Growing up, Cydonii Fairfax remembers the radical increase in homelessness in Washington, D.C., 30 years ago. There were encampments of homeless persons throughout the city, including some directly across the street from the White House.
Homeless rights advocate Mitch Snyder went on multiple hunger strikes to shed light on the issue and to obtain funding from the government to build a model shelter, she recalls.
“My heightened awareness of the plight of so many who lacked basic necessities such as food and shelter inspired me to do whatever I could to help make a difference,” she said.
Fairfax, even in her youth, volunteered for service initiatives with her church and high school. She served food in soup kitchens, prepared care packages, obtained food donations and delivered meals. As a college student, she used the remaining balance on her meal card and cards of her friends at the end of each semester to buy dinners on campus to give to homeless persons.
“This was really the beginning of my focus on volunteerism and commitment to service to help combat social justice issues such as homelessness, hunger and food insecurity,” she said.
For 18 years, Fairfax worked in the world of corporate law – first as an attorney at Arnold & Porter and then as deputy general counsel at the investment firm American Capital.
Then came 2017. She was married to a businessman-turned-Texas state senator from Houston. Ares Capital had acquired American for $4 billion. She was ready for a transition.
“At this point in my career, I also wanted to go back to my public service roots,” she said. “It was important for me that the next chapter in my life was spent having or working at a company that had a direct impact on improving our community.”
A mere four years later, Fairfax has emerged as a leader of the Houston corporate legal community and one of the most influential role models on diversity and public service in Texas. She is the general counsel of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO), where she is playing a critical role in the implementation of a $7.5 billion transformation of one of the largest public transportation systems in the U.S.
Fairfax has implemented internal policies and practices that have led to substantive results. Nearly two-thirds of the lawyers in METRO’s legal department are women or ethnic minorities, including the top two posts. And she aggressively sends work to minority-owned law firms.
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“At METRO, diversity is a core value and we strive for results through recruitment and other deliberate efforts, not by coincidence or serendipity,” she said. “I attribute the success to our focus on mentoring and professional development plans for junior attorneys to help ensure their readiness for more senior roles within and outside the agency. Over the past few years, we have not only promoted minority and female attorneys to senior positions, but also had such METRO lawyers assume newly-created and leading roles at the City of Houston, Harris County and in higher education.”
Citing METRO’s extraordinary success in minority recruiting, retention and advancement, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook recognize Cydonii Fairfax with the 2021 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion.
ACC Houston and The Lawbook will celebrate the finalists and winners of the Houston Corporate Counsel Awards on Jan. 13.
“Cydonii is committed to opening doors for other attorneys by promoting diversity within the legal department,” said METRO compliance and transactional counsel Anietie Akpan, who nominated Fairfax for the honor. “Cydonii has ensured that the legal department’s frequent communication and recruitment efforts at local law schools and affinity and community-based organizations have contributed to its progress on this front, with diverse candidates making up 75% of new hires over the past three years.”
“Cydonii continued efforts to provide attorneys in the legal department with opportunities for professional development, including increased responsibilities and client interaction, have resulted in the promotion of its junior attorneys to more senior roles,” Akpan said.
Daniel Ramirez, a partner at the Houston law firm Monty & Ramirez, said Fairfax “ensures her internal and external legal teams reflect the diversity” of the community that METRO serves.
“As a minority owned law firm, Cydonii has given my firm the opportunity to serve that community as well for which we are very grateful and honored,” Ramirez said. “Cydonii appreciates the perspective we bring as minority attorneys and how it contributes to better legal services for METRO.”
Fairfax was born and raised in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. Her mother was a project manager for a federal agency. Her father was in the construction business.
“My parents are extremely hard workers who, along with my grandparents, instilled in me a strong work ethic in addition to other core values,” Fairfax said. “My mother would take me downtown to distribute the meals to homeless persons.”
Fairfax received her bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Maryland College Park. She received her law degree from Harvard University.
“I set a goal of becoming a lawyer at an early age though,” Fairfax said. “I was always encouraged to pursue my goal by family and church members. They would often say, ‘You’ll make a great lawyer one day.’”
Fairfax said she benefited from incredible mentors.
