Elizabeth Zamora-Mejia
Partner
Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo
Headquarters: Cerritos, CA
Business: Legal Services
Website: www.aalrr.com
PARTNER ELIZABETH ZAMORA-MEJIA Shares Her D&I Views
“When a company commits to seeing itself and the world through the lens of diversity, everyone benefits. When a workplace encourages a culture of conformity, voices get left out and that culture can become stagnant. But when they encourage and nurture a multiplicity of perspectives, worldviews, and values, there is so much room for vibrant connections to be made, for innovation to occur, for progress to thrive.”
Diversity Driver
“As a woman of color, I can confirm that this culture of inclusion is what has kept me loyal to this firm, while my friends and colleagues at other firms and in other professions may have transitioned several times by this point in their careers. However, while I have been at one firm for my entire professional life, my role here has evolved dramatically. A feeling of belonging kept me here, and as the firm experienced a period of rapid growth over the last two decades— adding over 130 attorneys and opening up four new offices—I became more and more committed to making sure our new hires felt that same level of inclusion.
”AALRR is unique among law firms in that we are always trying to innovate and evolve, so when I voiced my desire to add structure to the firm’s organic culture of diversity and inclusion through recruiting, hiring, and retention measures, I was supported from the get-go. In the ten years since, I’ve taken on a more dedicated role as the firm’s diversity driver—a role I am both passionate about and will continue to hold as long as they let me!”
The Diversity Lens
“The diversity lens is one that comes naturally to me as a woman of color who has always been focused and dedicated on these issues—in that sense, it’s hard for me to see the world through the lens of anything else. It’s impossible to divorce your lived experience from the problems you face in the world—whether those problems occur on the job or outside of work…. Because our leadership and those serving on our diversity committees are so dedicated to diversity and inclusion, we are able to tackle all problems through this lens. I think this is part of what makes our firm special. We never negate the importance of diversity when thinking about how to solve an issue.”
Looking Ahead
“As the point-person for both our Diversity and Inclusion Committee and Women@AALRR, my focus for the upcoming year is on education. I’m currently in discussion with our managing partner to commit to instating firm-wide trainings on diversity, focusing on topics like the neuroscience of unconscious bias. Firm leadership and those on the diversity committees see things through the lens of diversity—but my goal for the upcoming year is to ensure that everyone at the firm is onboard.”