Chris Nicastro

• I will listen first and use my leadership position to build a culture where the diverse ideas and views of our teammates and others are not just heard but acted upon. Consistent with this commitment, I will: (i) lead or coordinate at least two roundtable discussions with Bridgestone teammates on DE&I topics annually, (ii) host annual events (e.g., Leadership Lunch or informal gatherings) for Fellows and Pathfinders, and (iii) meet with Bridgestone’s Fellows at least twice annually to hear about their experiences, learnings, and any recommendations they may have for the department.
• Continue to sponsor and mentor diverse lawyers in the Law Department and the broader legal community through regular informal discussions about their work and career development and the establishment of a structured sponsorship and mentorship program for the Bridgestone global law department.
• Continue implementing DE&I focused department policies including, requiring a racially and/or ethnically diverse candidate slate for all law department openings as well as for all key development opportunities available to Law Department members.
• Continue to serve as Executive Sponsor to the Law Department’s DE&I Committee and Bridgestone’s Black/African American Employee Network, a Bridgestone ERG and use my position as Board Chair to ensure that Bridgestone’s DE&I Board committee and DE&I Center of Excellence have appropriate resources, support, and commitment from our senior leadership team.
• I will step out of my comfort zone to speak publicly about issues of diversity, equity and inclusion and join with other leaders to advocate for DE&I in the legal profession and the community. As part of this commitment, I will meet regularly with our top law firms to discuss their DE&I initiatives, goals, and challenges.

• Continue to seek opportunities to increase the representation of diverse law department members at the leadership level.  For all roles in the department, candidate finalist slates shall include at least one diverse candidate.
• We will continue to commit to increasing our spend with minority and women owned law firms.
• We shall strongly encourage 100% of our top 20 firms (by spend) to meaningfully participate in Diversity Lab’s Dividend Collective program. We shall establish an Attorney Spotlight program for diverse associates at our top law firms and seek to have at least one diverse attorney seconded to the law department annually.
• We will share our department’s DE&I processes, KPIs and initiatives with other business units and functions.

To learn more about Chris, click here.