Pivoting Careers: From Litigation to Nonprofit with Mimi Dane

Kathy Sullivan Explores

Mimi Dane is the CEO of the Belford Family Charitable Fund and former CEO of Flying Horse Farms. Mimi completed her undergraduate degree at St. Norbert College and graduated with a Master’s in English at Western Michigan University. After graduating from Ohio State University - Moritz College of Law, Mimi served as a law clerk for the Honorable Louis Pollak. She then began a 21-year career with Squire Patton Boggs, where she eventually became a partner. At Squire Patton Boggs, Mimi handled the legal strategy for the case of Butch Reynolds, an athlete. He was suspended after the International Association of Athletics Federation wrongly accused him of drug use. After over two decades of practicing law, Mimi entered the nonprofit world and joined the board of Flying Horse Farms, a nonprofit camp in Ohio. Mimi eventually served Flying Horse Farms as its CEO until 2018, when she became Chief Executive of the Belford Family Charitable Fund.

Today, you’ll hear Mimi share her journey and work as a lawyer. She describes her early life and upbringing and explains why she stopped working on her Ph.D. in English at Western Michigan University to pursue a law degree. She discusses the Butch Reynolds vs. IAAF case, her role in the legal work, and what the results of the case meant for future athletes’ rights to arbitration from independent bodies. We also discuss her work in the nonprofit world and get advice on changing course in your career or life.

“Law teaches you a way to think, to analyze, to look at risks. A lawyer is a problem solver, whether it’s going into the legislature or helping someone with a contract.” - Mimi Dane

This week on Kathy Sullivan Explores:

• Mimi’s early life, upbringing, and love of learning
• Her education at St. Norbert College and Western Michigan University and why she stopped pursuing her Ph.D. in English to go to law school
• How Mimi realized that the path to scholarship and academia wasn’t for her
• What made Mimi interested in pursuing a law degree
• The job description of a commercial litigator
• The career pathways of law degrees and why Mimi chose to be a commercial litigator
• Mimi’s advice to people considering pursuing a law degree
• Mimi’s role in the Butch Reynolds case that went to the Supreme Court
• What it takes to get admitted to the US Supreme Court Bar
• The impact of law and what the Butch Reynolds case meant for future athletes
• Mimi’s work in the nonprofit world and how she became the CEO of Flying Horse Farms
• Her thoughts and advice on changing careers

Our Favorite Quotes:

• “Cases, whether they go to trial or not, are about writing, research, and explaining something complex to the jury, a group of people who may have an eight grade level of education to advanced degree.” - Mimi Dane
• “There’s not one pathway with a law degree. You can be the CEO of a nonprofit and your law degree is still going to be invaluable.” - Mimi Dane

Connect with Mimi Dane:

• Mimi Dane on LinkedIn

Spaceship Not Required

I’m Kathy Sullivan, the only person to have walked in space and gone to the deepest point in the ocean.

I’m an explorer, and that doesn’t always have to involve going to some remote or exotic place. It simply requires a commitment to put curiosity into action.

In this podcast, you can explore, reflecting on lessons learned from life so far and from my brilliant and ever-inquisitive guests. We explore together in this very moment from right where you are--spaceship not required.

Welcome to Kathy Sullivan Explores.

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