Nalty, along with Dr. Arin Reeves, president
of Nextions, LLC, a leadership and inclusion consulting fi rm, also developed the Inclusiveness Manual Beyond Diversity: Inclusiveness in the Legal Workplace, (www.
legalinclusiveness.org) which outlines specifi c steps organizations can take to create an inclusive work culture. More specifi cally, the manual helps fi rms understand the diff er- ence between traditional diversity eff orts and inclusiveness initiatives and how to remove hidden barri- ers that impede the eff ectiveness of diversity programs and increase retention. Robert Grey, executive
director of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), is optimis- tic that fi rms can build on the diversity progress that has been made. “We reached a certain level that
next points that we need to focus on as we con- tinue to create a more inclusive environment.”
MOVING FROM DIVERSITY TO INCLUSION T e conversation has changed from the 1990s when “diversity” was a buzzword that made everyone feel good, but did little to break down barriers in workplace culture. According to many leaders in the fi eld
of diversity recruitment
and retention, early diversity training was the
fi rst part of the con- versation, but inclusion
completes it.
KATHLEEN NALTY DIRECTOR OF THE
CENTER FOR LEGAL INCLUSIVENESS
indicates a moderate degree of success,” Grey says. “We have to take the next steps to fi gure out how to take those lawyers that we recruited who are now more senior in organizations to the level of leaders and indispensable members who work on client projects. T at’s not diversity; that is more inclusiveness—it’s a diff erent level of opportunity.” Grey notes that the real work begins now that
people understand and generally accept the need for a diverse talent pool. T e groundwork has been set for diversity 2.0. “How do we take advantage of a newfound
talent pool?” Grey says. “What do we do to ensure that they are getting the training, assign- ments, and are being looked at for leadership positions in our organizations? T ose are the
MCCA.COM “T ere was a great amount of
goodwill, but frustration about all of the outreach eff orts not actually manifesting into minorities and women in high levels in law fi rms,”
says Vernã Myers, who as principal of Vernã Myers Consulting Group, LLC, in Baltimore, has been on the frontline of advising law fi rms about recruitment and retention since 1992. “After a while, they realized it wasn’t sticking. T e attri- tion issue made people question why they weren’t able to retain people.” A former corporate and real estate attorney,
Myers has also worked as Deputy Chief of Staff for the Attorney General of Massachusetts, where she designed and led a comprehensive diversity initiative. Under her leadership as executive direc- tor of T e Boston Law Firm Group, a consortium of the largest law fi rms in Boston committed to increasing the representation of attorneys of color, the group made signifi cant progress in minority recruitment and addressing issues of retention.
JULY/AUGUST 2012 DIVERSITY & THE BAR® 41
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