Bendita Cynthia Malakia is working to transform the legal profession into an inclusive industry where women, minorities, LGBT+, differently abled, and other professionals are able to thrive.

She works with Leslie Richards-Yellen, Director of Inclusion - Americas, and the Inclusion team to create and implement the firm's diversity and inclusion strategy and weave diverse and inclusive best practices throughout the firm. Her goal is to leverage diversity and inclusion for the benefit of our clients, diverse lawyers, and business services professionals and to support the firm's culture. She seeks to accomplish this by driving the effectiveness of our diversity infrastructure, including our U.S. National Diversity Committee, leading the Mansfield Rule compliance efforts at the firm, cultivating development cohorts for diversity lawyers at the firm, and coaching diverse lawyers. Her team also spurs the implementation of diversity and inclusion best practices within the firm's clients through diversity and inclusion consulting efforts.

Bendita draws on her prior experiences as a large law firm lawyer financing projects in emerging markets, in-house counsel at two global financial institutions, a diversity consultant for large and mid-size organizations, and a certified professional coach to catalyze change at the institutional and individual levels.

Bendita creates meaningful opportunities for diverse lawyers to develop and advance; senior management to learn and be catalysts for diversity, inclusion, and ultimately, equity; and for clients to engage with the firm in mutually beneficial partnerships centered on diversity and inclusion.