Shaila Lakhani Ohri: A Lawyer, A Leader, A Rising Star
Shaila Lakhani Ohri is the Assistant General Counsel at Exelon, the nation's leading competitive energy provider. As a practicing attorney for almost 25 years, Shaila is not only highly regarded in her field - but she’s also recognized nationally as a ‘Rising Star’ for her dedication to the advancement of women and diverse leaders in the legal profession.
The Fem Word had the amazing opportunity to sit down with Shaila about growing up as an Indian immigrant in West Virginia, life today as a busy attorney and mom, and through the journey realizing “that my identity is the value proposition I bring to work and everything I do.”
Shaila Lakhani Ohri (second from left) with her husband Ravin (left) kids Simran (center), Shreya (second from right), and Risham (right)
By Monika Samtani and Emily Montague
When we look at the full picture of a career like yours, we can’t help but admire the huge amount of determination and drive it must have taken to get to where you are now. Where did you grow up and how did your upbringing influence you as far as your values and goals are concerned?
Shaila: I grew up in the suburbs of Charleston, West Virginia as the oldest of three siblings. Although my family originates from Gujerat, India, my parents (from Kenya and Uganda) and I immigrated to the United States in the 1970s. My parents instilled in us as many of the Indian values, culture, and traditions they as they could, but I was also influenced by the small community of Southeast Asian families and the West Virginian neighbors that became my extended family. My parents strongly believed that actions speak louder than words, and they taught us by example. Family, respect and kindness were shared values across every community, and we understood that every garbage man, truck driver, store clerk and professional were all trying to earn a living and provide for themselves and their families. Hard work, perseverance, resilience and the importance of education was underscored time and again. My father worked several jobs to move us from a trailer to a basement apartment to a single-family home when he opened his own family practice within a few years of coming to the United States. My parents were very empathetic and compassionate, and always helped others in the community. Whether delivering food baskets, making meals for the homeless, or buying toys to donate, they would remind us to be grateful for all that we had and that we had a responsibility to pay it forward. My mother encouraged curiosity and was a lifelong learner with a growth mindset, keeping up with her nursing craft, driving us to all of our sports and activities, and still finding time to paint, decorate cakes, crochet and sew. As a child I knew what my parents expected of me and I didn’t want to disappoint them, but over time I came to understand and embrace these values until they became my own and the foundation for who I am today. My parents are both deceased now, but this legacy carries on in me and I hope it passes down to my children and for generations after.
In 2021 you were recognized as a ‘Rising Star’ by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association for your dedication and work on breaking barriers in your field, and you were also named to the 2022 ‘Rising List’ by the National Association of Women Lawyers. Congratulations!
Tell us about this incredible achievement and what it means to you to “support the advancement and success of women attorneys to achieve more diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession.”
Shaila: Thank you, I am very proud and honored to receive both of these national awards! Last year, I was thrilled to be named as one of 20 recipients of the MCCA Rising Star Award which requires not only achievement and leadership in the profession, but also a deep commitment to DEI, community service and pro bono work. And this year, being named to the NAWL Rising List – I couldn’t be more excited!
Shaila at the Women’s Leadership Network Workshop annual convention for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association with her four co-chairs.
L-R is Shaila, Selena Kim, Kathleen Chen, and Bonnie Lau.
It’s particularly meaningful to me because I see the challenges that I face even now as highly motivated and driven diverse woman attorney - the implicit biases, the microaggressions, the assumptions about family commitments, and the list goes on (the MCCA Bias Interrupters report is very illuminating). I can see all the barriers that women face and its exhausting to feel that you’ve hit the glass ceiling. But the statistics show that in the 25 years I have been practicing law, there has been very little advancement of women or diverse leaders in our profession compared to the number of women or diverse attorneys entering the profession. For many years, I have been involved and taken leadership positions in numerous internal committees and external organizations focused on advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the legal profession. I currently serve as the Chair of the Exelon Legal Department’s DEI Committee through which I participate in programming and/or work collaboratively with other organizations focused on diversity in the law including Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA), Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) and Diversity Lab. These organizations provide support, resources and a community of like-minded professionals seeking ways to whack-a-mole at these DEI barriers to progress and equity.
For over five years, I have also served as a Board member of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of the District of Columbia, and as a co-chair of the Women’s Leadership Network (WLN) of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA). Being a part of WLN leadership is a labor of love that has been fulfilling to me in so many ways because I am so passionate about women’s issues. My fantastic WLN co-chairs and I meet regularly over the course of the year to plan and execute leadership programming aimed at Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women attorneys. We’ve implemented mentoring programs, in-person networking and quick skills programming (Ambassador program), and more recently have worked with the NAPABA board to seek passage of a resolution on reproductive rights. This is in addition to our annual half-day workshop which has covered topics such as grit and growth mindset, negotiation and succeeding in a hybrid work environment, and for 2022 will focus on power and influence! The NAWL Rising List award honored all four of the WLN co-chairs for our efforts to support AAPI women attorneys. I am so grateful for this recognition, but I realize that there is so much work yet to be done.
Serving as counsel to a huge company like Exelon must require you to exercise quite a bit of foresight when it comes to the impact certain corporate decisions might have on local communities and people.
Walk us through a day in the life of an Assistant General Counsel at Exelon.
