Tashwanda Pinchback Dixon and Irving Jones Complete LCLD Fellows and Pathfinder Programs

Tashwanda Pinchback Dixon, partner in the Atlanta office and a member of the Labor & Employment Practice, and Irving Jones, partner in the Birmingham office and member of the Litigation Practice, completed the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellows and Pathfinders training programs, aimed to advance the next generation of leaders. 

Tashwanda completed the Fellows Program, designed for diverse mid-career attorneys who have demonstrated promise of high-potential in the legal sector. Over the year, this included both in-person and virtual events focused on accountability, design thinking, communication, managing burnout, emotional intelligence, generational differences, managing up and relationship building. 

“The relationships built and resources gained through the LCLD Fellows Program will be valuable as we continue our commitment at Balch to ingrain, support and advance diversity, equity and inclusion,” Tashwanda said.

Irving completed the Pathfinder Program, an initiative designed for diverse, high-potential, early-career attorneys at LCLD Member organizations. The Program’s sessions focused on communications, personal and professional branding, imposter syndrome, goal-setting, well-being, generational differences, managing up and relationship building. 

“It’s difficult to go wrong with a program centered on a collective effort to challenge antiquated social constructs and advance inclusive ideals,” Irving said. “More than helping me become a better lawyer, the LCLD Pathfinder Program was a good reminder of how much I can do to help others in this profession.”

LCLD is a growing organization of more than 400 members, including corporate general counsel and law firm managing partners, who are committed to preparing future generations of diverse talent for the highest positions of leadership. In 2022, LCLD named Balch a Compass Award winner, recognizing the firm’s commitment to building a diverse organization and a more inclusive legal profession.

Tashwanda and Irving are both members of the Firm's DE&I Council.

Tashwanda is a trial lawyer who has successfully resolved a wide variety of labor and employment disputes as well as providing employment counseling and crisis management assistance. Tashwanda represents management in both union and nonunion settings in the litigation of federal and state employment and labor law claims, with a particular focus on workplace occupational safety and health administration (OSHA). Tashwanda also sits on the Firm’s Executive Committee and serves on its DEI Accountability Subcommittee.

Irving focuses on internal investigations for highly regulated industries and litigating products liability, casualty, and medical malpractice matters. He represents corporate and utility clients across the southeast in both federal and state courts. Before practicing law, Irving was a counterintelligence agent for the National Security Agency where he conducted polygraph examinations and investigations. Additionally, he is listed in The Best Lawyers in America®, Ones to Watch; a Mid-South Super Lawyers, Rising Star and was recognized by the a Birmingham Business Journal as a Rising Star of Law.