DIVERSITY,
PRO BONO, & VOLUNTEER WORK

John Ratnaswamy seeks to “give back” through "DEI" (diversity, equity, and inclusion), pro bono, and other volunteer work.

 

​Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

 

• John gave presentations on DEI in Michigan and Illinois in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

• John has volunteered for almost 20 years in Chicago middle schools as a member of the Lawyers in the Classroom program of the Chicago Bar Association (formerly of the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago).

• He served as a member of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Commission on Youth at Risk from August 2015 to August 2018.

• John served as a member of the ABA’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession from August 2009 to August 2012.

• He served from February 2014 to February 2019 as a member of the volunteer Alumni Board of the United States Space and Rocket Center.  The Board’s main activity is to raise funds for scholarships for low income children to attend Space Camp.

• John served as a leader of diversity efforts in his two prior law firms, including serving as the Chair of the Asian Pacific American Affinity Group during his tenure at Foley & Lardner LLP.

• He is a former member of the board of the Chicago Committee (previously known as the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms), the board of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Chicago Area, and the advisory board of South Asian Bar Association of Chicago.

• John also is a member of Asian Americans in Energy, the Environment, and Commerce; the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association; and, the South Asian Bar Association of North America.

 

Pro Bono

 

• John performed pro bono legal counseling for a “STEM” (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) not-for-profit that puts on programs for middle and high school students around the country.

• He also performs pro bono work for low income individuals.

 

Other Volunteer Work and Memberships

 

• John served as the American Bar Association Advisor to the Uniform Law Commission’s Drafting Committee on a Tort Law Relating to Drones.  He formerly served as an ABA section advisor to the ULC’s Study Committee on Regulation of Drones and to the ULC’s Study Committee on the Portability and Recognition of Professional and Occupational Licenses of Military Spouses.

• He served as the Vice Chair of the Space Law Committee of the ABA Section of Science and Technology Law, and he served as the Editor in Chief of the Committee's Newsletter.

• John served as a member of the ABA’s House of Delegates from 1998-2006. The House of Delegates is the ABA’s governing body.

• He also is a former board member of the Patrick G. Ryan and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center (the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s training program for young opera singers).

• John also a member of the Energy Bar Association; the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers; the Colorado Bar Association; the Minnesota State Bar Association; the State Bar of Wisconsin; the Chicago Bar Association; the Chicago Council of Lawyers; the American Civil Liberties Union; and, Amnesty International USA.