GOOD Guys
Events
GOOD Guys is a program designed to break the impasse in women’s advancement by engaging people who have been missing from the conversation for too long – the GUYS! It is a model program designed for replication by member organizations. Acting in unison, we can make a bigger impact.
GOOD Guys has grown from the initial event held at NCWBA’s Mid-Year Meeting in San Diego in February 2016 — led by Teresa Beck and Misty Blair, with committee members Celia Collins, Pat Sturdevant, Amanda Green Alexander, and Katherine Brown — to a separate committee dedicated to rolling out the program at events across the country. Here’s a program created by Lawyers Club of San Diego. Click here for an example of a program by Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles. Here’s an article about the GOOD Guys program in Topeka. Click here for an article about our Austin 2020 GOOD Guys program.
Here’s information about a few past programs:
Legal professionals from across Illinois gathered on April 23, 2026 for Stronger Together: Supporting Women in the Legal Profession, a collaborative program presented by the Illinois State Bar Association and the Illinois Judges’ Association. The event focused on advancing equity, opportunity, and inclusion within the legal profession through meaningful dialogue and practical action.
A featured session, “GOOD Guys (Generating Opportunities & Opening Dialogue) and Their Power to Make Change,” explored the critical role male allies and leaders play in fostering more equitable workplaces. Panelists discussed the ongoing barriers faced by women and other underrepresented groups in the profession and highlighted how intentional allyship can help create pathways to advancement.
Speakers shared strategies for generating opportunities, encouraging open dialogue, and implementing initiatives that promote inclusion
and belonging within organizations. The discussion emphasized that these efforts not only support individual career growth but also strengthen workplace culture, improve retention, and contribute to long-term organizational success.
The session featured insights from respected legal leaders Teresa M. Beck (past president of National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations and shareholder with Klinedinst PC, San Diego; Hon. Mary C. Roberts (ret.), JAMS; Daniel R. Saeedi, Blank Rome, Chicago; and John C. Sciaccotta, Aronberg Goldgehn, Chicago, who offered examples of how allyship and leadership engagement are driving positive change within their firms and communities.
The GOOD Guys initiative continues to demonstrate that advancing women in the legal profession is a shared responsibility. By engaging leaders at every level, the program encourages organizations to move beyond conversation and take meaningful action to create lasting change.
On February 2, 2023, GOOD Guys: Louisiana Edition was held in New Orleans in conjunction with the Federal Bar Association New Orleans Chapter. On August 12, 2021, a webinar entitled Men in the Mix and GOOD Guys: Young Lawyers Edition, was held jointly with the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession and the ABA Young Lawyers Division. To learn more about the program, click here.
To view a video of a GOOD Guys event recorded in Chicago on August 2, 2018, click here.
We invite you to tell us about your own ideas for GOOD Guys events.
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Putting on a GOOD Guys event, women and diverse professionals invite GOOD Guys to get involved in women’s organizations and issues. Event components are based on studies showing the best ways to engage men, including:
- Give GOOD Guys an award – Each male invitee is given a ribbon identifying him as a GOOD Guy, and all GOOD Guys present are honored.
- Highlight men whom other men want to know and emulate – GOOD Guys includes a panel presentation with local, prominent GOOD Guys (and a GOOD gal or two) who discuss their efforts to advance women and diverse lawyers.
- Show GOOD Guys diversity and inclusion is where the money is – GOOD Guys includes a presentation about the eye-popping value of diversifying firms and companies at the highest levels of management and ownership.
- Provide implicit bias training in a straightforward and non-judgmental environment – GOOD Guys includes a presentation about bias disrupters, with practical information about what can be done right now to disrupt bias.
- Tell GOOD Guys what they can do to contribute – Our Monday Morning To-Do List walks GOOD Guys through a candid assessment of where they stand in terms of true diversity, and provides a list of specific things they can do instantly.
The GOOD Guys Toolkit
The GOOD Guys Toolkit
On June 7, 2016, The National Diversity Council (NDC) held its first-ever GOOD Guys program as part of the organization’s Southern California Diversity and Leadership Conference in Long Beach. One of the GOOD Guys’ program’s inaugural GOOD Guys, Bill Sailer, Senior Vice President, Legal Counsel at Qualcomm Incorporated, was the keynote speaker for the daylong conference. The GOOD Guys panel program was moderated by Pamela Washington, General Counsel for Crystal Stairs, Inc., and two GOOD Guys, Mark Vonderhaar and Tim Williams, both of whom were present at NCWBA’s inaugural GOOD Guys program in San Diego. Mark Vonderhaar, managing partner of the law firm of Haight, Brown & Bonesteel, and Tim Williams of the law firm, of Pope, Berger & Williams, provided information to the group about how each has taken steps to advance diverse attorneys, and what is working for them, as well as what is not working. Both gentlemen also discussed why they care deeply about diversity issues. Men who attended were honored with GOOD Guys ribbons identifying them as GOOD Guys.
The NDC was responsible for creating the GOOD Guys logo and is planning additional GOOD Guys programs at national and local levels.
Click here to listen to a radio interview about the GOOD Guys concept and the initial GOOD Guys event.
provided by the National Diversity Council.
