OREANDA-NEWS. May 15, 2012. Susan Blount, senior vice president and general counsel at Prudential Financial, Inc. [NYSE:PRU], has been named one of the “21 Leaders for the 21st Century” by Women’s eNews for her pioneering work to increase diversity and inclusion in the law profession.

At an awards dinner at the Jumeirah Essex House in New York City, Blount, head of the Law, Compliance, Business Ethics and External Affairs Department at Prudential, was recognized as one of “Seven Who Leverage Power” by being a “Persuader for Diversity” in co-founding the Inclusion Initiative and for her long-standing commitment to diversity.

The Inclusion Initiative was launched in 2010 in response to a study commissioned by DuPont that found a significant decrease since the late 1980s in the number of successful minority- owned law firms serving corporate America. In its initial year of operation, the Inclusion Initiative set a goal of spending at least USD 30 million on legal services provided by outside law firms owned by minorities and women (MWBE). That goal was exceeded by USD 10 million. Since then, membership in the Initiative has grown from 11 to 25 corporations and as of yearend 2011 has resulted in a total spend of more than USD 140 million with MWBE law firms. The Inclusion Initiative recently announced a goal of USD 130 million for 2012.

“Talent comes in every color, gender, origin, religion, sexual orientation, economic background and physical capability. Prudential actively seeks out employees, vendors, and business associates from a deep and diverse pool of accomplished professionals eager to build on Prudential's respected name in the financial services industry,” said Blount. “This, together with our work with minority- and women-owned law firms through the Inclusion Initiative, gives us the power to change people’s lives and to make a permanent difference in the law profession.”

In addition, she said, “We expect the law firms we work with to share our commitment to diversity and to build and maintain diversity within their businesses. In most cases, large law firms seeking new business from Prudential are expected to employ a diverse mix of attorneys that includes men, women, ethnic minorities, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and persons with disabilities.”

Under Blount’s leadership, Prudential has helped build a diverse pipeline of lawyers and compliance professionals by hiring first-year law students from diverse backgrounds as summer interns and giving them mentors, training and work experience in various legal and compliance specialties. The company works with the Minority Student Program at Rutgers University School of Law, the Bar Association of the City of New York and several diverse state and national bar associations to identify students for the company’s intern program. When the 2008 economic downturn reduced the number of jobs available for new law school graduates, Blount launched the Prudential Law Fellows Program to provide 18-month fellowships to recent law school graduates from diverse backgrounds. Since then, the company has provided Fellowships to five recent law school grads.

Blount is also a founding board member of the Center for Women in the Law at the University of Texas Law School, where she received her law degree. The center is devoted to improving the success of the entire spectrum of women in law, from first-year law students to the most experienced and accomplished attorneys.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader with approximately USD 943 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2012, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential’s diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century.