Minority Counsel Assoc. Names New President
WASHINGTON ââ€â‚¬ Joseph K. West has been selected as the new President and CEO of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA).
Mary E. Snapp, Board Chair of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA), announced today that West, currently an Associate General Counsel at Walmart, will take the position effective September 12. He succeeds Veta T. Richardson, who is now serving in the position of President and CEO of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC).
A long-time acquaintance of Mr. West, Marc Morial, the President and CEO of the National Urban League said, “Joe West is a catalyst for positive change in the legal community. His innovative ideas for the inclusion of women and people of color in the halls of corporate America and blue chip law firms have enriched those institutions immeasurably. For the future of the modern day civil rights movement, Joe has both the temperament and skill set to make a quantifiable difference at the Minority Corporate Counsel Association. The National Urban League looks forward to working closely with Joe and we wish him the best.”
Besides 25 years of legal experience, Mr. West has extensive knowledge and involvement in diversity matters. He is a nationally recognized leader on diversity and inclusion issues, in addition to managing Walmart’s groundbreaking diversity efforts. He has served on the American Bar Association’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, presented at MCCA CLE events and was honored for his diversity efforts by the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF).
“Joe brings a broad range of experience to this position as an accomplished attorney and the knowledge of in-house and outside counsel challenges, as well as the workings of legal associations and nonprofit organizations,” said Mary Snapp, who is Corporate VP and Deputy General Counsel of Microsoft Corporation. “He also brings extensive governmental, corporate and legal perspectives. The Board and I are excited about this new stage in MCCA’s development and look forward to working with him. Under Joe’s leadership, we expect MCCA programs and initiatives to grow and continue to advance a more diverse and inclusive legal profession.”
"Joe has been an important contributor to our diversity initiatives and we are thrilled that he has the opportunity to continue work on diversity with an outstanding organization like MCCA, but we are sorry to see him leave Walmart," said Jeff Gearhart, Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Walmart. "We wish Joe the best in his new role and look forward to continuing to work together with the MCCA under his leadership.”
“I am honored and humbled to have been selected to lead MCCA, an organization for which I have a tremendous amount of respect,” said West. “I believe my experiences working in law firms and within Fortune 500 Corporations will ensure that I focus on collaboration with all of MCCA’s stakeholders. While managing outside counsel at Walmart, I learned the importance of appreciating, supporting and nurturing the tremendous wealth of talent that is represented by diverse attorneys in law firms and law departments and I am confident that those insights will help us to achieve MCCA’s mission.”
