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Karen Jackson Vaughn
Karen Jackson Vaughn is the Diversity Program Manager for Saul Ewing LLP, resident in the Philadelphia office. In this capacity, she devotes her energies full-time to managing the Firm’s comprehensive, multi-year diversity initiative. Her work centers around creating an environment in which diversity and inclusion principles are woven into the Firm’s systems, policies, practices and procedures. To this end, she engages in dialogue with management and other key leaders, the partnership, other lawyers and staff to foster an understanding of best practices for creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
For many years, Ms. Vaughn has used her advocacy skills in a variety of settings to promote diversity in the legal profession. Prior to joining Saul Ewing, Ms. Vaughn was Assistant Dean for Career Planning at Temple University Beasley School of Law where she served the career development needs of 1,000 students and alumni nationwide. While at Temple, she became active in the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) and advocated for diversity and inclusion by writing articles for the NALP Bulletin, speaking on panels during Annual Education Conferences, serving as liaison to the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession and as a member of NALP’s Leadership/Membership Diversity Task Force.
Before she returned to academia, Ms. Vaughn contributed a decade of service to Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, first as a staff attorney and then Managing Attorney of a neighborhood office. During her years as a public interest lawyer, among other things she planned and coordinated the law student training segment of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Internship Program of Pennsylvania Legal Services (now Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network), an initiative designed to increase diversity within the legal services community. During this period, Ms. Vaughn also was active in the Minorities in the Profession Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association, including a term as Co-Chair, and participated in discussions and strategy sessions surrounding the Statement of Goals and other efforts by the Bar Association to foster greater diversity within Philadelphia law firms and corporate legal departments.
In addition to her work at Saul Ewing LLP, Ms. Vaughn participates in efforts to keep the legal community at large informed about diversity and inclusion. She is a founding member of the Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals (ALFDP) and chairs its Webinar Subcommittee. She was invited to participate in the pipeline diversity conference which the ABA Presidential Advisory Council on Diversity in the Profession and the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) co-sponsored in 2005. She has served on the planning committee and has been a moderator and panelist for Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Annual Diversity Summit since 2006. She frequently is invited to speak about diversity in law firms and has written articles about this important public policy issue.
Honors and Awards
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Future Leaders Program, 2008
- Special Achievement Award, Pennsylvania Bar Association, 2007
- Doris May Harris Award, NBA Women Lawyers Division, Philadelphia Chapter, 2006
Memberships and Affiliations
- Member, 2008 Fall Conference Co-Chair, Webinar Subcommittee Chair, Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals (ALFDP)
- Member, Co-President, Lincoln Day Educational Center, Inc.
- Executive Council member, Quality of Life Committee Co-Chair, Commission on Women in the Profession, Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Co-Chair, 2008 Diversity Summit Planning Committee, Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Member, Minority Bar Committee, Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Member, Quality of Life/Balance Committee, Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Former Zone 1 Delegate, Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Member, NBA Women Lawyers Division, Philadelphia Chapter
- Member, Committee on Minorities in the Profession, Philadelphia Bar Association
- Member, Women in the Profession Committee, Philadelphia Bar Association
- Academic Advisor, A Better Chance – Ardmore
- Lay Eucharistic Visitor, African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas
- Volunteer, John S. Bradway High School Mock Trial Competition
Publications
- Co-author, "Winning the War for Talent: Attracting and Retaining the Best Lawyers," The Legal Intelligencer, August 24, 2007
- Author, "Fostering Diversity in Law Firms Is An Evolutionary Process," The Pennsylvania Lawyer, March/April 2006
Speaking Engagements
- Speaker, "Diversity Plenary," American Institute of Architects, April 2008
- Speaker, "Diversity Forum: Creating the Workplace of the Future," ASAE and the Center for Association Leadership, February 2008
- Moderator and speaker, "Diversity Summit," Pennsylvania Bar Association, October 2007
- Speaker, "Diversity: Pipeline Programs for Potential Lawyers," Pennsylvania Bar Association Conference of County Bar Leaders, February 2007
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