Perkins Coie Chief Diversity Officer Theresa Cropper On Community Organizing, Working With Stevie Wonder, And Diversifying The Legal Profession

Theresa Cropper was told she could be anything, but the odds were that she would be the first.

Theresa Cropper

“Most of my heroes don’t appear on no stamps.”Public Enemy

This week, I had the opportunity to catch up with Theresa Cropper, the Chief Diversity Officer for Perkins Coie, LLP. She has a plethora of experience in community organizing as well as diversity and inclusion initiatives.

After spending 14 years at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law focused on improving D&I amongst law students, she moved into Biglaw to improve D&I amongst attorneys. In 2015, she was named to the Hall of Fame of the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association (BESLA).

Cropper’s energy is contagious and she has a wonderful sense of storytelling. Her history with some of the greats including Dr. Martin Luther King, Reverend Jesse Jackson, and Stevie Wonder is captivating. I was truly inspired by her ability to recite history along with her optimism for our future. Without further ado, here is a (lightly edited and condensed) write-up of our conversation:

Renwei Chung (RC): You mentioned that you were a baby boomer, a child of the Civil Rights movement, and that your mom was a community organizer. Can you tell us a little bit more about your background?

Theresa Cropper (TC): I was raised to be a soldier in the civil rights movement. In the days of no tech, volunteers were needed at the very grass-roots level — making mimeograph copies, handing out fliers, putting up signs and posters, and helping cook for sit-ins or meetings.

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I grew up in strategy meetings, often held in our house; falling asleep, listening to the discussions underneath my room. I was told I could be anything, but the odds were that I would be the first. I was taught to keep the door open after any opportunity afforded me. I watched TV, looking for me anywhere. What I found was people who looked like me being hosed and attacked by dogs. I remember looking for my mother, who had left to march with Dr. Martin Luther King, wondering if she was among those pushed into the streets by the force of the hydrant hose.

I remember listening to my mother tell me about her non-violent training, learning to be spat upon or hit and remain unprovoked. I wondered how that would work for my mom, a woman who did not take abuse easily. I marveled at my mom’s strength to want to learn a practice that was an anathema to her….

I attended Mt. Vernon High School, where we staged a demonstration to have Black History taught in the classroom. We had to research the course to ensure it was taught comprehensively and correctly. In college, I protested the entertainment value of showing The Birth of a Nation. In law school, I was the first woman chair of the National Black Law Students Association. We marched on the Supreme Court on the eve of the Bakke argument, supporting diversity in education.

After law school, I worked for the Reverend Jesse Jackson as his chief of staff, working on several grassroots movements. During that time, I met Stevie Wonder, who was working to get Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday. I was hired to coordinate those efforts and through two marches and a legislative strategy session, the bill to make the holiday was passed. I worked with Stevie as Director of Legal and Business Affairs in Los Angeles before returning to Chicago to start my family.

After the birth of my first child, I joined Northwestern University School of Law as their first Director of Minority Affairs. After six years in that role, increasing student diversity to over 30%, I was appointed Dean of Students.

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I remained in that position for eight years before I joined Piper Rudnick as Director of Diversity. As Piper Rudnick merged into DLA Piper, the number of diversity professionals in U.S. law firms had exponentially increased. During that increase, I had had several conversations with many of the firms that were adding this position to their professional staff. Perkins Coie LLP was one of those firms. They asked me to apply, and I am entering my 11th year with them.

RC: You were the first in your family to graduate college as well as law school. What advice do you have for first-generation law school students?

TC: Remember what my grandmother told me, “Know where you take yourself and then act like you belong.”

If you had the courage, the audacity, and the confidence to apply to law school, and get in, then find your place and your voice with the clear understanding that it was not a mistake to have admitted you. You belong there. You were accepted because you can add value to the classroom, your colleagues, professors, and the profession. Remember the shoulders you stand upon — people who dreamed of you and knew they would not live to see you in a law school classroom. Honor them with your intellectual curiosity, pay homage with your active citizenship, and prove them right by your excellence in everything you do.

Decide on your contribution to the law school. How do you want to make your mark? How will you be remembered? If you needed top secret security clearance, what would investigators learn about your tenure at the law school? What is your reputation and what do you want it to be? Are you an active, influential, persuasive citizen? Do you have academic curiosity? Are you a leader in the student organizations? Do you bring good ideas to the administration? Does anyone know your name? Will anyone remember you, and what will they remember? Make your mark because you were admitted to do so.

RC: You were the first Director of Minority Affairs and then the Dean of Students at Northwestern University School of Law during your 14-year tenure. What do you think law schools can do better to promote diversity and inclusion?

TC: Make sure you have someone who is dedicated to diversity full time. A diversity professional can guide the community through programs and initiatives that create, encourage, and embellish community. Law schools need to explore how they can develop a sense of community within the incoming class, first-year sections, and the law school community. Try diversity training by sections in the first year. It is subliminal team building. Diversity training will allow students to get to know each other beyond the optics that often distract them from genuinely appreciating each other’s value. This could change the compositions of study groups and gatherings.

Facilitating opportunities to have comfortable curiosities should always have a place in the academy. Remember that change in a student culture can happen in a three-year cycle. Set the tone with the first-years; have the rising 2Ls establish the expectations with the new first-years, and these students as third-years will lead the community evolution from the initiative in their first year.

RC: It was great chatting with you. Is there anything else you would like to share with our audience?

TC: As far as we have come with diversity, there is so much more work to be done. Anyone and everyone can contribute to creating a more inclusive community wherever you are.

Look around: Who is not being asked to lunch, events, etc.? Who has the inside knowledge and power and who doesn’t? Who does not speak up in meetings? When was the last time you reached out to someone new or different? When did you suggest someone who never gets picked for projects? When did you try to give the inside scoop on a new employee?

Diversity is about differences, and it is not always about race, gender, sexual orientation or ability that you think you see. The invisible differences are just that: invisible.

Assume that everyone has differences; we do. That is the beauty of life and our world. Do not get distracted by the visuals and do not make assumptions about what you don’t see. Remember empathy, and it will go a long way.

On behalf of everyone here at Above the Law, I would like to thank Theresa Cropper for taking the time to share her story with our audience. We wish her continued success in her career.


Renwei Chung is the Diversity Columnist at Above the Law. You can contact Renwei by email at projectrenwei@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter (@renweichung), or connect with him on LinkedIn