Diversity - An Inclusive Culture or Window Dressing?
Panelists
Sophia Lee
Litigation Partner
Blank Rome LLP
Sophia Lee is a Litigation Partner at Blank Rome LLP in the Energy, Environment and Mass Torts Practice Group and serves in a leadership role with the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Ms. Lee is a trusted advisor and business litigator, handling commercial, environmental and products liability matters for energy, pharmaceutical and other industrial clients. She also represents governmental entities and non-profit organizations in other civil matters. Additionally, Ms. Lee counsels clients on diversity and inclusion matters and provides diversity and inclusion education.
Prior to rejoining Blank Rome, Ms. Lee served as chief litigation counsel at Sunoco, Inc. and in the litigation department of another Am Law 100 firm. She also served as a federal judicial law clerk to the late Honorable James McGirr Kelly, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Ms. Lee has served as the Diversity Chair for the Philadelphia Bar Association, Vice-Chair of Mayor Michael Nutter’s Commission on Asian American Affairs, Co-President of the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group, and President of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Pennsylvania. Ms. Lee has been recognized with the Multicultural Leadership Award by the Pennsylvania Diversity Council, as Diverse Attorney of the Year by The Legal Intelligencer and as a Minority Business Leader by the Philadelphia Business Journal. She is also active in the civic and charitable communities, serving on the boards of several non-profit organizations.
Ms. Lee is a frequent lecturer and continuing legal education faculty member on matters concerning diversity and inclusion, litigation management, e-discovery and information management, ethics, trial advocacy skills and substantive legal issues for legal associations, organizations, law schools, and law firms. She also held an adjunct assistant professorship at Temple University’s School of Tourism and Hospitality Management affiliated with the Fox School of Business.
Ms. Lee received her J.D. and LL.M. in Trial Advocacy from Temple University Beasley School of Law, where she was a member of the Temple Law Review and the Moot Court Honor Society. She received her B.A. in English from Cornell University.
Richard Huynh
Pricing Analytics Director
Cigna
Rich is the Pricing Analytics Director within the Individual & Family Plans segment at Cigna. He is responsible for the financial analysis that supports the IFP pricing strategy, as well as delivering an actuarial/financial perspective that informs the business strategy.
He has been with the company for over 10 years and is a graduate of the Actuarial Executive Development Program (AEDP). Rich’s past roles have been in Cigna Group Insurance, Internal Audit, International (Pricing and Reserving), and Commercial Healthcare Pricing.
In 2017, Rich became the co-lead of the Cigna's Asian/South Asian Colleague Resource Group (CRG), where he has doubled the size of the group and continues to add more local chapters. In addition, he serves on the Temple University Actuarial Advisory Board. He enjoys his free time with his wife Tina,shih-tzu bichon mix dog Maggie, and one year old son Vincent.
Gustavo Pospischel
VP Software Development Xfinity Mobile, Cigna
Gustavo is from a small town in Argentina. However, since he moved to Miami, FL after he finished school, Gustavo considers the city to be his hometown. Gustavo, his wife, and 2 kids enjoy all type of outdoor family activities and they love to travel.
Gustavo is a person who cannot stop learning; he holds 3 Bachelors’ degrees: Scientific Calculations, Business Operations, and System Engineering. He also holds an MBA from Florida Atlantic University and has studied Business Strategy and Innovation at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Gustavo has visited 32 countries and has worked in 13 countries on 4 different continents. Gustavo has performed work for the Government of 3 countries, several Fortune 500 companies, and participated in 4 startups.
Before joining Comcast, Gustavo performed work for major wireless carriers of Latin America, including Alegro, Tigo, Comcell, Claro, and Movistar, where he implemented a mobile payment network with the local banks of each country. Furthermore, he started the mobile eCommerce technology capabilities of Staples, the second largest eCommerce site in 2011, and managed the eCommerce technology of Sears Holdings Corp.
Today, Gustavo serves as VP of Software Development of Xfinity Mobile at Comcast.
Moderators
Kapish Vanvaria
Senior Manager
EY
Kapish Vanvaria is a Senior Manager with Ernst & Young’s Advisory practice based out of Philadelphia focused on Cybersecurity, Technology Audit, and Emerging Technologies. In this role Kapish works closely with Chief Audit Executives, Chief Information Security Officers and their respective management teams to collaborate on the design, implementation and execution of enterprise compliance, operational and technology programs. While Kapish’s primary focus is within the Telecommunications, Media & Entertainment and Technology sector, he has worked with many organizations within Financial Services, Diversified Industrial Products and Healthcare as well.
Kapish serves as adjunct faculty for Temple University’s Management Information Systems undergraduate program and Chair of the Advisory Council over the graduate IT Audit and Cybersecurity program. He is a 2018 fellow in the Global Leadership Institute through the World Affairs Council as well as a pro-bono advisor to need-based organizations seeking consulting services through the Philadelphia Arts and Business Council.
Peter Lav
Senior Director Cable Compliance, Comcast
Pete Lav is currently a Senior Director at Comcast and has been with the Company for 13 years. In Pete’s current role, he is responsible for managing compliance programs and driving process improvements to mitigate Legal and Regulatory risks to the Company. Before joining Comcast, Pete started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as a call center agent and IT technician then joined PwC’s Cyber Security practice where he consulted in the Media and Entertainment sector.
Pete obtained his Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA), concentrating in Management Information Systems, from Temple University. He is a member of several organizations (SCCE, IIA, IAPP, Comcast APA ERG, Ascend, NAAAP, and NAMIC) and is a graduate of the NAMIC Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP) class of 2016.
Pete is a Philadelphia native and lives in Lower Gwynedd PA with his wife and two kids. He enjoys home improvement projects, outdoor activities and watching Science Fiction movies.