The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance’s Spotlight on Flex showcases professionals from member organizations who exemplify personal and professional success while working a flexible schedule. Their stories illustrate the long-term benefits that flexible schedules offer to both individuals and organizations.
PAST SPOTLIGHTS
If you are a professional working a flexible schedule and would like to share your story in an upcoming Spotlight on Flex, please contact Jane Caldeira.
Spotlight on Flex – Jennifer Nowlin
The Spotlight on Flex showcases professionals from member organizations who exemplify personal and professional success while working a flexible schedule. Their stories illustrate the long-term benefits that flexible schedules offer to both individuals and organizations.
This month, we are pleased to share insights from Jennifer Nowlin, Associate General Counsel, Labor and Employment, in the Bentonville, AR Office of Walmart Legal.
Jennifer Nowlin: I started practicing law as a commercial litigator at a Dallas firm. I’d been practicing for less than one year when my husband was offered a job at Walmart in Bentonville, AR. We had to decide whether it was time for us to relocate, but I knew my marketability was limited with such little experience under my belt. From the beginning, Walmart supported my family’s needs; the company allowed us to stay in Dallas while my husband traveled back and forth to Bentonville. We kept this arrangement for a year and finally relocated to Bentonville when I joined Walmart’s legal department in 2005. I started with the employment practices legal team, but in 2009, I joined the legal team supporting labor relations, and I’ve been with them ever since.
Walmart had developed a Professional Work Option Program, and when I had my first child in 2007, I was one of the early participants in it. I really wanted to spend time at home with my newborn, but I also wasn’t ready to stop working all together. I talked with my supervisor at the time, and she encouraged me to develop different work scenarios that would work for me. If my first choice wasn’t accepted,
Spotlight on Flex – Lori Mihalich-Levin
The Spotlight on Flex showcases professionals from member organizations who exemplify personal and professional success while working a flexible schedule. Their stories illustrate the long-term benefits that flexible schedules offer to both individuals and organizations.
This month, we are pleased to share insights from Lori Mihalich-Levin, Partner in the Washington, DC office of Dentons.
Diversity & Flexibility Alliance: How have you made flexibility a priority and a success through your career?
Lori Mihalich-Levin: Prior to joining Dentons, I was a Director at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). While there, I had my second child, and I quickly realized, like all new parents, that 1 + 1 suddenly equaled 85. I was being pulled in so many different directions, especially as I was preparing to return to work. I wanted and needed something that could help guide new mothers through this journey, and that’s what inspired me to start a new parents group at my office and a program called Mindful Return. I wanted to create a resource to help other moms with their maternity leaves and return to work transitions.
I was already telecommuting one day a week, and as Mindful Return started to grow, I realized I needed more flexibility to focus on work and develop the company. I wanted to be able to use my Fridays to work on Mindful Return, and I started to look at returning to private practice at a reduced hours schedule in order to do so. I knew it was going to be tough to find the perfect fit – I had no book of business at the time, wanted to come in with a reduced hours schedule,
Spotlight on Flex – Andrea Hogan
The Spotlight on Flex showcases professionals from member organizations who exemplify personal and professional success while working a flexible schedule. Their stories illustrate the long-term benefits that flexible schedules offer to both individuals and organizations.
This month, we are pleased to share insights from Andrea Hogan, Partner in the San Francisco office of Latham & Watkins LLP.
Andrea Hogan: I’ve been with Latham & Watkins my entire career; I started in the DC office in 2005 after graduating from Georgetown University Law Center. The firm has an unassigned program for new associates, so I was able to work on projects within different departments and practice groups as a junior associate. Coming out of law school, I was very interested in regulatory work, and that interest was solidified when I began working with the Environment, Land & Resources Department.
For reasons related to my husband’s job, I transferred to Latham’s Chicago office as a junior associate. When I was a mid-level associate, we moved back to California, and I’ve been in Latham’s San Francisco office ever since.
I had my first child when I was a sixth year associate, and when I came back from leave, I took advantage of the firm’s Pace Reduction Option for Returning Associates To Adjust Program (PRO RATA). This allows associates to on-ramp from leave and work a reduced hours schedule for six months – no questions asked and no approval required. I’ve stayed on an 85 percent reduced hours schedule ever since. I’m in the office every day but with shorter hours because that’s what works best for me and my family.