Darryl Gibbs '00 Receives NYSBA's 2014 Diversity Trailblazer Award

The New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Diversity and Inclusion has named Darryl Gibbs ’00 the recipient of its 2014 Diversity Trailblazer Award, which recognizes exceptional efforts to promote the full and equal participation of diverse people at all levels of the legal profession.

Gibbs is Lead Director and Associate General Counsel, Contract Management, at AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company. According to the company’s official press release, the award honors his “strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, as well as his efforts in creating organizational change and establishing an inclusive work environment.” Gibbs’s contributions to the company’s diversity and inclusion initiatives include “forging an innovative internship and mentoring partnership between the AXA Equitable Law department and [T]he Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights and Economic Development at St. John’s School of Law.”

This vital collaboration, which started in 2009, was the subject of a September 2012 Inside Counsel story. The feature chronicles how the AXA Equitable Law Department created a comprehensive internship-mentoring program for students participating in the Center’s flagship pipeline initiative, the Ronald H. Brown Prep Program for College Students. The Prep Program aims to encourage college sophomores and juniors from underrepresented backgrounds — often first in their family to attend college — to apply to law school and pursue the study and practice of law. In recent years, Prep Program participants have increased their LSAT scores by an average of 10 points. More importantly, they have earned millions of dollars in scholarships. In 2011, the American Bar Association Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Educational Pipeline named the Prep Program the recipient of its Alexander Award for Excellence in Pipeline Diversity.

The Diversity Trailblazer Award will be presented to Gibbs prior to the NYSBA’s Eleventh Annual Celebrating Diversity in the Bar Reception, on Monday, January 27, 2014, during the NYSBA Annual Meeting in New York City.