Illana Raia

Attorney | Columbia Guest Lecturer | Être Founder in the United States

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Illana Raia is currently exploring, and greatly enjoying, a mix of academic lecturing and philanthropic endeavors.

Having joined Columbia University as Guest Lecturer in the Masters in Science Information & Knowledge Strategy (IKNS) department, Illana has also been busy founding Être - a new mentoring and resource site for girls approaching high school. She thinks of Être as a type of knowledge strategy for girls - highlighting the pertinent and valuable tools they need to change the world - and contributes regularly to HuffPost and Thrive Global on these issues. Illana was named a Mogul Influencer in 2017, is participating in The Balance Project Interviews and was recently profiled in Forbes.

The IKNS program at Columbia is designed for individuals invested in the strategic potential of information management and collaboration. Illana serves as guest lecturer in the IKNS Residency program where topics include Networks, Collaboration, Disruptive Innovation and Knowledge Strategy in a Law Firm Setting.

Prior to Columbia, Illana served as Knowledge Strategy Counsel at Skadden Arps for 10 years. As the Firm's first KS Counsel, Illana focused on developing and implementing global knowledge strategy initiatives across 23 offices. She and the KS team created over 30 practice-specific knowledge sites, forecasting trends and tracking both deal and litigation data for internal use. She also authored a weekly M&A update circulated to 400+ subscribers within the Firm. Before holding this position, Illana was a member of Skadden’s M&A group where she worked on significant transactions for U.S. and non-U.S. clients.

Illana graduated with High Honors from Smith College, during which time she spent 7 months as an intern with the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Illana continued to the University of Chicago Law School where she was both a contributing author to, and Managing Editor of, The University of Chicago Legal Forum.

Illana is married, has two children and lives happily in New Jersey. Causes close to her heart include youth mentoring, education, hunger relief and gender parity.

  • Work
    • Columbia University
  • Education
    • University of Chicago Law School
    • Smith College