At a time of great uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and fractious politics in Brazil, the United States and elsewhere, companies have had to navigate public health and societal crises simultaneously. Fortunately, corporate commitments to diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives have in many cases proven encouragingly resilient and robust in recent months. Many companies have used D&I programs and tools to foster greater collaboration and connectivity among workforces physically separated by social distancing guidelines and work-from-home policies. There has also been a notable expansion of external-facing marketing campaigns and community engagement to ensure continuity in customer relationships – and to use the current crisis as a time to reflect, and in some cases, rebrand. These D&I initiatives may prove to be a true silver lining to the deep disruptions caused by the economic crisis triggered by the pandemic alongside the ongoing soul-searching inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, the continued gender pay/opportunity gap, and recent advances in fighting LGBTQ+ discrimination. The panel of prominent leaders in the Brazilian-American legal community discussed navigating corporate responses to the pandemic across multiple sectors of the economy, at a time of renewed internal and external focus on issues of diversity and inclusion.
Moderators:
David Flechner, Partner, Paul Hastings LLP (São Paulo)
Scott R. Wilson, Partner, DLA Piper LLP (New York)
Speakers:
Roberta Carvalho, Senior Counsel, Integrated Marketplace, NIKE, Inc.
Pedro Frade, Head of Legal and Compliance – Latin America, PIMCO
Fabio Eduardo De Pieri Spina, General Counsel and Corporate Affairs Officer, Gerdau
Please click here to download the speaker bios.