In this special Board Co-Chair interview feature, TCDIP invites readers to hear directly from three leaders helping guide the organization through an important moment for the legal profession: outgoing Co-Chair Brian Dillon, current Co-Chair Chris Pham, and incoming Co-Chair Maggie Dalton. Together, their reflections offer insight into TCDIP’s continued commitment to connection, opportunity, and collective responsibility, especially as organizations navigate uncertainty and renewed scrutiny around inclusion and equity work. We encourage you to read the full post to learn more about their perspectives on leadership, the importance of sustained engagement, and the role TCDIP continues to play in strengthening a more connected and inclusive legal community.
Brian Dillon
Lathrop GPM
Served as Co-Chair 2024 – 2026
Looking back, what do you see as TCDIP’s most meaningful impact during your time as Co-Chair particularly in helping attorneys and organizations stay engaged during a period of heightened scrutiny around this work?
TCDIP and its members have shown up for each other, demonstrating great resilience and commitment in the face of heightened scrutiny around our work. We did that in large part by creating space for each other to collectively process the injustices of the day, by focusing on those things that unite us and have allowed this organization to grow and thrive for 20 years, and by reminding ourselves of all the things we can and will continue to do to foster the diversity and inclusiveness in the legal profession.
There are real risks for organizations that step back from inclusion and equity work. How did that reality shape the kinds of conversations or decisions the Board had to lean into under your leadership?
TCDIP’s members are a diverse mix of law firms and corporate legal departments, and our Board reflects the diversity within our membership. Although our Board members come at this work with different perspectives and life experiences, we are fortunate that each Board member approaches their work with a high degree of respect and understanding for the perspectives of other members.
What responsibility do you believe TCDIP’s leaders carry, not just to the organization, but to the broader legal ecosystem in Minnesota when trust in institutions is being tested?
Strong leaders standing up for what is right and causing the institutions they have been entrusted to lead to do the same, is more important now than ever.
Chris Pham
Fredrikson & Byron
Serving as Co-Chair 2025 – Present
As you continue in this role, what feels most urgent or most promising about TCDIP’s work right now, given the challenges and opportunities the profession is facing?
What feels most urgent right now is maintaining connection and momentum during a time when many organizations are navigating uncertainty, competing priorities, and external pressure. In moments like this, it can be easy to become reactive or retreat inward. But the need for community, opportunity, and meaningful professional relationships has not gone away.
What feels most promising is that TCDIP’s foundation has never depended on trends or headlines. It has always been built on people, trust, and a shared commitment to strengthening the legal profession. We have members and partners who understand that when we invest in one another, we all benefit. That gives me a great deal of confidence about where we are headed.
TCDIP emphasizes that stepping away from this work carries its own risks. How do you plan to talk with members and partners about why continued engagement matters now more than ever?
I plan to talk about it in clear and practical terms. When organizations step back from efforts centered on connection, opportunity, and belonging, they risk losing talent, limiting perspectives, weakening culture, and eroding trust. Those are not abstract concerns. They directly impact long-term success.
I also think it is important to remember that this work is, at its core, about leadership and relationships. It is about opening doors, building networks, and ensuring talented people have the support to grow and contribute at a high level. Those priorities remain important in every environment, especially now.
Looking ahead, how do you hope TCDIP will help attorneys feel more connected, supported, and invested in one another’s success across the legal community?
I hope TCDIP continues to be a place where connection turns into opportunity. Many careers are shaped not only by talent and hard work, but also by mentorship, sponsorship, encouragement, and access to community. TCDIP has long played an important role in creating those pathways.
Looking ahead, I would like to see us continue building meaningful opportunities for attorneys across firms, organizations, and career stages to learn from one another and champion one another’s success. When people feel connected and supported, they are more likely to stay engaged, grow into leadership, and help others do the same. That is how lasting progress happens.
As someone whose own career has benefited greatly from mentors, sponsors, and community, I understand firsthand how meaningful those connections can be.
Maggie Dalton
Cargill Inc
Serving as Co-Chair 2026 – Present
As you step into this role what feels most urgent or most promising about TCDIP’s work right now, given the challenges and opportunities the profession is facing?
As I step into this role, what feels most urgent—and also most promising—is that we are operating in a moment where both the need for TCDIP’s work and the scrutiny around it have intensified.
On the urgency side, the profession is facing real headwinds. Many organizations are reassessing how they talk about and invest in diversity and inclusion, and in some cases pulling back. At the same time, the underlying challenges that TCDIP was created to address—access to the profession, retention, advancement, and a genuine sense of belonging—have not gone away. If anything, they have become more complex. That creates an urgency for TCDIP to be clear about its value, focused in its strategy, and confident in its role as a convener and catalyst for this work.
