General Electric Receives Street Law’s 2013 Excellence in Service Award

Street Law, Inc. presented its 2013 Excellence in Service Award to General Electric (GE) at the Street Law Awards Dinner on April 17, 2013, in Washington, DC. Barbara Daniele, general counsel of GE Capital, Americas, accepted the award on behalf of the company.

Street Law’s Excellence in Service Award recognizes the volunteer efforts of companies and law firms that provide exceptional community service in the form of a Street Law program.

GE participates in Street Law’s Legal Diversity Pipeline Program, where they work to encourage young people of color to pursue legal careers by providing them with role models, career education, and hands-on experiences in the legal field.

GE launched its Diversity Pipeline Program in spring 2007, with legal department volunteers from GE’s Fairfield, Connecticut headquarters working with teenagers at Westhill and Stamford High Schools. The program culminated in a field trip for the students at the headquarters—with welcoming remarks provided by Brackett Denniston, GE’s general counsel.

Since then, GE has expanded its participation to sites in Atlanta; Chicago; and Erie, PA. GE has involved attorneys from partner law firms to bring even more volunteers to their program sites, and actively works with Paul Hastings in Connecticut, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan in Atlanta, and Jenner & Block in Chicago. In total,more than 100 volunteers participate in GE’s Street Law Pipeline sites in the U.S., reaching approximately 250 students each school year.

In 2011, the GE/Street Law partnership was given an opportunity to expand beyond the U.S. With support from the State Department’s Middle East Partnership Initiative, Street Law and GE collaborated to create a public legal education program in Dubai to help expatriate GE employees increase their knowledge of the law and develop skills they need to advocate for themselves.

Today, GE and Street Law are exploring new ways to involve GE employees around the globe in Street Law programs. GE Capital is currently developing the company’s first international Street Law Pipeline site in Toronto, Canada, and discussions have begun to bring a GE/Street Law collaboration to other international sites.