ABOUT
JILL LYNCH CRUZ, PHD, PCC, GCDF, SPHR
Executive Coach & Career Development Consultant
Jill is an executive coach and career development consultant specializing in the career and talent development of attorneys in the legal profession. As a long-term champion for gender diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, her primary mission and professional focus is to help self-empower women attorneys, especially Latina lawyers, to better navigate, enhance, and advance their careers more successfully. Her passion for working with Latina attorneys was inspired by her decade long research on the unique barriers and supports to their career development.
She is also an expert presenter and frequent keynote speaker at many national and regional women and minority legal bar association events and conferences.
Prior to starting her own coaching and consulting practice in 2009, Jill served in a variety of senior executive human resource management and recruiting roles within the legal industry, including most recently as the Chief Human Resources Officer for an Am Law 100 DC-based law firm. She has also served as an Associate Professor, Dissertation Chair, and Research Affiliate for the University of Phoenix Graduate School of Business and Technology and College of Doctoral Studies and previously as an Adjunct Professor for Leadership and Management at the University of Maryland University College.
As a scholar and nationally-recognized thought leader on the topic of Latina attorneys’ career development, Dr. Cruz has published, both individually and in collaboration with others, over a dozen academic, professional, and law review articles and book chapters in this field (see Resources) and is a nationally recognized expert and speaker on the topic of Latina attorneys.
Furthermore, in the past decade she has continued her partnership with the Hispanic National Bar Association's Latina Commission to support Latina attorneys’ career development through active and frequent participation in a variety of capacities including as a lead researcher for their two national research studies, a regular speaker and trainer at National and Regional Latina Commission and Leadership Academy events, and as a former Latina Commissioner and Co-Chair of the HNBA’s Latina Leadership Committee. She has also served as a member of the Research Advisory Board for the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession.
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Jill has a PhD in Organization and Management from Capella University, an MS in Management from the University of Maryland, as well as a BS in Psychology from the University of Maryland. She is also a Certified Professional Coach (CPC), Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF) and Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR).
CERTIFICATIONS
