THE ABWA BOARD

ABWA Board Members 2009-2010

Jamila D. Smoot Burrell, President
Jeanine Conley, Vice-President
Johane Severin, Secretary
Margo Ferrandino, Treasurer
Celeste Chase
Danyale Dumas
Leslie Jones-Thomas
Shea Owens
Donaldine B. Temple

Biographies (in alphabetical order):

Jamila D. Smoot Burrell (formerly Jamila Smoot) – Mrs. Burrell has been a member of ABWA since 2003, serving as Treasurer from 2005 – 2007, Vice President from 2007-2008 and President since October 2008.

Mrs. Burrell currently works for Morgan Stanley as an ISDA Negotiator for the Fixed Income Division’s Institutional Securities Documentation Group. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mrs. Burrell worked as an associate in the Securitization and Structured Finance Department of Sidley Austin LLP. She also clerked for the Honorable Samuel G. Wilson, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

Mrs. Burrell is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia College of Arts and Sciences with a B.A. in Mathematics and Spanish.

Celeste Chase – Ms. Chase has served as ABWA’s Treasurer since October 2007. Ms. Chase joined the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2000. Currently, she is a branch chief in the New York Regional Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Enforcement, where she investigates violations of the federal securities laws and supervises other attorneys. Prior to joining the SEC, Ms. Chase was a litigation associate at Morgan Lewis in Philadelphia, Dewey Ballantine in New York and Grant & Eisenhofer in Wilmington.

Ms. Chase is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Wharton School of Finance, where she earned her Bachelors of Science in Economics. Ms. Chase is a member of the bars of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.

S. Jeanine Conley – Ms. Conley has been an ABWA member since 2003 and has served on the board for two years. She is secretary of the Committee on Minorities in the Profession of the City Bar. Ms. Conley has worked as an active member of several community groups and currently is on the advisory board of the Urban Assembly School for Criminal Justice.

Ms. Conley began her career as a litigation associate at Arnold & Porter, LLP before clerking for New Jersey U.S.S.D.C. Judge William G. Bassler from 2005-2006. She joined the law firm of Baker & Hostetler LLP in 2006 and practices in the areas of white collar and corporate criminal matters and general commercial litigation.

In 2007, Ms. Conley received the Stakeholder 100 Award, which was awarded to top performing minority attorneys from law firms across the country. This year, Ms. Conley was selected as a 2008 Council of Urban Professionals ("CUP") Fellow. The CUP Fellows Program is dedicated to training and developing minority political and civic leaders. Ms. Conley is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Danyale Price Dumas, Esq. - Danyale Price Dumas has over 13 years of experience as a diversity professional with particular emphasis on diversity strategy, training, program development, recruiting, retention and career transition. In January 2006 Ms. Dumas joined Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison, LLP as the firm’s first Diversity and Gender Initiatives Manager. Working closely with the Diversity and Women’s Initiatives Committees, Ms. Dumas’s primary responsibilities include multifaceted approaches to recruiting, retention, career development, mentoring, training and work-life balance in order to promote a diverse workforce. She also serves in an advisory capacity to the Management, Legal Personnel, Professional Training and Development, Recruitment and Charitable Contributions Committees.

Prior to joining Paul, Weiss, Ms. Dumas was Director of Career Planning and Personal Development at the National Basketball Players Association where she designed career transition and educational programs for members of the National Basketball Association. Previously, she worked at Goldman Sachs developing strategy and managing firmwide diversity recruiting programs and initiatives. Before becoming a full-time diversity professional, Ms. Dumas was a commercial litigation attorney in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ms. Dumas graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law and is a magna cum laude graduate of Spelman College with a bachelor of arts degree in economics and a minor in management and organization. She is a member of the Georgia Bar, the Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals (Strategic Planning Committee co-chair), The Links, Incorporated (Metro-Manhattan Chapter, membership committee), Spelman College Northeast region fundraising co-chair, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and various other professional and non-profit organizations. She’s presented at numerous diversity and inclusion conferences across the country.

