Mika Brzezinski Joins Women's Forum for Speaker Series

The Ropes & Gray Women’s Forum celebrated the third edition of “She Speaks: The Annual Tracy Brown Speaker Series” on October 13th, welcoming journalist and television personality Mika Brzezinski for a candid conversation on recognizing your professional and personal worth.

In her welcome remarks, Women’s Forum co-chair and litigation & enforcement partner Lisa Bebchick explained that the series honors Tracy Brown, who spent more than two decades at the firm, serving as the first associate development manager and former director of attorney development and diversity. “Tracy has been such an inspiration to us over the years,” Bebchick said. “The innovations she implemented led directly to the wonderful associate development and diversity initiatives we have at the firm today.”

Mergers & acquisitions group co-head and Women’s Forum co-founder Jane Goldstein then interviewed the Morning Joe co-host and former news anchor about her career in journalism, her work as an author and her activism in the “Know Your Value” women’s empowerment project, which she founded.

For more than an hour, Brzezinski answered questions on topics ranging from the particular challenges COVID-19 posed for women to the importance of voice tone and register. She reflected on her personal and professional development, sharing what it was like to grow up the daughter of a famous diplomat, former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, and an accomplished artist, sculptor Emilie Benes Brzezinski. She also gave insights on how to recognize and maximize your value throughout your career, especially gearing her message toward women. Two important pieces of advice she shared included remembering to advocate for yourself as well as you would for everyone else and not letting gratitude get in the way of asking for something you need.

The event, hosted in Ropes & Gray’s Washington, D.C. office, was viewed via videoconference by attorneys and support team members across the firm’s U.S. offices.

The Ropes & Gray Women’s Forum helps women advance at the firm and accelerate their careers. Learn more here.