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Kegler Brown Hill + Ritter is proud to announce the recipients of our annual Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Scholarship. This year, we recognize Makenzie Cauchi and Anushri (Anu) Subramaniam for their outstanding academic achievements, leadership, and commitment to fostering diversity within the legal community.

Makenzie, a distinguished student at The Ohio State University (OSU) Law School, has demonstrated exceptional dedication to both her academic and extracurricular pursuits. Graduating Summa Cum Laude from OSU with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science, Makenzie has shown a remarkable commitment to leadership and service. During her undergraduate years, she served as the president of the Ladies of Leadership group, where she developed a program connecting minority women from various professions to network and share their experiences. Under her leadership, the group's membership tripled, creating a vital forum for discussing racial issues on campus.

Makenzie's professional experience includes working as a legal assistant at Tyack Law Firm and serving as a receptionist and office manager assistant at the same firm. In law school, she is actively involved in several organizations, including the Black Law Students Association, Columbus Bar Association, American Bar Association, Women’s Legal Society, Criminal Law Society, and Moot Court. She also serves as a Moritz Admissions Ambassador. Outside of her academic and professional life, Makenzie enjoys playing guitar, golf, attending cycling classes, singing, and watching Grey’s Anatomy.

Anu, currently attending OSU Law School, completed her undergraduate studies at Cornell University, where she graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and minors in Biological Sciences and Communications. Anu's leadership skills were evident during her tenure as Editor-in-Chief of the Cornell Daily Sun newspaper, where she implemented diversity and inclusion programming and co-created a scholarship and mentorship program for underrepresented minorities in journalism.

Anu's professional journey includes roles as a Legal Intern at Cornell Law School and various positions at Gartner, Inc., where she researched talent management insights for HR leaders at Fortune 500 companies. Her roles at Gartner included Research Specialist, Senior Research Specialist, and Principal. In law school, Anu is a member of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Volunteers for Election Watchers, and several bar associations, including the Columbus Bar Association, American Bar Association, and APABA of Central Ohio. Anu's interests include racquet sports, practicing yoga, reading fiction novels, solving word puzzles, and traveling internationally.

Commitment to Diversity

"Diversity, equity, and inclusion is a fundamental tenet of our culture,” said  Robert Dove, Kegler Brown director and DEI Committee co-chair. “By fostering an inclusive environment, we ensure that all voices are heard and valued, leading to better-informed representation of our clients."

The Kegler Brown Diversity Scholarship program, now in its twenty-second year, awards $10,000 scholarships and paid summer clerkship positions, reaffirming the firm's dedication to nurturing diverse legal talent and fostering an inclusive environment.

Kegler Brown maintains an internal Diversity, Equity + Inclusion Committee to formalize and further the firm's commitment to achieving diversity at all levels of the organization. Alongside our long-standing Women’s Collaborative, we are charter members of the Columbus Bar Association’s Managing Partners’ Diversity Initiative. This initiative collaborates with local law firms, law schools, and the CBA to significantly increase the recruitment, hiring, retention, and promotion of diverse attorneys in our firm and others. Additionally, our firm has achieved Mansfield Certification, measuring the structural changes and steps taken over the past year to ensure transparent and accessible paths to leadership for all qualified lawyers, including lateral hiring, client pitch teams, promotions, appointments, and more.

We congratulate Makenzie and Anu on their remarkable achievements and look forward to their continued contributions to the legal community.

Learn more about our Diversity Scholarship program here.