RALEIGH, NC (Reuters) - If you fill a room with private equity professionals, chances are that you won't find many faces of women and people of color. A pair of partners at McGuireWoods hope a new initiative they launched in January can help change that.

Securities department chair Greg Kilpatrick and tax and employee benefits department chair Gerald Thomas created Black Professionals in Private Equity and Finance (BPE) to host networking opportunities, panel discussions and webinars for Black workers in the financial sector.

Kilpatrick, who is based in McGuireWoods' Charlotte, North Carolina office, said while the legal industry overall has seen some improvements in diversity, private equity attorneys and professionals are still notably underrepresented.

"We wanted to make a place where folks could meet each other, share experiences, form bonds and do business together," Kilpatrick said. "One of the benefits we hope will come is that more capital will go to minority-owned businesses."

The initiative comes amid a broader focus on diversity in the private equity industry. Last week The Carlyle Group, represented by Latham & Watkins, announced it had secured a private equity credit facility for $4.1 billion that it called the largest-ever ESG-linked credit facility in the United States and the first to focus exclusively on advancing board diversity.

According to a December report from legal spending analytics firm Apperio, which surveyed 160 private equity general counsels and legal department leaders, 46% of U.S. respondents said diversity of outside counsel teams was a top factor in selecting firms to hire. A firm's ability to deliver on the request for proposal and pricing were the second and third most important factors.

Reuters spoke with Kilpatrick and his Atlanta-based partner Thomas on their hopes for the initiative and the challenges they expect to face. The conversation was edited for clarity and length.

REUTERS: Why did you start this program and what do you hope to gain from it?

KILPATRICK: In the legal profession, we've been struggling with diversity and inclusion efforts for a long period of time. It's a pervasive issue in the industry.

We, as a firm, have instituted a number of programs designed to help on that front. We've seen some success with that internally.

There's a lot more diversity in the in-house ranks than there ever has been in the past. One place where (diversity) is really lacking is private equity and, in some instances, the finance area. I'm one of the few black people that I know that does private equity work.

We wanted to make a place where folks could meet each other, share experiences, form bonds and do business together. One of the benefits we hope will come is that more capital will go to minority-owned businesses.

REUTERS: What do you see as some of the biggest hurdles?

THOMAS: Because this network is new, [the virtual aspect] creates a little bit of a problem. It's a lot harder to get on a Zoom call with 10 people that you don't know and have an organic conversation. It's a lot easier if you know those folks already.

REUTERS: How has working in the South shaped your current work?

KILPATRICK: Even though I'm in Charlotte, I have clients all over the country, which is one of the benefits of how we structure our law firm. [McGuireWoods] is one of the leaders in the marketplace for mid-market private equity and our deal flow comes from a variety of areas.

In Charlotte, I think we have seen a lot of private equity activity in the last 10 years that probably wasn't there before. People would previously look at Boston, Northern Virginia, New York, L.A. for the money and now you're seeing a more diversified private equity industry, at least geographically. You're seeing more funds in Charlotte, Dallas, Chicago and other parts of the Midwest. The fact that we have offices there in all of the major cities all over the country is helpful.

REUTERS: Is there anything else that you're hoping to get out of BPE?

THOMAS: I think the strength of the program is going to depend on the number of people that get involved. We want this initiative to be nationwide.

The feedback we've gotten from people in the industry and our clients has been overwhelming. Many of our clients have already reached out to us looking for ways that they could potentially partner with us on this initiative.

Some of our larger private equity clients who have initiatives that are focused on diversity and inclusion saw our announcement and immediately reached out.

It's very inspiring that so many people are interested in this. It's going to come down to execution, but at least we can start looking for ways to advance this initiative, because really we're dependent on those in the network.