PHILADELPHIA – Stradley Ronon is pleased to announce that Gillian G. Facher has been named a recipient of the Philadelphia Business Journal’s Diversity Business Leader awards, which recognizes the region’s most influential leaders based on professional accomplishments, community involvement and philanthropy. In a special feature for the Philadelphia Business Journal, Facher tells readers how she's helping to shape a more inclusive and equitable future.

Facher became executive director of Stradley Ronon in January 1991. At that time, she was one of only a dozen women across the country holding the top administrative position in a law firm, and she was the only one who was openly gay.

“It is an extraordinary statement about the heart and the culture of Stradley that they took what, at the time, was a significant risk in elevating me to the position of executive director,” said Facher. “It is the reason why I have stayed at Stradley for almost four decades and why I feel a powerful motivation to pay it forward for those coming up after me.”

Over the 30 years that Facher has been Stradley’s executive director, she has been a champion and promoter of women and diverse attorneys and business professionals with the robust support of her firm. She has been a mentor and coach to dozens of attorneys, either through regular one-on-one meetings or through her leadership of formal programs focused on leadership, business development and the professional development of diverse and non-diverse lawyers. In addition to these responsibilities, Facher focuses her time on matters relating to practice group management, regional office expansion and lateral acquisitions and integration. She is also responsible for oversight of most of the firm’s business operations, including human resources, recruiting and professional development, marketing, operations, information systems, library and research services, and regional office operations. The heads of these operational divisions report to her, and she reports directly to the Management Committee and to the Board of Directors.

Outside the firm, Facher is passionate about helping to end hunger in the Greater Philadelphia region. She is a volunteer at the Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance (MANNA) and plans to make combatting food insecurity the focus of her next career. She is a founding member of the Philadelphia PENCIL Partnership, which pairs business executives with Philadelphia high school principals in long-term coaching relationships. She was on the board of the Philadelphia Academies for over 15 years, working with a diverse student population to connect them to careers and college through the Philadelphia business community.

Facher is a member of Stradley Ronon’s Management Committee, Board of Directors, Diversity Committee and Technology Committee. She is an active member of the Association of Legal Administrators and the ALA’s Law Firm Administrators' Section. She earned her A.B. from Bryn Mawr College.

About Stradley Ronon
Counseling clients since 1926, Stradley Ronon has helped private and public companies – from small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations – achieve their goals by providing pragmatic, value-driven legal counsel. With offices in seven strategic locations, our responsive team of more than 200 attorneys seamlessly addresses the full spectrum of our clients’ needs, ranging from sophisticated corporate transactions to complex commercial litigation.