In our third Cafecito Podcast episode, we speak about living one’s life fully; being vigilant about one’s health despite our busy work, school, and life schedules; navigating racism, sexism, and homophobia; prioritizing family, culture, and humanity; and transitioning careers with Professional Coach and Leadership Development Trainer, Bendita Cynthia Malakia, Esq. If you are a lawyer or a trailblazer with high potential (or you strive to be), you should absolutely listen to Bendita. She shares lots of great nuggets of wisdom!
Background Music: “Struggle” by Joel Masacote & Ritmo Masacote. Song composed and arranged by Joel Masacote. Produced by Masacote Entertainment.
BIO:
Bendita Cynthia Malakia, Esq.
Professional Coach | Leadership Development Trainer
Malakia Movement LLC
Institute of Excellence, Cultivate Culture LLC
Bendita Cynthia Malakia is a dynamic and highly sought after professional coach, trainer and diversity consultant with the Malakia Movement LLC. Bendita also has undertaken a joint venture to launch the Institute of Excellence, whose vision is to cultivate leaders that change cultures through Leadership Development Training, Change Management Consulting and Coaching for Results. She empowers aspiring executives, executives and diverse professions to achieve their personal and professional goals and provides leadership development training to organizations. Bendita provides the individual and organizational keys to unlock the potential of each professional.
Bendita has a over a decade of professional coaching and diversity training experience, having coached and trained countless attorneys from newly barred and midlevel attorneys to partners and general counsel, and myriad other professionals. She has trained lawyers in the legal departments of Fortune 500 companies, national for-profit and non-profit organizations, AmLaw 100 law firms and mid-size law firms. Bendita considers having mentored nearly 100 women throughout her career to be one of her greatest achievements to date.
Bendita’s clients call her coaching “dynamic and authentic” (senior associate at a top 10 law firm) and “transformative” (deputy general counsel for a $250+ million revenue energy company), providing a “shift that is truly life changing” (managing partner of an AmLaw 200 law firm). 94% of Bendita’s organizational clients are extremely satisfied with her services, and 100% of her clients are satisfied and agree that her services are “well worth” the investment.
Prior to founding the Malakia Movement LLC, Bendita spent many years practicing international project finance law at Norton Rose Fulbright (formerly Fulbright & Jaworski LLP). Bendita also served as Counsel at International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group) and Vice President & Assistant General Counsel at Goldman Sachs. Bendita has received accolades for her legal acumen, including being named a 2015 Rising Star by Super Lawyers, to Who’s Who Legal – Project Finance in Washington, DC for 2015, and to Who’s Who in Black Dallas in 2016. The Chief Diversity Partner of an AmLaw 100 firm has lauded her large law firm and in-house counsel experience as being “instrumental in her ability to fully understand the diversity and inclusion challenges” that legal organizations face.
Bendita currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National LGBT Bar, and previously spent nearly a decade as a member of the Board of Directors of the Harvard Real Estate Academic Initiative. Bendita is a proud graduate of Barnard College and Harvard Law School. She enjoys exotic travel, Tina Turner, wine and loves spending time with her amazing wife Chauntel, an Aetna pharmacist.
Connect with Bendita:
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