November 6, 2003

Staff profile: Marcia Mahoney

Title: Director of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Office; special assistant to the Provost

photo by Mary Hanlon

How did you get to Northwestern? I came to Evanston as an undergraduate more than 25 years ago and left with a degree from the Weinberg College and many fond memories. I returned 10 years later, to practice labor and employment law with a Chicago firm. For 17 years, I litigated discrimination and harassment cases. In the mid-to-late 1990’s, however, I found my management clients becoming increasingly disinterested in litigating against their employees and more interested in creating policies and training programs to improve workplace climate. As I helped companies develop the programs they envisioned, I realized I was no longer just giving legal advice — I was giving advice on leadership, organizational behavior and communication strategies. Feeling pretty far afield from my legal training, I came back to Northwestern and to get a master’s degree from the School of Communication’s managerial program.

After so many years as a lawyer, don’t you miss it? I guest lecture in several undergraduate communication courses and remain very active in the American Bar Association. That keeps me in touch with my law practice. But, there is nothing quite like a jury trial. Sometimes I do miss that part.

What do you like best about your current job? I took the position to try my hand at practicing what I was preaching — to build a program that had the goal of making an organization better for the people in it. I’m starting to see that happen here, and it is very rewarding.

Do you have any plans for the future? Someday I’d like to open up a joint coffee and bike shop, in a small summer resort town like the one I grew up in, with my partner, Steve Poor. My half will be the coffee shop, lined with bookcases where customers can exchange books. Steve will run the bike shop. It will have bikes for all ages and sizes, maps of local routes and lots of biking advice.

— Katharine Duke