Paola Cecchi-Dimegli
Chair of the Executive Leadership Research Initiative for Women and Minority Attorneys

Paola Cecchi-Dimegli
Dr. Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio is the Chair of the Executive Leadership Research Initiative for Women and Minority Attorneys (ELRIWMA) at the Center for the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School.

Dr. Cecchi-Dimeglio is also a Senior Research Fellow at Harvard Law School and at Harvard Kennedy School in the Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP). 

A behavioral scientist and lawyer, Dr. Cecchi-Dimeglio is one of Harvard Law’s rising stars studying issues related to diversity and gender in organizational behavior with the goal of promoting broad-based inclusion of women and minorities in the legal profession and in large organizations.

Dr. Cecchi-Dimeglio’s research relies heavily on big data and field experiments in organizations. She uses behavioral economics, behavioral science, big data and AI to design effective inclusive nudges that can be applied in organizations to increase diverse talent at all levels.  She does research across business and legal sectors studying how to attract, retain, and promote diverse talent and leaders more effectively by designing and implementing inclusive “nudges” at critical decision points. Dr. Cecchi-Dimeglio is working with clients including firms in the AML 50, AML 100, Magic Circle law firms, and Fortune 500.

Dr. Cecchi-Dimeglio chairs the committee on Law and Gender for the UN Global Compact, PRME initiative (WGGE). She is a member of the Advisory Council of the American Bar Association, advising to the current President of the American Bar Association and formerly co-chair of the American Bar Association International Committee on the Future of ADR. She was nominated as Expert-Coordinator for several projects on ADR, lawyers, and gender that were funded by the EU and the UN.

She is an award-winning author and has published several books and articles on data analytics and behavioral science, leadership, the legal profession, gender and diversity, Her research is featured on Business Insider, Harvard Business Review (HBR), and The American Lawyer; on legal websites including Bloomberg Law and Thomson Reuters Legal; and cited in leading newspapers including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Bangkok Post.

She earned a J.D, LL.M., a Magistére-DJCE degree in Common and Civil Law, a Ph.D. in Social Sciences (Summa Cum Laude) while studying at universities in France, Belgium, and the U.S. and held a postdoctoral appointment at Harvard Law School and Harvard Kennedy School.