Corporate Citizenship in the #MeToo Era: When Companies Speak Out on Social Matters, What to Say and How to Prepare for Purposeful Attention

Kim Taylor joined the University in August 2014 as Vice President and General Counsel. In this role, she leads the legal team that advises and represents all units of the University.

Before joining the University, Taylor was a partner of Hilton & Bishop in Massachusetts where she represented both for profit and not-for-profit clients in a broad range of transactions. Prior to that, she was an equity partner of Kirkland & Ellis based in the firm’s New York office. In 18 years at Kirkland, she served as lead counsel to large buyout funds and private and public companies in a wide variety of transactions. These included leveraged buyouts, mergers, stock and asset acquisitions, recapitalizations, and private equity investments.

Taylor received her B.A. degree in history from the University of California at Berkeley, and her J.D., with honors, from the University of California Hastings College of the Law.

Morgan Ruey is Labor and Employment Counsel for PepsiCo, Inc. Morgan was raised in Texas and has been living in Chicago for 12 years. Morgan’s background as an L&E attorney includes daily HR counseling, labor relations counseling, and representation of employers in various employment lawsuits and charges of discrimination. On a day-to-day basis, Morgan partners with PepsiCo Human Resources professionals in an effort to maintain PepsiCo’s reputation as a great place to work.

She received her B.B.A. in Marketing from the University of Notre Dame and her J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. 

Erica Kirkwood serves as Vice-President and General Counsel of GMA Construction Group (GMA). Erica provides executive-level oversight on matters related to contract review and negotiation, insurance and bond review, compliance with government regulations and reporting at the local, state, and federal levels, and human resource management. Erica also leads our corporate administrative efforts in the areas of MBE/WBE, 8A, Veteran-Owned Small Business, and disadvantaged business compliance. Erica provides close counsel to the President to ensure the company is operating ethically and in compliance with all governmental regulations. Erica has over 7 years of industry leading legal experience and a strong educational background.

She earned her B.S. degree in Criminal Justice cum laude at Chicago State University and a J.D. from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School.

Talita Ramos Erickson is currently General Counsel – Americas for Barilla, the world’s largest pasta maker.

From 2013 to 2016 she also served as Barilla’s first Global Chief Diversity Officer and led the fast implementation of an extensive diversity and inclusion program. Before joining Barilla in 2012, she held several in-house counsel positions during her 10-year tenure at Kraft, both in Brazil and the United States.

She received a J.D. from Federal University of Parana State in Brazil, an LL.M. in Business Law from Loyola University of Chicago’s School of Law, and an MBA from University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.