Ellen Dwyer
I began to experience the power of true sponsorship, and it made all the difference.
Ellen Dwyer
This Is My Story.
My dad worked at a livestock market, and my mom was a homemaker.
Neither one had the opportunity to go to college. We lived in a small rural community in upstate New York. Very few kids from my high school went to college. My high school guidance counselor urged me to attend the local trade school to study cosmetology. A dear family friend learned of the counselor’s “guidance,” and intervened to refocus the counselor on recommending that I pursue a college track. She completely changed my trajectory.
Remembering where I came from and how my life could have been so different, I have a deep sense of humility and appreciation. We have a tremendous opportunity to change the future for others.
Meet Ellen
Ellen Moran Dwyer represents employers in the full array of labor and employment matters. She is a former member of Crowell’s Executive Committee and Management Board, and the immediate past chair of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, a collective of more than 400 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners, working to build a more open and diverse legal profession.
With the benefit of scholarships and financial aid, I went to college at St. Lawrence University. I had wonderful mentors there who made me feel that I belonged in what turned out to be an affluent student body. My advisor, Bob Wells, worked hard to persuade me that there were no bounds on what I could accomplish.
After college, I attended Cornell Law School and spent my first summer working at the US Attorney’s Office in Rochester, New York, where I had my first oral argument in federal court. The following summer I worked in an employment practice at a Boston firm, and ultimately landed at Crowell in DC.
The Power of Sponsorship
I was the 100th lawyer to join Crowell, and benefitted enormously from direct, and sometimes painful, feedback from partners who were committed to making me better. I worked incredibly hard both to develop as a lawyer and to grow comfortable in an environment that often felt foreign to me. I worked hard to make connections with partners who seemed to have nothing in common with me. My white male peers appeared accomplished and confident to me, and seemed to be able to form relationships effortlessly.
I gained confidence and a sense of belonging over time. I found true sponsors—partners who invested in making me better, created opportunities for me, vouched for me with others, and even welcomed me into their families. I began to experience the power of true sponsorship and it made all the difference.
The Opportunity to Give Back
I later became one of the founders of our sponsorship initiative, which at its core involves taking the time to get to know someone who appears different from you and then using your influence to create opportunities for them to build relationships with others and safe places to fail. We all have the ability and influence to sponsor one another, whether as peers or supervising lawyers. In large and small ways, we can foster a sense of belonging, respect and bridge our differences, as well as enhance the experience each of us has in our firm. That is our commitment and purpose.