The Value of a General Counsel Perspective on a Corporate Board with Shawnte Mitchell, Chief Legal Officer at Genomatica and Board Member at Life Science Cares Bay Area

One of the threads of leadership is to be connected with those who are in our organizations who are at various points in their careers and who may need somebody to help them get to where they want to go. This week’s episode 50 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about the value of the general counsel perspective on a corporate board!In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Shawnte Mitchell share the importance of diversity in a company's leadership (especially the C suite) and actionable steps you can take right now to be the best possible board member. Today’s guest, Shawnte Mitchell, is the Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at Genomatica. An accomplished attorney, she has nearly 20 years of experience of advising both publicly traded and privately held companies in the healthcare and life sciences industries. She joins Geno from Zogenix Inc., where she was most recently executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary, contributing to the development and execution of the company’s strategic and operational plans and overseeing compliance, governance, SEC, intellectual property, data privacy, and contractual matters.Her background starts with a Biology degree from Stanford and a JD from George Washington University Law School. In her spare time, Shawnte likes to volunteer with a number of organizations, such as How Women Invest, and spend quality time with her two daughters.Some of the talking points Julie and Shawnte go over in this episode include:The importance of representation and diversity in leadership.The role of general counsel and the assets they bring to a board.Elements that make a board director stand out.Giving yourself grace while working towards your goals.Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me!  And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!CONNECT WITH SHAWNTE MITCHELL:LinkedInCONNECT WITH JULIE CASTRO ABRAMS:LinkedIn - JulieHow Women LeadHow Women InvestHow Women GiveInstagram - HWLLinkedIn - HWLFacebook - HWL