ASSOCIATION FOCUS
“WHEN YOU GET A GOOD IDEA, YOU PUT IT INTO ACTION,” says Kathleen Nalty, executive director of the Center for Legal Inclusiveness (CLI), a Denver-based organization that educates, recruits, and supports private- and public-sector legal organizations in their own missions to create cultures of inclusion. “You don’t sit around and talk about things endlessly,”
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Nalty continues. “You don’t wait until every person is on board or every single concern is addressed. You implement it.” T is action-oriented approach is at the heart of CLI, an organization that was founded in 2007 with the purpose of carrying out the vision of a diff erent Colorado-based diver- sity organization, the Deans’ Diversity Council (DDC). T e DDC was comprised of a group of law school deans and top leaders from every sector of the legal community and had formulated a vision to address the lack of diversity in the legal profession. CLI, initially called Colorado Campaign for Inclusive Excellence, was founded with the specifi c purpose of taking this vision and fi nding real solutions. Nalty, who played a pivotal role in the formation of CLI
and has served as executive director of CLI since its inception, is an attorney with extensive experience and expertise in diver- sity issues. She worked for the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, where she specialized in assisting employers and students with diversity programs and initiatives, served as co-chair of the Diversity in the Legal Profession Committee of the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations, and has received numerous awards for her diversity work.
BEYOND DIVERSITY During the formation of CLI, Nalty knew that the best way to create results was to take direct and immediate action, so she and her colleagues took a “campaign” approach that emphasized action over discussion. T e fi rst step was to address the fact that although diversity eff orts were being implemented within the legal profession and eff orts to recruit diverse attorneys were evident, retention was an issue. “T e open door had turned into a revolving door, with diverse attorneys leaving at higher rates than non- diverse attorneys,” Nalty explains.
DIVERSITY & THE BAR® JULY/AUGUST 2011
BY KARA MAYER ROBINSON
CENTER FOR LEGAL INCLUSIVENESS (CLI)
CLI identifi ed a source of this problem as the failure
of law fi rms to recognize the diff erence between diversity and inclusiveness. “Many people use the terms inter- changeably, but they have very diff erent meanings,” Nalty says. Whereas diversity describes the extent to which an organization’s employees have diverse backgrounds, inclusiveness is describes a culture that values diff erence, removes hidden barriers, and creates a work environment that helps diverse employees succeed. It moves beyond numbers (compositional diversity) and embeds philoso- phies and practices that encourage diversity throughout the organization. An inclusive organization recognizes and values the backgrounds and perspectives of every person within the organization and strives to incorporate each individual’s needs and viewpoints into its practices. “T e legal profession has been good when it comes to
recruiting, but less focused on the retention of diverse attorneys,” Nalty continues. “We need to keep recruiting, but fundamental changes have to be made in the organiza- tion—structurally, culturally, and behaviorally—to retain diverse attorneys. T at’s inclusiveness and inclusiveness is what’s going to make the diff erence.”
CLEAR DIRECTION In order to become a catalyst for change, CLI developed sev- eral resources to guide public and private legal organizations to build cultures of inclusion within the workplace. First is a comprehensive toolkit for fostering inclusive-
ness. Beyond Diversity: Inclusiveness in the Legal Profession, now in its fourth edition, is a step-by-step manual that charts a specifi c protocol for achieving a culture of inclu- sion. It off ers specifi c instruction on laying an internal foundation, creating an external support system, integrat- ing inclusiveness within an organization and into external relationships, implementation of initiatives, and joining with other organizations to share insights on successes and challenges throughout the process. For example, the manual describes how to restructure an existing diversity committee—including changing leadership, removing some committee members, and bringing new people onto
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