Jan Kang Women's General Counsel Network founder and chief legal officer of Alphabet's cybersecurity subsidiary Chronicle, Jan Kang, at an event May 21 celebrating WGCN's 10th anniversary. Photo: Caroline Spiezio/ALM

The Women's General Counsel Network, which connects approximately 800 female lawyers in person and online, celebrated its 10th anniversary Tuesday evening.

More than 200 people, including in-house and outside counsel, gathered at GoPro's San Mateo, California, office—where WGCN advisory council member Eve Saltman leads the legal team—for two hours of networking and reflecting on the group's decade of growth.

Jan Kang, WGCN founder and chief legal officer of Alphabet's cybersecurity subsidiary Chronicle, said the network's concept came to her after another female lawyer lamented over lunch that most GC groups were “an old boys' network.”

“We really needed something focused on women,” Kang said. “The seed was planted.”

And it began to grow, slowly at first, as Kang said she didn't know many women GCs at the time. She started recruiting: inviting a small group of women to dinner, cold calling, approaching women at conferences and reaching out to the network she did have to see if anyone knew interested lawyers.

Over time, Kang's group gained traction. There are now members from other countries and several U.S. states, including a subset in New York co-led by ALM general counsel Dana Rosen. In 2015 Kang appointed an advisory council. Group members in some regions, including New York and Silicon Valley, have in-person meetups.

WGCN's Listserv has seen more than 7,000 emails, with lawyers exchanging job opportunities, advice and outside counsel references. Some women at the event said they'd gotten in-house roles through WGCN connections.

Kang said the network has helped general counsel better inform their career and work decisions because they can get input from hundreds of other lawyers on the Listserv. 

“We make each other look like rock stars,” she said.

The group's size has also allowed members to spark change outside of their legal departments. For the network's 10th anniversary, Kang said WGCN raised more than $180,000 for Legal Momentum, a legal advocacy group for women, surpassing its goal of $125,000.

In January, WGCN member and Turo CLO Michelle Fang drafted a letter pushing for outside counsel to increase diversity and inclusion at their firms. She shared it with the group, and many members edited and signed the letter, which has garnered 240 GC supporters.

“I had no expectations on what WGCN was going to become,” Kang said. “And I look at it now and I'm amazed.”

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