Foster, Ross T.

Theresa Cropper is responsible for Perkins Coie's diversity initiatives, policies and recruitment as the Director of Diversity and Professional Development. In this role Theresa works with each office to promote diversity, and recruit and retain diverse attorneys. In this role, Theresa is responsible for the development of the diversity and professional development initiatives firm wide. These responsibilities include the recruitment, retention and promotion of women and diverse attorneys as well as the creation of programs designed to insure advancement for our attorneys.

For the past three years, Theresa has been the National Director of Diversity at DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary in Chicago, where she was responsible for the implementation of all aspects of the firm's national diversity initiative. Prior to her tenure at DLA, Theresa served in a variety of roles at Northwestern University School of Law, she served as an Associate Dean, Dean of Students, and Director of Minority Affairs. As Dean of Students, Theresa was interested in creating a team approach to student problem solving. She developed programs designed to provide professional development outside of the classroom with programming focused on leadership development, team building, mandatory diversity training, problem solving, and networking became the hallmark of the Office of Student Affairs.

Prior to holding that position, Theresa served as Director of Minority Affairs, where she created and developed the Office of Minority Affairs. Her strategic goal was to reorient the approach of the Office of Student Affairs from a reactive response to student problems to a proactive approach, creating a culture of cooperation with the students. Theresa's 14-year tenure at Northwestern's Law School yielded an increase of diversity from 8 percent to 30 percent.