July 20, 2022

LCLD Diversity News Digest

Here you’ll find the latest diversity, equity, and inclusion news, resources, tips, and thought leadership, curated biweekly for today’s legal leaders—LCLD’s Members—and Diversity Professionals.

On the Need for Equity in America

DISABILITY PRIDE MONTH

What Employers Need to Know About Disability at Work

Celebrate the July 1990 passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act by taking a closer look at how employers can make the workplace more inclusive for everyone.  HR Dive

Women Are Dominating When It Comes to Law School Enrollment

Since 2016, woman have outnumbered men in law school classrooms, and in 2021, 17 of the top 20 U.S. News law schools had more women enrolled than men.  Above the Law

Jobs Aplenty, but a Shortage of Care Keeps Many Women From Benefiting

“A lack of child care and elder care options has forced some women to limit their hours or sidelined them altogether, hurting their career prospects.”  The New York Times

DEI Development

Are Your Organization’s DEI Efforts Superficial or Structural?

A series of questions leadership teams should ask themselves to help “move DEI to something deeply woven into an organization's mission, culture, and values.“   SHRM

Creating A Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Law Firm: One Firm’s Reckoning Post-Pandemic”

This article from a Wolf Greenfield shareholder details the DEI plan that has helped the firm make “enormous strides... to promote diversity and inclusion while fighting discrimination and injustice.”  Massachusetts Lawyer Weekly

“It’s Time We Thrive”: Report Urges a Model of DEI that Centers Black Women

A recent survey reveals widespread burnout among Black women. “Black women, at all levels of organizations, have to navigate workplace structures and cultures that were not built for us,” authors wrote.  HR Dive

How Leaders Can Better Support Muslim Women at Work

“Muslim women often experience intersecting disadvantages in the workplace.” These strategies will help Muslim women employees “feel more included and give them a renewed sense of identity that has long been denied or, worse, misunderstood.“  Harvard Business Review

LCLD Leads on DE&I

“This Has Never Happened”: M&A Leaders on Why Making a Deal with a Fellow Black Woman Was a Watershed Moment

For the first time in 15 years, 2015 Fellow Renée Delphin-Rodriguez of Crowell & Moring and Akin Gump’s Amy Wollensack worked on a deal led by Black women on both sides.  Corporate Counsel

Ken Frazier Talks Diversity in Manufacturing

An interview with Merck CEO Ken Frazier, one of few Black CEOs of a Fortune 100 company and “a passionate advocate of manufacturing’s diversity and inclusion efforts.”  National Association of Manufacturers

How I Made Partner: “Make Authentic Connections with Partners Across Offices”

“I would like to be an example of an African American woman who achieved and sustained success in the legal industry while also balancing life as a mother and wife,“ said 2020 Fellow Avia Dunn of Skadden.  Law.com

Leading for Tomorrow

Strategic Planning as an Adaptive Leadership Challenge

Exploring the role and impact of loss on company strategy and how to approach loss as an adaptive leadership challenge, as discussed at the recent LCLD Leadership Summit at Harvard Law School.  Harvard Business Review

Speaking Truth to Power: Creating an Environment for All Voices

Business psychologist and leadership advisor Alex Lazarus discusses how GCs can create culture change.  Corporate Counsel

Reimagining the Workplace

Space, Time, and the F-Word

Robert Walters CLO Richard Harris shares how leaders can navigate the complexity of hybrid working, underscoring transparency, empathic collaboration, and trust.  Corporate Counsel

Over 400 Managing Partners, GCs Make Public DEI Pledges as LCLD Campaign Concludes

“The purpose was to create transparency and accountability, but also to create an opportunity where there could be more learning and piloting of ideas by sharing with each other,” said LCLD President Robert Grey.  The American Lawyer

Apple, Google GCs Among LCLD Members Making Public Diversity Pledges

Highlights from pledges by LCLD Board Chair Ellen Dwyer (Crowell & Moring) and Board Members Halimah DeLaine Prado (Google), Dev Stahlkopf (Cisco), and Joel Unruch (Accenture).  The Global Legal Post

If you have questions about the Leaders at the Front initiative, please contact Caitlin Puffenberger, LCLD Member Programs and Communications Manager.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Members & Diversity Professionals

AUGUST 31   |  2:00 pm ET   ||   Diversity Professionals
LCLD Diversity Professionals' Virtual Meeting
Join LCLD staff and fellow Diversity Pros to receive updates and ask questions about LCLD programs and initiatives. Register here.

SEPTEMBER 22–23    ||   LCLD Members + Guests
13th Annual LCLD Membership Meeting
It's official: the annual LCLD Membership Meeting will convene in-person this fall! Accenture CEO Julie Sweet and NYU Law professor Kenji Yoshino will join us in launching the next phase of Leaders at the Front: Transforming Tomorrow. Register here.

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