The Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2023 Corporate Counsel Awards recognized Harry Norman, REALTORS® Vice President, General Counsel and People and Culture Council Ambassador Ashoo Sharma as a Diversity Champion.
Sharma is receiving the award “for being an outstanding attorney who makes an effort in their organization and in the legal community to promote equality for women, minorities, the economically disadvantaged and the LGBT community,” Harry Norman said in a press release.
Sharma will receive the Business Chronicle award at the 2023 Corporate Counsel Awards ceremony at Bishop Station on May 4.
“From the very beginning, Ashoo has demonstrated her passion for diversity and inclusion, actively seeking out opportunities to apply her specialized education as an attorney to influence positive change,” Harry Norman President and CEO Jenni Bonura said. “Ashoo is authentic, takes action and is an integral part of our organization. She readily volunteers for extra responsibilities, both inside and outside our company, because it has intrinsic meaning to her.”
Sharma, who was recognized last year by the Georgia Legal Awards for her diversity efforts, has been in her position for eight years and reports directly to Bonura. She oversees all legal matters and leads policy changes for consumer protection and professional services. In 2020, Gov. Brian Kemp appointed her to the Advisory Board of Georgia’s Commission on Equal Opportunity to help safeguard Georgians from housing discrimination. She also serves as founding member of the HomeServices Foundation for Racial Equity, which was launched about a year ago to increase home ownership and generational wealth for people of color.
“To me, a diversity champion is someone who turns talk into action,” Sharma said. “I have always focused on helping a company, industry and community be better than before so when social injustices revealed more work needed to be done, our company made it a priority to elevate our culture towards kindness, respect and acceptance in an authentic and sustainable way.”