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Interviews

Wendy Shiba

(b. 1950) Corporate attorney, executive, and advocate promoting allyship and DEI
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Being a Woman of Color in the Corporate Executive World

At the time, I joined Bowater in 1993, so that was quite a while ago. I mentioned that it was my former mentor when I was a paralegal who referred me for that position. He hired me in 1973 as a paralegal, and 20 years later in 1993, he referred me to his client for this position.

But at the time, it was not obvious. I was told later that the other prime contender for this position was a white male who’d been a partner in a major New York law firm. I was a woman of color, I wasn’t even working in the law, I was a professor at the time. So it seemed really sort of against all odds that I was hired for that position.

And then I think people sort of wondered who I was and what I was doing there. Even back in the law firm, and certainly in my corporate life, sometimes people would think that I was there because I was somebody’s administrative assistant. When I traveled to Asia, people thought that perhaps I was the interpreter or the guide for the corporate executives who were there. And people didn’t expect that I was actually one of the executives.

attorneys business corporations economics executives management stereotypes

Date: Jul 3, 2025

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Kaori Nemoto

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum; Japanese American Bar Association

Interviewee Bio

Born in 1950 to Nisei parents, Wendy Shiba grew up in the all-White suburb of Westlake, Ohio. Despite the lack of representation, Shiba pursued higher education as a first generation and first woman in her family to do so. After graduating Temple Law School at the top of her class, Shiba went on to work in several prestigious positions, including as a law clerk to California Supreme Court Associate Justice Stanley Mosk, a law professor, a Big Law corporate attorney, and a C-suite executive for a Fortune 500 company.

Through her professional experiences, Shiba developed a passion for promoting allyship, DEI, and mentorship within the workplace and in the community. She served as NAPABA president from 2012 through 2013 and was a board member for the Japanese American National Museum since 2009.

Shiba today advocates for marginalized communities as chair for the ABA’s Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She hopes young people will consider how to embody allyship for communities that are especially at risk for discrimination and face constant threats to their civil liberties today. (September 2025)

 

*This interview was conducted as part of the Japanese American Bar Association (JABA) Legacy Project by the Nikkei Community Internship (NCI) Program intern co-hosted by JABA and the Japanese American National Museum each summer.

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