Our Black Lawyer Affinity Group (BLAG) and Asian Lawyer Affinity Group (ALAG) each recently came together for a Firm-wide retreat to strengthen the bonds within the community, network, and gain insights from experienced practitioners, including Proskauer alumni Emerson Moore, executive vice president and chief people officer, BSE Global, and Ricky Chung, general counsel and senior vice president, Area 15.

After these retreats, we spoke with both Emerson and Ricky to hear more about the valuable professional connections they made at Proskauer and the importance of affinity groups, not only in helping find mentors and champions but also in building work environments that celebrate and embrace diversity.

We asked Emerson about some of his long-lasting friendships and meaningful professional relationships as a Proskauer alum. “I met Chieh Huang, the CEO of Boxed, at a Proskauer alum event. We became fast friends. Long story short, during the time Chieh was working at a gaming company, he called me out of the blue one day to tell me about an idea. He explained his idea for starting a new company, which became Boxed. The company has been successful, and he is still the CEO. In fact, it’s now a public company, and he asked me to be on the board. It’s been an amazing opportunity for me!”

Although ALAG did not formally exist during Ricky’s tenure at Proskauer, he understands the importance of affinity groups, especially as diverse lawyer representation continues to grow at Proskauer. “Number one, having affinity groups creates mentorship. Number two, it strengthens individualism. And number three, it shows an empathetic response to the globalization of our work environment in which diversity has become a core value. Affinity groups help people understand other people’s backgrounds, but they also promote inclusiveness, which is critical when firms are at the center point of reaching out to the global community.”

We thank Emerson and Ricky for their impactful contributions to the 2022 ALAG and BLAG retreats and for taking the time to support and connect with the Proskauer community.