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As Black History Month concludes, we've reflected on the many ways our team chose to engage, serve, and learn throughout February. While the month offers an opportunity to recognize the enduring contributions of Black Americans to our country's history and legal system, it also invites something deeper — sustained learning, meaningful service, and renewed commitment.
At Fennemore, that commitment does not begin or end with a single month. It shows up in the ways our colleagues serve their communities, pursue education, mentor future leaders, and engage in thoughtful dialogue about justice and belonging.
Across the firm, those actions took many forms.
For Stacy Porchè, an Associate in Business Litigationin our Phoenix office, Black History Month is rooted in service and community leadership:
"I celebrate Black History Month by serving others. Each month, I volunteer with the Arizona Black Bar Pro Bono Clinic, providing legal support to those who need it most. I'm also proud to help lead Girl Scouts Troop 1141, one of Arizona's largest Black Girl Scouts Troops, empowering young girls to reach their full potential. As a proud graduate of Southern University Law Center, a Historically Black College/University (HBCU), I've been instilled with a passion for service and community upliftment. I'm committed to modeling black excellence through hard work and perseverance in and outside my community."
For Jerry Grossman, Of Counsel in Financial Restructuring in San Diego, the month was an opportunity for continued learning and awareness:
"Our book club read and discussed Passing, by Nella Larsen, which prompted me to re-read Langston Hughes' short story of the same name in his anthology, The Ways of White Folks. I also made a special donation to HandsOn San Diego, a local nonprofit that supports and coordinates volunteer action. I completed a CLE course on eliminating bias. I follow Black history posts on social media. I try to stay mindful."
For David McCarville, Fennemore Forward Director, Business & Finance, the month offers a space for recommitment and deeper understanding:
"When I began chairing our D&I Service and Outreach working group in 2020, it was in the wake of George Floyd's murder, a moment that felt both urgent and deeply familiar. As a student in Los Angeles in 1992, I witnessed the videotaped beating of Rodney King, the acquittal of the officers involved, and the devastating unrest that followed, an experience that underscored how unresolved injustice can fracture communities and leave lasting scars. Black History Month is a time for me to reflect on those experiences, deepen my understanding, this year by reading Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me, and recommit, through our D&I and outreach efforts, to meaningful dialogue, community partnership, and the steady pursuit of equal justice."
We are grateful to the colleagues who shared their perspectives and to the many others across the firm who continue to serve, to learn, and to lead in ways both visible and quiet.
Service, reflection, and the pursuit of justice are not seasonal commitments. They are enduring ones.
More information about Fennemore's commitment to Belonging and Inclusion is available here.
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