Margo Ferrandino – is a graduate of Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations and New York University School of Law. Ms. Ferrandino concentrates her practice in labor and employment law matters. Ms. Ferrandino also provides employment-related training to executives, managers, supervisors and employees. In conjunction with advising on labor and employment matters, she also assists clients with complex issues involving E-Discovery and E-Verify. Prior to joining Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC, Ms. Ferrandino was an associate at Kaye Scholer LLP. Ms. Ferrandino is a member of the New York State Bar, the Capital Region Human Resource Association and the Society for Human Resource Management. From 2004 through 2007, Ms. Ferrandino served as Secretary for the Committee on Recruitment and Retention of Lawyers, The Association of the Bar of the City of New York. In 2005, Ms. Ferrandino was a recipient of the InMotion, Inc. Commitment to Justice Award.

Leslie Jones-Thomas - Ms. Jones-Thomas is a former ABWA President and has been an active member of several area bar associations including the Metropolitan Black Bar Association.

Ms. Jones-Thomas is a former prosecutor who served in the Bronx for 8.5 years. She worked for two years with Special Narcotics Prosecutor Sterling Johnson before starting her own legal practice in 2005. The Law Offices of Leslie Jones-Thomas and Associates specializes in litigation, federal and state criminal defense, matrimonial, real estate, estate and elder law, and business. Ms. Jones-Thomas is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center.

Shea Owens – Ms. Owens has been a member of ABWA since 1999. Prior to her current position as an Assistant General Counsel at Ernst & Young LLP, she practiced international transactional law at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton and at Allen & Overy LLP (New York and Hong Kong), where she represented foreign governments, multinational corporations and international financial institutions. Prior to entering firm practice, Ms. Owens clerked for federal District Court Judge Raymond A. Jackson and worked as a human rights fellow at the Center for International Environmental Law in Geneva, Switzerland.

Ms. Owens has co-authored several articles, including "Survey of International Commercial Law Developments: 1999-2000," (56 Bus. Law. 1967-1875) and "NGO Briefing Paper on Africa: Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance" (Global Justice 1-9).

Ms. Owens is a graduate of Columbia University School of Law and Princeton University, and she was a Fulbright Fellow in Kenya and a Center for International Studies Fellow in Brazil.

She serves on the National Women Law Center's Leadership 35 Committee and as the Deputy Chairperson-At-Large of the National Bar Association's International Law Section, is a former director of the Practicing Attorneys for Law Students Program (PALS) and currently serves as a PALS mentor.

Johane Severin – A 2008 graduate of Brooklyn Law School, Johane Severin’s legal experience thus far has involved representing clients who were appealing their adverse social security benefit decisions, applying for asylum and family reunification benefits on behalf of undocumented immigrants and asylees, and working as a Judicial Intern for Judge John M. Leventhal of the 2nd Judicial District of the State of New York.

Prior to attending Brooklyn Law School, Johane worked in higher education and human resources. A recipient of the Ruth Whitehead Whaley Scholarship awarded by ABWA in 2008, Johane earned her B.A. at Wesleyan University and her M.S. Ed. at the University of Pennsylvania.

Donaldine B. Temple – Donaldine B. Temple, fondly known as “Donna” by family and friends, previously worked as a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP where she represented various financial institutions on large complex corporate transactions.

In 1995, Ms. Temple received her Bachelor of Arts with a double major in History and African-American Studies from Wesleyan University located in Middletown, Connecticut and in 2000, she received her Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School.

Community service is an important part of Ms. Temple’s life. She spends several hours each month volunteering with various non-profit organizations throughout New York City. Her favorite volunteer projects include serving dinner at The Bowery Mission soup kitchen located in Soho and The Food Bank located in Harlem. She also leads job readiness program at the Covenant House for homeless young women. She especially enjoys working with the youth and is passionate about “‘speaking life, hope and possibilities into the lives of young people living in the inner cities.’” During Ms. Temple’s free time, she enjoys taking ballet, modern and ethnic dance classes at the Alvin Ailey Extension School, reading historical fiction, blogging and mentoring teenagers.

Ms. Temple is currently a member of the Association of Black Women Attorneys, the American Bar Association, the North Manhattan Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the Wesleyan Alumni Admissions Committee and the Family Partners Board Committee of Habitat for Humanity - NYC. She is also an active member of the congregation at the Greater Allen Cathedral located in Jamaica, Queens.

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