Reed Smith has had three individuals listed in the top 30 of Brummell Magazine’s Inspirational Women Champions of Diversity listing, underlining the firm’s commitment to diversity.

Brummell Magazine also paid a special tribute to Reed Smith partner Lynne Freeman who passed away earlier this year.

Every September, Brummell magazine, the 'little black book' for men and women working in the City, showcases some of the most inspirational businesswomen of the year. This year’s focus was on ‘Champions of Diversity’. Nominees were asked to demonstrate how they had stood up for a particular diversity cause and had driven change to a broader audience either within their own firms, or externally in the market. In total there were 130 nominations from 80 organisations, narrowed down to a list of just 30 women.

Tamara Box, the global chair of the Financial Industry Group and the head of structured finance at was nominated for her role in championing gender equality and women leadership. A founding member of the 30% Club steering committee, Tamara has been influential in encouraging corporations to diversify their boards by increasing the number and proportion of women.

Alicia Millar, a manager in the learning and development team in London is Co-Chair of PRISM, the LGBT network at Reed Smith. She was nominated for growing the network internally as well as acting as a spokesperson and ambassador on LGBT issues for the firm, and the wider professional community. Alicia co-chairs the Network of Networks LGBT chapter, which is a professional forum for LGBT network chairs across London.

Carolyn Pepper is chair of Reed Smith’s Disability Task Force, which launched in 2012 to improve diversity, giving aspiring lawyers with disabilities opportunities at City law firms. A firm believer in social equality, she is also the sponsor of the firm's partnership with GoThinkBig, a collaboration between 02 and Bauer Media offering career advice to young people.

Lynne Freeman was recognised for her pivotal and innovative role in talent development across the firm, her leadership of the firm’s Women’s Initiative in the EMEA region and her commitment to many gender-balance efforts across the City.

Sakil Suleman, partner and head of the firm’s UK Diversity Committee, commented:

“This is a fantastic achievement. All of the women recognised have been instrumental in driving forward key areas of our diversity programme and delivered strong results both within the firm and externally. Reed Smith sees differences as a strength and works hard to ensure a fair and inclusive environment for all. This belief has been personified by Tamara, Lynne, Alicia and Carolyn and their contribution has been rightly recognised.”

ENDS

Note to Editors:

You can view the final list online now at the link below -

http://brummellmagazine.co.uk/inspirational-women-2015/

About Reed Smith

Reed Smith is a global relationship law firm, with more than 1,800 lawyers in 25 offices throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States.

Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are central to Reed Smith’s business. The talent pool is changing rapidly and the firm is determined to attract candidates from the widest pool possible, to continue to be competitive and to ensure the very best service for its clients.

Reed Smith runs a number of programmes focused on all aspects of diversity and inclusion, including: race and ethnicity, disability, social mobility, gender equality and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.

For further information, please contact Andrew Darby (senior corporate communications executive EME) on +44 (0)20 3116 3795.