  In her role at the AMA, Melissa supports the CPT and Masterfile licensing programs, in addition to supporting the legal needs of the Professional Satisfaction and Practice Sustainability business unit.  Prior to arriving at the AMA, Melissa was the Chief Legal Counsel and Privacy Officer at The Chartis Group, a healthcare advisory services and analytics company, headquartered in Chicago, where she was responsible for commercial transactions for Chartis and its wholly owned SaaS company, and also served as the organization’s privacy officer responsible for HIPAA compliance. Melissa started her legal career in Cincinnati, Ohio at the law firm of Frost Brown Todd where she served as an associate in the Corporate department doing healthcare transactions, securities, and general corporate work. In 2007, Melissa transitioned into her first in-house counsel role at GE Aviation. During her time at GE, she had many roles including supporting new engine sales transactions for the Europe/Middle East/Africa region, its Electric Power business located in Dayton, its Engine Services business (supporting the CF34 and CF6 engine lines), and compliance. Upon leaving GE, Melissa had a brief stint at MedStar in Virginia before accepting a full-time position at the University of Maryland Medical System in Baltimore, Maryland in July 2013.

Originally from East Lansing, Michigan, Melissa received her bachelor’s graduate from Michigan State University’s – James Madison College and is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.

Kathleen Amuzu is Senior Counsel for CNA Insurance in Chicago, Illinois where she provides legal counsel on complex regulatory and compliance matters to various business units. Additionally, Kathleen provides legal support to CNA’s Long Term Care insurance group. Prior to joining CNA, Kathleen served as Assistant Counsel to the American Property & Casualty Insurers  Association (APCIA) where she provided legal support and counsel to over 1,000 member companies. Kathleen is a dynamic legal professional with cross-functional competencies demonstrated by a diversified background providing highly competent counsel, directing corporate policy, and a proven ability to construct and implement legal strategies. Kathleen earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame and her Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School.

Gray has more than a decade of experience representing employers in workplace litigation, handling labor relations disputes and providing strategic counsel on labor and employment law issues. She advises clients in a broad range of industries including education, software and technology services, real estate, financial services, retail and manufacturing. Gray tailors her solution-oriented counsel to the particular needs of each client, considering the nuances of their business in order to deliver advice that is practical and in line with their goals, values and culture. Gray is the regional practice lead for the firm’s Labor & Employment Department for the Chicago office.

A native Spanish speaker from the Dominican Republic, Gray is adept at providing Spanish language representation to clients. She works fluently with Spanish language witnesses and documents, including document review, depositions, mediations, administrative proceedings, internal investigations and employment as well as various types of training.

Jennifer Burnette advises clients that innovate in material and polymer sciences, chemistry/chemical engineering, pharmaceuticals, nanotechnology, and mechanical products. Jennifer has experience in strategic patent portfolio management and counseling, foreign and domestic prosecution of patent applications, inter partes post grant proceedings, and counseling clients on invalidity, non-infringement, and freedom to practice matters. She uses her interdisciplinary training in material science to quickly establish in-depth understanding of technologies and invest in understanding a client’s business needs and objectives to counsel clients on how to maximize the value of their patent portfolio. Clients gain an advocate who works intensively and with dedication to their interests.

Jennifer was selected for inclusion in the 2013–2021 Illinois Rising Stars® lists, featuring outstanding young attorneys in the state. She was also selected for inclusion as an “Emerging Lawyer” in the 2017–2021 editions of Emerging Lawyers Magazine, in which individuals are recognized among the top up-and-coming attorneys in Illinois.

Swathi Gandhavadi Griffin is Vice President, Counsel and Chief of Staff to the Chief Legal Officer at Guggenheim Partners.  Her practice includes corporate and M&A law as well as project management of numerous firmwide initiatives, including those focused on diversity and inclusion and equal employment opportunities.  She is a founding member of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee and is an active member of the Women’s Innovation and Inclusion Network.  Prior to joining Guggenheim, Swathi worked as a corporate attorney at Kirkland & Ellis and as a financial services attorney at Katten Muchin Rosenman.  Prior to entering the legal field, Swathi worked as a management consultant.  Swathi earned both her Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Psychology and Juris Doctor from Northwestern University.  She has been published in various journals, including the Harvard Journal of Law & Gender.