A major influence in her life was the judge for whom she clerked, the Honorable Inez Smith Reid of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
“I am indebted to each of them for investing in me and helping to bridge the divide between the theoretical education from law school and the actual practice of law, particularly as a transactional lawyer,” she said.
Arnold & Porter hired Fairfax in 1999 to practice in its public and private securities offerings group.
In 2003, Fairfax said she was “presented with a rare opportunity” to go in-house at American Capital, a financial services firm. Over the next decade and a half, she represented the firm in more than $30 billion in IPOs, secondary offerings, credit facilities and debt restructurings.
As an assistant general counsel at American Capital, she continued practicing corporate transactional law, but it allowed her to get involved earlier in the dealmaking process and was able to work with counterparts throughout the business.
“It [allowed] me to expand my skillset by advising multiple public and private company boards and members of senior management daily on governance and regulatory compliance matters,” she said.
American Capital promoted Fairfax to deputy general counsel in 2008 and expanded her portfolio to include corporate compliance and governance.
Fairfax married Houston insurance executive Borris Miles in September 2009. She moved to Houston and spent several years of telecommuting for work. But American Capital was acquired in 2017 and Fairfax felt it was time to get a job in her new hometown.
It also was her opportunity to return to those “public service roots.”
Now four years as general counsel at METRO, Fairfax has overseen some monumental changes.
For example, she played a critical role in METRO’s successful November 2019 referendum to issue $7.5 billion in municipal bonds for a modernization known as “METRONext.”
“This plan will have a transformational impact on the region as it calls for 500 miles of travel improvements, including efforts to make the system universally accessible and the use of innovative and cleaner technologies, over the next 20 years to help meet the expected population growth in Houston,” she said.
Ramirez said Fairfax’s two decades of experience allows her to “strategically manage a diverse docket of legal issues” for METRO.
“Cydonii is very thorough in thinking about all of the different angles of a legal issue, but is ultimately decisive and practical when choosing a path forward and advising her clients,” Ramirez said. “She is a very bright attorney who works ahead of the curve. In that capacity, she expects A-plus legal work from her legal team and outside counsel.”
Fairfax attributes a significant reason for her success and the success of her legal department at METRO to the diversity of her team.
“To truly build a more equitable foundation, we must continue deconstructing the systemic inequities that the legal profession has been built upon,” she said. “I think this requires multifaceted approaches that include both short- and longterm initiatives.”
Akpan said Fairfax has been “intentional of recruiting underrepresented students.” She points out that this past summer’s interns at METRO were all women of color.
Corporate legal departments need an enhanced focus on equity and inclusion to promote equal opportunity for minority lawyers, Fairfax said.
“It is insufficient to only recruit minority attorneys and law students and not implement systems geared towards improving their retention and elevation within firms and the profession,” she said.
Akpan said Fairfax makes sure the METRO legal department works closely with women- and minority-owned law firms such as Baker Williams & Matthiesen, Sara Leon & Associates, Monty & Ramirez and West & Associates.
“Cydonii has been deliberate in cultivating relationships with and hiring law firms that are also composed of persons from underrepresented communities to help advance diversity in the legal profession,” Akpan said.
Even with the large corporate law firms, Fairfax “ensures that there is diversity in the attorneys that work on METRO’s matters” and regularly discusses their diversity initiatives and programs.
“Law firms should actively invest in efforts to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive,” Fairfax said. “General counsels want the best representation possible, and research shows that is provided by firms with diverse lawyers who are able to draw on different backgrounds and experiences to provide more informed legal advice and options.”
Gene Locke, senior counsel at Orrick in Houston, said Fairfax approaches legal problems “with understanding that most problems are multifaceted.”
“Cydonii is a team player who understands that an effective legal department can be the company’s best asset,” Locke said. “Cydonii is committed to creating opportunities for all. She is inclusive in her work and tries to make sure that there is diversity in the legal department and in METRO at all levels.”
Fairfax said her four years at METRO have been amazing.
“Attorneys in the legal department consistently provide creative solutions to complex legal issues to facilitate the implementation of important transit projects and services,” she said. “However, my best day at METRO so far occurred earlier this year when I promoted two junior attorneys after witnessing their significant growth over the past few years. Both are minorities who interned with the department while in law school.
“One of the most important and rewarding metrics for gauging effective leadership is the development of your team,” Fairfax said.