Join us for a reception and award ceremony honoring this year’s recipients of IEL's Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award. The evening will also feature a program addressing diversity and inclusion issues. More information coming soon!

Honoree

Vanessa Allen Sutherland
Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and Communications, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Phillips 66

Vanessa Allen Sutherland, Executive Vice President, Government Affairs and Communications, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Fortune 40 Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX), is a former U.S. Senateconfirmed political appointee with almost 30 years of private and public sector experience. She also manages Global Ethics and Compliance, Public Affairs and Sustainability for Phillips 66. She helps public companies increase their value through culture transformation, strategic discipline, continuous improvement, risk management and talent development. She holds a law degree, Master of Business Administration (IT) and formerly a Certified Information Privacy Professional status.

She serves on the board of Dominion Energy (NYSE: D) and has been a director for Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE: EMN) and Southern Company Gas.

Prior to Phillips 66, she was the Chief Legal Officer at Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) with responsibility for Audit and Compliance, Law, Government Relations, Corporate Secretary, Claims, Insurance Management, Information Governance and Environmental Remediation. Sutherland joined Norfolk Southern as vice president law in June 2018, subsequently was promoted to senior vice
president, chief legal officer in April 2019 and then to senior vice president, government relations and chief legal officer in August 2019.

She served as U.S. Senate-confirmed CEO and chairperson of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board in Washington, D.C. from 2015-2018. She also served as an appointee as chief counsel with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Engaging on issues such as transportation safety of Ebola and crude oil or United Nations
meetings about lithium battery safety, she coordinated with agencies, Congress, trade associations, unions, companies, research labs, tribal nations, first responders, standards developing organizations, communities, and media.

Her prior positions include in-house counsel roles at Philip Morris USA (NYSE: MO) and its affiliate, Altria Client Services and an in-house attorney position at long-distance phone company Intermedia, before MCI WorldCom (now NYSE: VZ) bought subsidiary Digex. At Digex, she rose from counsel to senior counsel to vice president, deputy general counsel, co-leading one of the successful IPOs in then-nascent webhosting, before parent company WorldCom disclosed the then-largest accounting scandal in history.

Sutherland is the recipient of legal and non-legal awards, including 2026 Association of Corporate Counsel- Houston Legal Innovation Award, 2025 The Burton Awards’ Leaders in Law, 2025 ACC’s Best Large Corporate Legal Department, Top 25 General Counsel of 2023, 2021 Most Influential Black Corporate Directors, National Diversity Council’s Power 50 List, Corporate Counsel Magazine – “Best
Of” Law Departments, three U.S. Secretary of Transportation Awards, Virginia Lawyers Weekly "Leaders in the Law" Award, the University of Richmond “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants Award,” Jack and Jill of America – Distinguished Mother of the Year. She loves travel, art, motorcycles, and physics

Registration Options

$75 - Non-Member
$50 - IEL Member
$50 - In-House Practitioner
$25 - Student

Sponsorship Opportunities

Platinum Sponsorship – $4000

Recognition in all marketing
Company/firm logo prominently displayed in the award reception program
Company/firm logo on the event website, with link to company/firm website
Recognition at the reception
Up to 8 guests at the award reception program

Gold Sponsorship - $2500

Recognition in all marketing
Company/firm logo prominently displayed in the award reception program
Company/firm logo on the event website, with link to company/firm website
Recognition at the reception
Up to 5 guests at the award reception program

Silver Sponsorship - $1500

Recognition in all marketing
Company/firm logo prominently displayed in the award reception program
Company/firm logo on the event website, with link to company/firm website
Recognition at the reception
Up to 3 guests at the award reception program

For more information about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Lilly Hogarth.

Other Information

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IEL's Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award Reception

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