Vote on Desiree Davidson's Story
Were they afraid we were planning a coup d'etat?
I spent my first summer during Columbia Law School at a firm in Philadelphia described as one of the best places in the city for black lawyers. I believed that if there was any place where I would have an equal chance at opportunities, be treated fairly and succeed, this would be it. There were three black female summer associates out of sixty that year but any time all three of us were in an office talking, one of the partners would knock on the door to see how we were doing. It happened too often to be a coincidence that sometimes we would purposely agree to meet in so-and-so's office to test our theory that we were being monitored. Like clock work, ten minutes after we would get together a partner would stop by.
Assignments
I was groomed to ascend to executive status in a fast track management program for an international financial institution.
We were all receiving our shift assignments and everyone was getting Monday through Friday schedules from 8 to 4:30.
You had to be in good with certain people to get the nod for certain assignments even if you were a good banker.
I was responsible for matching employees with clients to ensure they would work well together. I felt that having more diverse groups of people would increase the chances that someone would resonate with the client.
Black associates in the litigation department had it worse than me. They were always staffed on document review, which is essentially the grunt work of litigation.
I think people who make it are the people who can carefully mask their authenticity and go along with whatever their manager wants. I had a manager who would touch my neck in a less than appropriate manner.
My advice is to pick the right projects. If I had picked the right project, I may still be in the corporation today. You've got to pick what you want to do. I knew the other project was going to be hot, but I stayed where I was comfortable because I knew more about that project. The guy who was on the other project is now a manager. That could have been me if I had been on that project
I joined the technology company in the mid-80s. They wanted to be become a market-driven company, rather than an engineering-driven company. They recruited me because I had been at a large competitor and had been quite successful.
When I first got the job offer, I was going to be in the business division. After I started working, however, they placed me in the affordable housing division. There had been another African-American man in affordable housing, but then he left.
The first law firm I left specialized in environmental law and had about 40 to 50 attorneys. I left the firm because I wasn't getting the training I wanted. I wasn't getting the experience I needed. When I started comparing notes with people who graduated with me from law school and with associates at the firm, I realized the kind of assignments I was getting were completely different.
