Gina M. Durham
Gina Durham’s life has been a testament to professional and personal achievement – all with an unwavering commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. Gina currently is the Principal Consultant at Game and Beyond Incorporated, where she advises nonprofits, foundations, start-ups, and other businesses on entity formation, contract matters, governance, grant making practices, compliance, risk assessments, internal audits, policy development and other transactional matters. She also currently serves as an Advance Associate for the Office of the Vice President of the United States, where she focuses on planning, organizing and executing domestic and international community engagement components for major political, official and community events for Vice President Kamala Harris. She previously served as Deputy General Counsel and Director of Compliance at The California Endowment, the largest private health care foundation in California with over $4 billion in assets which has awarded more than 22,000 grants to community-based organizations throughout the state.
Gina’s legal career began many years before she frequented the halls of The White House. While a single mother working full-time as a paralegal at one of LA’s largest law firms, Gina put herself through law school and graduated with honors. Following law school, she worked her way up to a Senior Transactional Attorney in the Corporate Finance/Capital Markets practice group at O’Melveny & Myers before pursuing other entrepreneurial and philanthropic endeavors.
During her time at O’Melveny & Myers, Gina founded and chaired the firm’s first African American Professionals affinity group, transforming it into an inclusive organization that educates all members of the firm on aspects of cultural diversity. She also served on the executive board of African American Attorneys in Downtown Firms (AAADF) whose sole mission was to recruit and support African American attorneys in the Los Angeles law firm community. Further, while at The California Endowment, Gina served as a founding member of the Advancing Racial Equity (ARE) Leadership Council which brought awareness and trainings on dismantling systemic racism and anti-Black practices, systems and policies at the foundation.
In addition, Gina has been an active member of the boards of directors of the Langston Bar Association and Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, Inc. She continues to be an active volunteer and member of PEAK Grantmaking, SoCal Grantmakers, Corporate Counsel Women of Color, Association of Corporate Counsel, Empowerment Congress, Alliance for Justice, and Equal Justice Initiative. She also has worked as a pro bono adoption attorney for The Alliance for Children’s Rights.
As important as Gina’s law practice is to her, her real passion lies with advocating for marginalized communities and fighting for policy and systems change. After observing and studying the plight of young African American men, in 2004 she single- handedly created a nonprofit organization to empower at-risk and underperforming African American boys to succeed by providing them with positive role models, a foundation that promotes academic excellence, and a lesson plan for future success. Gina has brought together community leaders, volunteers and corporate sponsors with her own special brand of persuasion and determination. Additionally, Gina has developed programs which include counseling to high school students at Gardena High School, a partnership with the County of Los Angeles Probation Department to provide mentoring and lifestyle skills workshops to detainees at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, and a partnership with Para Los Ninos to provide career counseling to high school students in foster care.
As if all of this were not enough, Gina understands that professional and community involvement alone cannot be effective without engagement with the political process. In addition to her tireless work with The White House, she regularly participates in get-out-the-vote programs and serves as an election monitor for the National Bar Association’s efforts in California and neighboring states.