Heather Day Difranco Email & Phone Number

Cleveland/Akron, Ohio Area

As Director of Professional Development, I design and implement training for all attorneys at Benesch. I support our Practice Group Leaders with skills training and provide support for our Women's Initiative, Associate Development Committee, and Mentoring Programs.

Currently serving as co-chair of the Enhancing the Member Experience Work Group. As a Director from 2017-2019, provided strategic leadership and exercised fiduciary responsibility for the health and success of NALP. Participated in leadership development training, design thinking exercises, program design and implementation, policy development, and member outreach and communication.Numerous public speaking engagements, including conference and training presentations. Recipient of the NALP Service Excellence Award in 2016 and the NALP President's Award in 2019.Other service includes:- Vice-Chair, Knowledge Management, Lawyer Professional Development Section, 2020-2021- Member, Developing the Professional Lawyer Work Group, 2020-2021- Member, Strategic Planning Task Force, 2019-2020- Member, NALP/ABA Employment Outcomes Reporting Advisory Group, 2019-2020- Director, Board of Directors, April 2017-April 2019- Chair, NALP/ABA Employment Outcomes Reporting Advisory Group, 2018-2019- Chair, ABA Employment Outcomes Task Force, 2016-2017- Chair, ABA Audit Protocol Work Group, 2015-2016- Law School Innovations Work Group, 2014-2015- NALPConnect Work Group Chair, Law Student Professional Development Section, 2012-2013- Bulletin Articles Coordinator, Public Service Section Publications Work Group, 2009-2011- Public Service Section Expanding Federal Job-seeking Resources Work Group, 2009-2010

Cleveland/Akron, Ohio Area

- Provide strategic leadership for department staff in providing individualized career planning services to over 400 full-time and part-time law students and recent graduates- Manage departmental budget, including reconciling and processing expenses and invoices- Develop relationships with alumni and employers in order to generate job postings and leads, participation in formal recruitment programs, and partnerships for programming and student engagement- Implemented various coaching and networking strategies and programs to secure employment opportunities for new graduates; Class of 2018 achieved a record-setting 95.5% total employment rate- Manage all statistical reporting requirements of the Office of Career Strategy & Employment, including all national employment data reporting to NALP and the American Bar Association (ABA)- Served as a school liaison for testing implementation of new ABA mandatory audit on graduate employment data reporting; participated in issue-spotting and creation of interpretations and other guidance materials to aid all ABA-accredited law schools in successfully implementing and adhering to these new requirements - Serve ex officio on various faculty committees including: Academic Standards, Curriculum, Strategic Planning, Budget, and Career Strategy & Employment

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland/Akron, Ohio Area

- Provided individualized career counseling to over 120 law students, addressing issues such as e-professionalism, interview preparation, job search strategy, time management, and professional networking- Presented informational programming to students in both small- and large-group settings- Wrote regular columns for the student newspaper and the alumni magazine to inform and educate as well as to increase student and alumni participation in career events- Managed the social media marketing for the office, including regular postings to and engagement on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn- Created a brand-new communications plan designed to strategize office outreach to students in a more effective manner, provided office staff a visual representation of all programming and marketing efforts- Managed Symplicity CRM database, including troubleshooting issues and providing training on new features. Increased efficiency of office tasks by implementing online counseling appointment scheduling. Leveraged Symplicity to address student requests for more easily accessible information by organizing an online Resource Library, creating a searchable alumni mentor database, and creating enhanced employer profiles.- Coordinated with the Director of the Cox Center for International Law regarding the solicitation of reserved international internship placements for Case Western students; solicited employer participation, advertised opportunities to students, and assisted in the placement of students with these employers. These efforts resulted in approximately 14 student placements each of the summers of 2011, 2012, and 2013, an increase from only 6-7 summer placements prior to 2011.

Cleveland/Akron, Ohio Area

- Project manager and editor for over 45 volumes of analytical treatises and bi-monthly newsletters addressing various areas of Ohio and Oregon law - Coordinated with 29 authors regarding all aspects of their publications, including deadlines, marketing, product development, and royalty payments- Actively engaged in team and company-wide product development initiatives, including coordinating the efforts of the Cleveland office for Practitioner, a company-wide initiative involving creation of new databases and synthesis of existing databases for more user-friendly legal research. The first release of this initiative exceeded its projected revenue by more than 10%.- Provided comprehensive training, including creation of complete training manual on team products and editorial procedures for three new attorney editors

J.D., Law

Activities and Societies: Public Service Fellow, Pro Bono Research Group (served as Director of Project Management during third year).

Training & Development Certificate

Continuing education program that provided core foundational training in adult learning principles, including needs assessment.

B.A., Cum Laude, Political Science

Activities and Societies: Phi Mu, Student Senate, Student Body Secretary, Model United Nations Secretariat, Model United Nations Delegate.