Page 4 - BUZZ Magazine - Issue No. 1 Spring 2021 | University of Rochester

WOMEN

WHO ROC

A conversation
with Gail Lione ’71

by KRISTINE THOMPSON

ail Lione ’71, a successful lawyer and first to take a position for the desegregation
G volunteer leader, is passionate about of baseball. Keep in mind that this was in
women’s issues. Lione and her generation 1939. Jackie Robinson didn’t even start
would become the first in many areas—in playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers until 1947.
locker rooms, conference rooms, board
rooms, and other places. They were inspired WHAT DOES MENTORSHIP MEAN TO YOU?
by people like Gloria Steinem, Dorothy Pitman The wonderful thing about mentoring is
Hughes, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. that it is mutual. You learn from each other.
It’s is about forming and nurturing
Lione’s career now spans more than relationships, and it is a foundational aspect
40 years. For the last four, she has been of the new Women’s Network. We aim to
senior counsel for Dentons in Washington, connect, support, and engage each other
D.C. She is also a sought-after corporate in meaningful ways.
board member, a University of Rochester
trustee, and cochair, along with Tiffany WHY DO YOU THINK WOMEN HAVE
Taylor Smith ’91, of the University’s recently A LOT MORE HISTORY TO MAKE?
launched Women’s Network. The year 2020 marked a historic milestone—
the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.
WHO IS YOUR GREATEST ROLE MODEL? Women have come a long way since then,
My mother, hands down. She was the first but there’s still work to do. For instance, we
woman president of her high school’s student have many of the same equity and access
body and its debate team, and she was also a issues that we had in the 1970s when I

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