琼·阿里斯蒂（Joan Aristei）来到Oportun2014年，在担任金融服务中一些最著名的名字的法律团队的领导者之后。188bet上不了阿里斯蒂（Aristei）在摩根大通（JPMorgan Chase）呆了近八年，在花旗银行（Citibank）又有四年，还曾在丰田金融服务公司（Toyota Financial Services）工作。188bet上不了她将她以前的经历描述为使她成为一名全面的公司律师，专门从事法律合规，隐私以及其他复杂的法律和商业努力。

当她到达Oportun时，Aristei找到了一个从初创公司过渡到成就良好且知名的业务的组织。这也适用于法律团队，她解释说：“这是一名准则法律部门，我知道这对我来说是一个很好的机会，可以从自下而上建立一支团队。”阿里斯蒂（Aristei）担任监管法律和合规副总裁，然后在担任公司总法律顾问和首席风险官之前担任监管法律和合规副总裁。

GC笑着说：“我被带进来扩展合规功能，并很快意识到我们没有法律法律，我们没有合规性，而且我们没有风险管理职能。”“我只是愿意做这三个。”

A Different Kind of Diversity Initiative

阿里斯蒂（Aristei）的最初法律团队是公司法中的相对稀有性，更不用说私人执业了。GC说：“碰巧所有领导人都是女性。”“不是那样的设计方式，但我确实认为思想和经验的多样性非常重要。”

As Aristei slowly grew her team, she also realized that cultural diversity was an important factor she needed to address.

“One of the things that helps drive diversity at Oportun is the fact that we originally started out almost exclusively catering to the Latinx community,” the GC explains. “When I started, we had a lot of materials that were only for Spanish-speaking customers. I needed to hire bilingual lawyers immediately, and I’m proud to say that our legal team today is a reflection our broader customer base.”

在国家法律格局中，其声誉仍然可以用两个词来描述 - 白人和男性 - 阿里斯特伊的方法多元化和包容性是新鲜空气的呼吸。她还解释了一个重要方面，法律领导人在雇用新团队成员时并不总是会考虑的，这是律师事务所和内部律师之间存在的不同思维框架。正如总法律顾问所说的那样，“我在一家律师事务所工作了一年，然后才决定容忍对我大喊大叫的高侵略性和吹烟的高级律师的命令，这是没有办法或进一步的我的职业生涯。”

Aristei’s previous experience would serve her well in building the legal team at Oportun. She recruited former colleagues from both JPMorgan Chase as well as CitiBank. And her experience at Toyota Financial, would help her hone in on what type of experience she was looking for in future team members.

“Toyota taught me that you don’t just need to know the financial part of the work; you need to understand the business,” the GC says. “That’s one key I look for in finding good in-house counsel. You have to understand that you are here to be a good business partner and that you need to roll up your sleeves and figure out how you can do what the business needs to get done in a compliant and legal way. My team are willing partners who help the business achieve their objectives.”

Recruitment, Retention, and Creating the Right Environment to Thrive

阿里斯蒂（Aristei）认为，直接意图是创建多元化团队时真正取得进步的唯一途径。

“It’s not just about consciously recruiting people from different backgrounds,” Aristei explains. “You also need to make sure that you have created an environment where they can thrive and develop.”

这意味着协助候选人向新组织的过渡，以确保他们有一种表达声音的手段，并确保他们的职业发展机会。

在任职期间，阿里斯蒂（Aristei）确保团队成员参加网络活动，参加研讨会，并从包括自己在内的更多高级律师那里获得教练。GC说：“从我们的小法律部门创建这种文化要容易得多。”即便如此，法律团队无疑为多样性和职业发展方面的更广泛的业务努力提供了基础。

尽管Oportun继续自己的演变，但Aristei表示，大流行使整个企业界如此众多的工作母亲和照顾者的问题阐明了一份问题。

“For the primary caregivers of families, this was an especially difficult time being at home, when the work simply never stopped,” the GC says. “I had to become very strict with my team about drawing boundaries for themselves and sticking to them. The pandemic was a very difficult time, and we all could have worked 24/7, but you have to learn to take the time you need for you. Those boundaries may shift over different periods of your life, but you have to learn to draw them.”

Developing Leaders

琼·阿里斯蒂（Joan Aristei）believes that “it is not enough to build a diverse corporate legal team. The real challenge lies in training and developing them to be leaders.

“从律师事务所到内部的过渡可能是艰难的。您必须奠定坚实的基础，以便他们的法律方法更具创造力，并了解我们所有人都有一个目标 - 为业务服务。

“There’s a clear leadership path that you have to lay for members of your team, and it starts with a creative legal approach to making young lawyers understand that you are an in-house counsel and accountable to a business. Many lawyers think of their career in terms of hierarchy, and you have to teach them that working in-house is a meritocracy.”