Nancy Laben oversees a broad portfolio that includes the firm’s legal, corporate affairs and ethics and compliance functions. Last year, when the pandemic upended the nation, followed by a renewed national conversation on racial justice and social equity, Laben was in a key position to help lead and manage a forward-looking and thoughtful response across the firm and within her own organization.
She directed the firm’s philanthropic response and contributed significantly to the senior leadership team’s development of a pandemic action plan well received by employees, including additional job security, enhanced employee engagement and expanded benefits.
Laben was also a key member of the leadership team to help enact an independent assessment of how Booz Allen’s policies affect people of color and establish a variety of follow-on actions to deepen the firm’s commitment to racial and social equity both inside Booz Allen and beyond. Today, Laben is helping the firm navigate plans for a new flexible work strategy expected to begin in the fall.
Why Watch
Laben has long believed a senior legal counsel must serve not just as the lawyer in the room but as a strategic business partner to the company, helping drive its performance against core goals. Circumstances over the past year gave her the opportunity to set an example for general counsels, very publicly supporting Booz Allen’s response well beyond the legal realm.
“Over the past 7 years, our legal department has transformed from an organization that structurally stood apart both from the business units and other core corporate functions to a more robust team of legal experts who have deep knowledge of the business itself,” Laben said. “I’m most proud that we now serve as strategists to enable business growth, delivering performance that has set us apart.”
Read the rest of the “Top 15 General Counsels to Watch in 2021” list here.