Natasha Newberry is Director & Senior Corporate Counsel for LexisNexis, a division of RELX, Inc. She is an accomplished and results-driven attorney passionate about contributing to the success of minority women within the legal profession. Natasha earned her Juris Doctor from Northern Kentucky University-Chase College of Law in 2008, and her Bachelor of Arts degree from Bowling Green State University in 2004. She is admitted to the Ohio bar and the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. 

Natasha began her legal career as associate corporate counsel for a small business where she was able to assist with guiding minority business owners through the legal challenges of owning their first franchise. She then became an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney with the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office where she successfully litigated a variety of felony cases including theft, domestic violence, rape, and homicide resulting in her promotion to the Montgomery County Child Advocacy Center where she prosecuted cases on behalf of child victims of sexual and physical abuse. Deciding to go back to her roots in the corporate space, she began working at LexisNexis, a leading global provider of legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics. In her current role, Natasha negotiates complex customer contracts and provides business centric advice to various market segments, including corporate, intellectual property, print and editorial operations, law firm, and government markets. She collaborates and partners with the business to address current legal needs and mitigate potential legal issues. 

Natasha is an active member of various professional organizations including the Association of Corporate Counsel, the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and the International Bar Association. Natasha is committed to the underrepresented members of the community and has served on the board of trustees for Legal Aid of Western Ohio & Advocates for Basic Legal Equality since 2013. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, reading, binge watching TV, and attending monster jam truck shows with her five-year old son.

Monica H. Khetarpal is a principal in the Chicago, Illinois, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She is an experienced litigator and advisor, providing skilled advocacy and thoughtful advice, training, and strategic planning for her clients.

Her litigation experience includes cases involving claims for discrimination, harassment, wage and hour violations, FMLA violations, disability discrimination and requests for accommodation in both single plaintiff and class action matters. She regularly handles matters at all levels, from administrative agencies to jury trials to appeals in both state and federal courts. She also counsels clients through the mediation process, and provides advice regarding best practices to avoid litigation. Monica’s advice and counsel practice focuses on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion matters. She regularly conducts investigations and climate surveys, advises as to strategic DEI initiatives, and provides training in the areas of unconscious bias, inclusion, and equity.

Monica focuses a significant portion of her practice on representing higher education clients and serves as co-leader of Jackson Lewis’ Higher Education industry group. The group focuses on solving workplace law and other civil rights challenges facing higher education institutions. It represents both public and private universities in a range of matters including tenure cases, Title IX claims, strategic investigations, student claims, constitutional and state statutory issues and traditional labor matters. Monica has represented educational institutions throughout her career. She has experience defending denial of tenure cases, providing advice and counsel regarding high profile faculty and student matters, revising strategic policies and procedures, and conducting internal investigations and climate surveys. She has partnered with her clients in managing the student, faculty and media issues unique to the higher education setting.

Monica also devotes a significant amount of time to encouraging diversity, equity and inclusion within the legal profession. She is a co-leader of Jackson Lewis’ Asian American resource group and both D&I liaison and mentoring coordinator for the firm’s Chicago office. She has also served on the Board of the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago, SABA’s Foundation, and the Diversity Scholarship Foundation’s Unity Dinner planning committee. She was the 2018 recipient of the Advocate for Diversity Award from Chicago’s Diversity Scholarship Foundation. Monica also frequently speaks on topics related to women in the law and successful work-life balance, and founded the Chicago chapter of the firm’s Practicing and Parenting group to support attorneys who balance their legal practice with raising children.

Kendall Mills is Senior Counsel for Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), which employs more than 70,000 employees in 80 countries. JLL is a leader in the areas of commercial real estate and professional services and has been voted one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for eleven consecutive years. In her role as Senior Counsel, Mills provides advice and counsel on employment law matters, directs internal ethics and employment investigations, ensures statutory compliance with employment laws, and drafts and assists in the development and implementation of company policies and programs. Prior to joining JLL, Mills was Employment Counsel at Allstate Insurance Company where she provided employment law advice and counsel to clients, managed litigation and directed internal ethics investigations. Mills was also responsible leading many of the Law and Regulation Department’s diversity and inclusion initiatives, including the development of a diversity and inclusion scorecard to measure Allstate’s Premier Law Firms’ commitment to diversity in the legal profession and the creation of Allstate’s General Counsel’s Excellence in Diversity Award. Mills received her Bachelor of Science in Communications from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her Juris Doctor from John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

Shawndra Jones partners with employers to help them comply with labor and employment laws as they pursue their goals, including those related to DEI. She has spoken extensively on DEI-related topics and the legal and ethical issues associated with social media and emerging technologies.

