Seventeen in-house lawyers began a journey to the top of their profession at ChIPs General Counsel Boot Camp.

ChIPs Network, the global membership organization for women in tech, law and policy, has launched a 12-month course for in-house attorneys who want to advance to the position of general counsel.

ChIPs General Counsel Boot Camp is an innovative 12-month course designed to lead associate general counsel and other in-house lawyers to the top of their organizations’ legal departments and into the C-suite itself. Over the course of the year, program members will engage in 21 hours of learning with leading executives, corporate board members and general counsel.

The program kicked off on October 28 with an in-person session at the Fairmont Hotel where participants heard an address from author and award-winning journalist Fawn Germer. Germer interviewed ChIPs Board Directors Dorian Daley of Oracle and Stephanie Burns of Sony Interactive Entertainment, who shared their experiences as top in-house counsel.

No single path

Daley said, “There is no single path to the general counsel seat. The ChIPs General Counsel Bootcamp is designed to foster the development and enhancement of the necessary skillset for the position, and will focus on personal and professional development, leadership and operations, and the community, collaboration and clarity needed to advance to the highest level of leadership.”

“ChIPs General Counsel Boot Camp is a learning community, offering insights from senior leaders and experts, mentoring from experienced general counsel, and networking with fellow industry leaders,” said program designer Monica Phillips, ChIPs director of learning, content and DEI.

“Our Boot Camp is designed to increase gender diversity at the highest levels of corporate law,” said ChIPs Executive Director Joan Toth. “I want to thank Dorian Daley and the other industry leaders who are supporting this effort.”

Seventeen rising stars

Enrolled in the first cohort of ChIPs General Counsel Boot Camp are Jacqueline Daspit, Associate General Counsel at Becton Dickinson; Sarah Fischer, Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary at DeVry University; Arlene Hornilla, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Chief IP Counsel at Entegris Inc.; Melissa Jobe, Director, Corporate Intellectual Property at T-Mobile; Erin Lothson, Vice President, Legal at Uber Freight LLC; Kathryn McBride-Fields, Associate Vice President and Principal Associate General Counsel at Nasdaq Inc.; Kelly Morgan, Vice President, Head of IP and Legal at Arbor Biotechnologies; Roxana Niktab, Director and Associate General Counsel at Amazon Lab126; and Meredith Price, Associate General Counsel at Intel Corporation.

Also enrolled: Theresa Raymer, Associate General Counsel at ReCor Medical Inc.; Ashley Juchawski Rich, Associate General Counsel, Corporate and IP, at Robinhood; Priya Sanger, Senior Director, Associate General Counsel at Marqeta; Ellen Smith, Associate General Counsel at Gritstone bio Inc.; Rachel Turow, Associate General Counsel, Regulatory Law & Policy and Head of U.S. Regulatory Policy at Teva Pharmaceuticals; Vaishali Udupa, Vice President and Associate General Counsel of Litigation at Hewlett Packard Enterprise; Naomi Waltman, Executive Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Paramount Global; and Lianne Worden, Chief of Staff and Counsel to the Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase.

ChIPs General Counsel Bootcamp is made possible by a grant from ChIPs Board member Dorian Daley, former executive vice president and general counsel of Oracle.