Career Biography

Bola Lawrence is an Associate General Counsel at McKinsey & Company, where she has spent over a decade advising the firm on complex commercial, transactional, regulatory, and risk matters across global operations. With deep expertise spanning ESG, DEI, conflicts, private equity, risk management, and technology governance, Bola is widely recognised for combing rigorous legal judgment with strategic business insight. Additionally, Bola’s legal practice encompasses antitrust issues of complex M&A transactions, insurance negotiations and high-stakes conflicts management.

A hallmark of Bola’s career is her commitment to operational excellence and talent development, as evidenced by her design and implementation of training curricula for new and mid-career lawyers. She has launched mentorship and sponsorship programs to support professional growth and has served as mentor and sponsor for many of her colleagues. Bola has led major process-improvement initiatives, including the creation of negotiation playbooks and a Risk Tier Guide. As a member of the legal department’s GenAI efficiencies team, Bola has advanced the use of emerging technologies to streamline workflows and enhance service delivery.

Previously, as Director of Contracts Professionals, Bola built McKinsey’s first in-house contracts team into a multinational organisation of more than 45 professionals across multiple regions. She worked closely with leadership to develop the business case for in-house expansion, implemented global training and workflow systems, and strengthened alignment between legal teams and practice areas.

At McKinsey, Bola is also known for her pragmatic, collaborative leadership style and is trusted counsel to many senior partners. She has partnered with senior leaders on diversity initiatives in the private equity sector, ESG, liability and governance matters. Earlier in her career at AT&T, she was responsible for scaling up AT&T’s minority supplier diversity spend and representing AT&T as a diversity ambassador.

As a manager, Bola is deeply committed to building inclusive, high-performing teams and fostering a culture of thoughtful dissent, accountability, and mutual respect.

Beyond her professional responsibilities, Bola is an active community leader and is a recipient of the city of Summit’s Keeper of the Dream award. She currently volunteers on the board of Equitable Solutions for Housing in New Jersey and has previously held leadership trustee roles at Kent Place School, Summit, NJ and Christ Church, Summit, NJ. Bola is also a certified yoga instructor and is committed to making yoga accessible to all.

Admitted to the New York Bar, Bola holds an LL.M. from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Lagos. Her inclusion on the Legal 500 GC Powerlist: New York, reflects her sustained impact, leadership, and influence within the in-house legal community.