Named among the “Ones to Watch” in 2023, Shawndra was selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© (2024 & 2025) for Employment Law – Management. The National Black Lawyers chose Shawndra for membership in the “Top 100” for New York in 2023 and 2024. Additionally, Shawndra was a 2022 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow. In 2016, Shawndra received one of the National Bar Association’s “40 Under 40 Nation’s Best Advocates” awards and its “Excellence in Innovation” award.

Shawndra is active in multiple professional organizations and serves on Epstein Becker Green’s Diversity and Professional Development Committee, a board-level committee.

After graduating cum laude with Distinction in Psychology from Yale University, Shawndra earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and the editor-in-chief of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems. Following law school, Shawndra served as a law clerk to the Honorable Alvin W. Thompson in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Tammy is an experienced employment attorney who focuses her practice on preventive strategies, Title VII compliance and equity, diversity, and inclusion training and consulting. She is also the chief equity and inclusion officer of the firm. In this key role, she serves as a trusted adviser to leadership in the design, implementation, and management of the firm’s equity, diversity, and inclusion programs and initiatives.  

She frequently conducts training, workshops, lectures, and keynote addresses on diversity and inclusion, gender equity, implicit bias, inclusive artificial intelligence, neurodiversity, inclusive and agile leadership, cultural competence, emotional intelligence and the multigenerational workplace, among other topics. She also provides inclusive leadership coaching. 

Tammy consults with employers on designing strategic initiatives to curate equitable and inclusive workplace structures, cultures, and leaders, and on effectively navigating change management. She helps employers transform cultures by adopting equitable and inclusive practices and policies, unleashing hidden talent by managing implicit bias, and delivering innovative solutions and outcomes by maximizing unique talent. In addition to her equity, diversity, and inclusion services, she provides HR-legal compliance counseling and training, and conducts workplace investigations.

She is a self-described “sociologist with a law degree.” Before attending law school, Tammy earned a Master’s Degree in Sociology with a concentration in Race, Class and Gender and Work, Labor and Organizations. Her research focused on both qualitative and quantitative analyses of the workplace experiences of racial and ethnic minorities, women, and LGBTQ workers. She leverages her academic knowledge of human behavior to provide practical advice and strategic counsel to resolve issues in the workplace.

Before joining Dinsmore, Tammy practiced as in-house counsel for a national retailer, where she provided advice regarding various company-wide programs and initiatives, including its mandatory arbitration, web-based recruitment, and pay practices programs. She appeared before administrative agencies for hearings and mediations and provided counsel regarding associate relations matters, diversity and inclusion strategies, workplace investigations, and talent management programs, among other responsibilities.

Jing is currently employed by a leading worldwide manufacturer and provider of medical technologies, where she works closely with company executives and corporate development teams in structuring, managing and implementing a variety of strategic corporate transactions, including domestic and international mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, strategic investments and other corporate transactional activities. Before her in-house position, Jing had worked as a corporate attorney in two reputable national/international firms where she advised U.S. and international corporations on transactional matters including mergers and acquisitions, cross-border deals, joint ventures, strategic entity formation and business planning, issuances of equity and debt, and other contractual matters. Besides being an excellent lawyer, Jing has also authorized numerous legal expert articles published by Law360.

She obtained her J.D. degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law with High Honors and her LLM in Taxation from Northwestern University School of Law with High Honors.

Kristi Browne spent most of her career as a plaintiffs’ class action attorney representing individuals in consumer fraud, securities, mortgage fraud, antitrust, ERISA and employment cases. She also represented businesses in breach of contract cases, control disputes and trademark infringement actions. Class action work has provided her with the opportunity to hone her skills at complex litigation–everything from how orange juice is made to the intricacies of the mortgage backed securities market. Ms. Browne also practices in the area of education advocacy, representing parents like herself who have children with special needs to obtain services from their school districts.

Ms. Browne joined the Patterson law Firm, LLC in September 2005. She argued in front of the Illinois and Wisconsin appellate courts as well as the federal courts of appeals for the Seventh and Fifth Circuits and has prepared appeals in the Eleventh Circuit.

She has served on the Judicial Evaluation Committee for the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago. She has been named an Illinois Leading Lawyer for 2016 in commercial litigation and one of Chicago’s Notable Women Lawyer’s by Crain’s Chicago Business for 2018.