Gibbons Chief Diversity Officer Recognized With 2023 Black Leadership Award

Gibbons congratulates Robert L. Johnson, the firm’s Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) and a Director in its Corporate Group, for being selected by Profiles in Diversity Journal (PDJ) as one of its Black Leadership Award winners for 2023! Mr. Johnson is one of 45 recipients for the 2023 honor, which acknowledges individuals in the fields of law, business, technology, sports, and more who are making great strides in diversity.

“The excellent leaders featured in PDJ’s 2023 fourth-quarter issue are leaders and teachers with a passion for guiding, mentoring, and advocating for their professions, communities, and the next generation of professionals,” said PDJ publisher James Rector. “We are proud to honor them and to recognize the organizations that support their success.”

As Gibbons’s CDO, Mr. Johnson leads the Gibbons Diversity Initiative (GDI), developing and supporting various platforms to promote and achieve a broadly inclusive workforce and workplace through ethnic, gender, and other forms of diversity. Admired for his dedication to diversity at Gibbons and beyond, he has strengthened GDI’s effectiveness, reach, and impact on the legal and business communities by directing strategies that have enhanced the program’s internal components – training, mentoring, retention, and innovative programming – and its external components – industrywide thought leadership, engagement with like-minded business associations, community outreach, and supplier diversity.

Mr. Johnson also created the firm’s Clerkship to Associate Pipeline Program, which has helped numerous first-generation and other historically underrepresented law students to develop skills to succeed in the legal profession and prepare for clerkships and associate positions. Additionally, he has developed firm initiatives that assist women and minority small-business owners throughout New Jersey in launching, sustaining, and advancing their enterprises. Among these initiatives are “Small Businesses Need Us,” in partnership with the Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership, and the AACCNJ Pro Bono Alliance, in partnership with the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

Mr. Johnson was previously selected for two of ROI-NJ’s “Influencers” power lists related to diversity and inclusion, as well as PDJ’s “Black Leaders Worth Watching” list.

“It is always gratifying to be recognized for one’s accomplishments. In this case, it is especially so, given the critical role diversity plays in bringing different and valuable perspectives to the table that benefit both businesses and individuals,” said Mr. Johnson.