At the same time, what feels most promising is that TCDIP is uniquely well positioned to meet this moment. The strength of this organization has always been its model—a coalition of corporate legal departments, law firms, and community partners working together in a sustained way. That kind of collective infrastructure is rare, and it matters even more now. When individual organizations are navigating uncertainty, there is real power in having a shared space to align, learn from one another, and continue moving the work forward.
I also see promise in the fact that TCDIP’s work is fundamentally practical and relationship-driven. Programs like the 1L clerkship, mentorship opportunities, and community-building events are not abstract—they create real access points into the profession and real networks that shape careers. In a moment where broad statements can feel contested, that tangible, people-centered impact is both credible and necessary.
For me, the opportunity is to lean into that strength while continuing to evolve. That means being more explicit about outcomes, continuing to expand access, and ensuring we are supporting not just entry into the profession, but long-term success within it.
So I would describe this moment as one that requires both steadiness and ambition: steady in our commitment to the mission, and ambitious in how we continue to build, adapt, and lead as the profession changes.
TCDIP emphasizes that stepping away from this work carries its own risks. How do you plan to talk with members and partners about why continued engagement matters now more than ever?
For me, the starting point in those conversations is being very clear that stepping away from this work does not change the underlying realities—it just reduces our ability to address them.
The legal profession continues to face significant gaps in representation and advancement across multiple dimensions of diversity. Those gaps don’t close on their own, and they don’t close through intention alone. They require sustained, collective effort. So when I talk with members and partners, I try to frame continued engagement not as a “nice to have,” but as a core part of building a strong and relevant legal organization.
I also think it’s important to make the case in practical terms. TCDIP’s work is not theoretical—it is about talent, leadership, and long-term competitiveness. When we invest in expanding access, building community, and supporting retention, we are directly strengthening the pipeline of attorneys and leaders in our organizations. Programs like the 1L clerkship, mentorship opportunities, and community-building initiatives create real relationships and real pathways into the profession. Walking away from that work means walking away from a structured way to attract, develop, and retain talent.
At the same time, I think it’s important to acknowledge that this is a complex environment, and organizations are navigating it in different ways. My goal would not be to minimize that, but to meet it with clarity and confidence. TCDIP provides a space where organizations can continue to engage in a way that is collaborative, practical, and grounded in shared values. That collective approach reduces risk for any one organization and reinforces that this is work the profession needs to do together.
Finally, I would emphasize the broader point about responsibility. The strength of the legal profession depends on its ability to reflect and serve the communities around it, and to ensure that people feel they belong and can succeed within it. TCDIP exists to help make that real—to create opportunity, build community, and strengthen the profession over time. Continued engagement is how we deliver on that responsibility.
So for me, the message is both practical and principled: staying engaged matters because it drives better outcomes for our organizations, and because it is part of our responsibility as leaders in the profession to help shape a more inclusive and sustainable future.
Looking ahead, how do you hope TCDIP will help attorneys feel more connected, supported, and invest in one another’s success across the legal community?
Looking ahead, I hope TCDIP continues to deepen its role as a connector—but in a very intentional, sustained way that moves beyond one-time interactions to real, lasting relationships.
One of TCDIP’s greatest strengths is its ability to bring people together across firms, companies, and career stages. The opportunity now is to build on that foundation so that connection becomes continuity—where attorneys are not just meeting each other, but actively supporting each other over time.
That starts with continuing to invest in programs that create accessible, low-barrier ways for people to engage. The 1L clerkship program, mentorship coffees, and small-group gatherings are powerful because they make it easy for attorneys to show up, connect, and build relationships in an authentic way. I would like to see us continue to expand those kinds of opportunities, particularly in ways that connect people across organizations and levels of seniority.
At the same time, I think there is an opportunity to be more intentional about fostering a culture of shared investment. TCDIP works best when participants see themselves not just as beneficiaries of the network, but as contributors to it. That means encouraging attorneys to take an active role—whether that’s mentoring, making introductions, sponsoring emerging talent, or simply being willing to engage in honest conversations about their experiences and challenges.
I also think connection and support are closely tied to visibility. The more we can create opportunities for attorneys—especially those from underrepresented backgrounds—to be seen, heard, and connected to meaningful work and leadership pathways, the stronger the overall community becomes. That kind of visibility reinforces a sense of belonging and creates tangible pathways for advancement.
Finally, I would hope that TCDIP continues to be a place where people feel a genuine sense of shared purpose. The legal profession can be siloed, and it can be competitive. TCDIP provides a counterpoint to that—a space where people are aligned around the idea that investing in each other ultimately strengthens the entire profession.
If we can continue to build that kind of community—one that is connected, supportive, and mutually invested—I think TCDIP will not only help individual attorneys succeed, but will also shape a more cohesive and inclusive legal ecosystem across the Twin Cities.