Since 2016, employment attorney Chantelle Egan of Seyfarth Shaw has provided her expertise to nonprofit audiences by leading free trainings on preventing harassment and discrimination in the workplace.

Chantelle has helped over 150 individuals representing nearly 30 local nonprofits not only achieve compliance with California law, but also be better educated and prepared to investigate and respond to such complaints. For her outstanding and important efforts, the Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) recognizes Chantelle as our Volunteer of the Month.

With a background in education before entering law, Chantelle excels at getting the audience involved in trainings. “Years as a teacher help me to meet people where they’re at. Regardless of where someone’s coming from or what company they work for, you listen first and work to meet their needs from there.” And with workplace harassment increasingly in the headlines, audiences are more engaged than ever. “People are becoming more reflective about the things they say and do and how it’s perceived by others,” Chantelle says, adding, “that’s the power of a live training: making sure things are seen from all points of view … simply being in a room together and sharing experiences is a great educational benefit for all attendees.”

Chantelle describes her work with JDC’s Community Organization Representation Project (CORP) as personally rewarding. ““Sitting in a room with a group of people who have devoted their time and energy to serving the Bay Area, I feel like I get more out of the trainings than the audience.” She also notes that the nonprofit audience is always “incredibly entertaining … engaged, involved, and they ask good questions. They really make the experience fly by.”

Besides a 7-year stint spent living on the East Coast after college, Chantelle is a Bay Area native. In addition to having all of her family nearby, Chantelle loves living here because mountains, beaches, and cities can all be reached within a short car ride. Chantelle spends much of her free time pretending, singing and dancing with her 4- and 7-year-old daughters—4th generation San Franciscans.

If you’d like to engage your firm or in-house department in transactional pro bono work, please contact CORP Supervising Attorney Jay Lee at jlee@sfbar.org