Shaila: I spend a good part of my day on conference calls, negotiating and reviewing documents, and providing guidance and counseling on legal and risk issues. As the innovation attorney, my primary responsibility is to foster an innovation mindset and support and lead all Exelon companies and start-up businesses on intellectual property, corporate and commercial matters, as well as Exelon Foundation’s climate change venture capital investments and a host of other transactional work. I enjoy using my leadership and communications skills, working with cross-functional teams, and simplifying complicated legal issues so that my clients can understand and determine appropriate business risk. I am blessed to work with wonderful colleagues and internal clients and to spend my days as a trusted advisor where I am constantly challenged, learning new things and can use my creativity and diverse legal skillset to help them accomplish their goals.
How do you, on a personal level, bring your own identity - as a woman, as a proud South Asian voice, as a mom, or as a minority leader - into your work?
Shaila: I have learned over time that I am my best self when I am my authentic self. I’ve been practicing law for almost 25 years, and over time I’ve come to realize that my identity is the value proposition I bring to work and everything I do. The intersectionality of my identity, combined with my life experiences, culture and values, emotional intelligence - these are what make me unique and enable me to offer creative solutions and diverse perspectives in my work.
In the same way, I bring my identity as a full-time working attorney with a demanding job into my home. My children know to signal if they want to come in my home office in case I’m on a video call, and they see me cutting vegetables and preparing dinner while listening to a work conference call, and sometimes struggling to quickly go off mute to answer a question.
In the end I recognize that as a South Asian woman, mother, wife, and leader I can’t have it all at the same time, and I can’t do it all perfectly every time – sometimes something has to give. My instinct is to be hard on myself, so I have to remind myself that I am only human and there is only so much time in the day and so much I have control over. I can’t tell you how often I recite the Serenity Prayer to myself! In the end I hold myself accountable to live my values and put my family first, and I try to live by the rule of no regret. My children also see this struggle and I talk openly with my teenage daughters about the challenges we face as women.
What is the first thing you do/think about when you wake up in the morning?
Shaila: To do lists and logistics! As a full-time (plus!) attorney and a full-time (plus!) Mom, I think about all that I need to accomplish for the day both at work and at home, and where everyone in our family needs to be and when. I could not survive without lists and our family calendar, especially as I’m the one coordinating carpools and such. I usually listen to the NPR flash news briefing while I get ready, and hang out with the kids and help them with breakfast and packing lunch to get them out the door for school. If I’m lucky, I’ll find time before my workday starts for a quick walk or a 30 minute online yoga class, but many days I use that quiet morning time to tackle work that needs my undivided attention, plan for a Girl Scouts or robotics meeting or something else I’ve volunteered for with the kids, or work on a project for one of the DEI organizations I am involved with. There’s always something that needs to get done!
Shaila (center) with her family (L-R) dad Vinodrai B. Lakhani, brother Shilen Lakhani, brother Paresh Lakhani, and mom Ranjan Lakhani
“I have learned over time that I am my best self when I am my authentic self. I’ve been practicing law for almost 25 years, and I’ve come to realize that my identity is the value proposition I bring to work and everything I do.”
Do you feel your perspective as a women leader has helped you to lead innovation in your profession? What advice do you give to women of color who aspire to become change makers like yourself in the legal profession and look to you for inspiration.
Shaila: I do believe that diversity of thought and diversity of perspective is the cornerstone of innovation and is always going to lead to a better outcome. That is why even amongst women attorneys we need diversity so that we can benefit from open dialogue and consider the unique experiences each person brings with them. Over time many of us have helped to build sisterhoods of women attorneys in different places – at work, through women’s lawyer organizations, bar association or affinity bar associations, conferences focused on women of color – to identify and call out the obstacles facing each group and seek creative solutions to address them, and this definitely makes a difference. For example, I now see more formal programs focused on successful re-entry into the job market for women attorneys that have taken a break from working and those programs can include everything from application support, to on-the-job training and skill-building, to mentoring and emotional support. Ultimately my advice is to join the effort - more women need to become involved, and more male allies need to be brought into the fold if things are truly going to change. Share your experiences with your colleagues and trusted friends so that we can learn from one another. Attend women’s leadership and training programs, such as the LCLD Fellowship program and the WLN Workshop, that focus on developing leadership skills that may be less intuitive to women or minorities that will help level the playing field. Join an organization that is working towards change in the profession, and volunteer to help or lead.
We like to finish all of our interviews with the same simple yet profoundly meaningful question: When was the last time you felt truly powerful?
Shaila: I believe we all have power in ways that are big and small, and that it is not something we receive from others but rather something we all possess. For example, I try to do a “good deed” every month – I donate blood, we make sandwiches for the homeless, and some months we donate money to a charity. Exelon regularly organizes pro bono workshops and its impactful to see all of the people and organizations we can help with our legal skills so I prioritize participating when I can. I know that these small actions on my part may have a great impact on the receiving end, and in that way there is power in random acts of kindness or in helping others.
There is also power through influence, such as through the WLN Workshop. For the Workshop every year, my co-chairs and I research topics, develop an outline, secure and prep speakers, and coordinate logistics. On the day of the Workshop, when all of our hard work and planning is executed and all goes well, I feel powerful in being a part of something bigger than me, in building this community of AAPI women attorneys, and in the shared learning and experience – that it will make a difference and advance us in our careers while advancing diversity as a whole.
Ultimately, I think power comes with responsibility and so I try to be purposeful in using my power and influence to inspire and empower others for positive change.
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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the interviewee, and do not necessarily reflect the position of The Fem Word organization. Any content provided by our interviewees are based on their opinions and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything.