The Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities has honored McGuireWoods partner Jacquelyn E. Stone with its 2020 Richmond Humanitarian Award for her decades-long commitment to the community. Stone was one of five honorees recognized at the Oct. 26 virtual Humanitarian Awards Dinner.
A Harvard Law School graduate, Stone was the first African-American woman to be named partner at a major law firm in Virginia. She created and chaired McGuireWoods’ Diversity & Inclusion Committee, is a former member of the firm’s Board of Partners and served as firmwide hiring partner for more than 20 years.
Stone has served on numerous state and local boards and commissions, including the Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, Venture Richmond, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Science Museum of Virginia Board of Trustees and the Richmond Forum. As co-founder of Partnership for the Future, she helped establish a college preparation and workforce development program for Richmond-area high school students. Nationally, she sits on the board of Just the Beginning – A Pipeline Organization, encouraging minority and low-income students to pursue legal careers.
“I am thankful to work with such distinguished professionals across industries who devote themselves to enriching our community for the betterment of future generations,” said Stone, who practices in the firm’s Richmond office.
Stone has more than 25 years of experience advising clients on government relations, including legislative matters before the Virginia General Assembly. A member of McGuireWoods’ Securities & Capital Markets Department, she also represents clients in regulatory, immigration and worksite enforcement matters.
Stone was honored among Virginia Lawyers Weekly ’s Influential Women of Law in 2020, and selected for the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s “Person of the Year” program in 2019. In 2018, she became one of only six women to receive the prestigious National Women in Law Award for Lifetime Achievement by Corporate Counsel and InsideCounsel, both leading American Lawyer Media publications.