The impact of the pandemic has been staggering for the communities served by the New York City Bar Association’s Office for Diversity and Inclusion. With Black and Brown students already in need of access to programming that would expose them to a range of career paths and mentorship opportunities, our signature pipeline program, the Thurgood Marshall Summer Law Internship, had to reduce its capacity substantially.
To continue to cultivate a sense of community among our network of volunteers and supporters throughout the summer, we issued a weekly Resource Roundup containing articles, webinars, and opportunities focused on racial justice education and COVID-19 topics.
This year we held our annual gala virtually, celebrating preeminent leaders in diversity and asking our network to support The Initiative, a new, multiyear college pipeline program launching in 2022. The Initiative will prepare CUNY college students for law school through academic curricula, paid legal industry internships, and mentorship. It will help young professionals like Daviel and Sharna, alumni of our five-week college program, Launching Your Career. The first college graduates in their families, they both plan to go to law school and shared with us that participating in a program like The Initiative would be pivotal in helping students through the law school admissions process. We are counting on you, our members, and the legal professional to join us in this important initiative.
Entering the legal profession is a step toward change. “When I look at the inequities of the world I think about how to correct those inequities,” says Daviel. “The best way is to become a lawyer in our society and fight those inequities in court.” A career in the law can also mean changing a legacy. As Sharna puts it, “I don’t have any legal professionals in my family. I want to be able to break barriers for my family.”
The Year Ahead
As we enter the new year, we bid farewell and wish all the best to Deborah Martin Owens, who so capably led our diversity efforts for the past two and a half years. The Office for Diversity and Inclusion looks forward to a year of continued collaboration with its signatory law firms and corporations, as well as academia, foundations, government agencies, and non-profit organizations – all necessary partners in building a legal profession that represents our diverse society.
27 New York City public high school students placed in internships at 6 law firms, 6 government and 5 nonprofit agencies, and 2 corporations through the Thurgood Marshall Summer Law Internship Program
3,885 guests hosted at diversity and inclusion events, including Celebrating National Hispanic American Heritage Month, CLEs on eliminating bias and protecting LGBTQ workers, and the Annual Diversity & Inclusion Celebration
Strengthening the diversity pipeline into the profession will remain a core focus of the year. The Office will continue strategizing ways to augment existing programming for students and expand volunteer opportunities to engage the larger legal and business communities in cultivating the next generation of lawyers.
The impact of the pandemic has been staggering for the communities served by the New York City Bar Association’s Office for Diversity and Inclusion. With Black and Brown students already in need of access to programming that would expose them to a range of career paths and mentorship opportunities, our signature pipeline program, the Thurgood Marshall Summer Law Internship, had to reduce its capacity substantially.
The weekly series covered a range of topics including Networking and Career 101, Civil Litigation 101, and Criminal Law 101. To continue to cultivate a sense of community among our network of volunteers and supporters throughout the summer, we issued a weekly Resource Roundup containing articles, webinars, and opportunities focused on racial justice education and COVID-19 topics.
This year we held our annual gala virtually, celebrating preeminent leaders in diversity and asking our network to support The Initiative, a new, multiyear college pipeline program launching in 2022. The Initiative will prepare CUNY college students for law school through academic curricula, paid legal industry internships, and mentorship. It will help young professionals like Daviel and Sharna, alumni of our five-week college program, Launching Your Career. The first college graduates in their families, they both plan to go to law school and shared with us that participating in a program like The Initiative would be pivotal in helping students through the law school admissions process. We are counting on you, our members, and the legal professional to join us in this important initiative.
Entering the legal profession is a step toward change. “When I look at the inequities of the world I think about how to correct those inequities,” says Daviel. “The best way is to become a lawyer in our society and fight those inequities in court.” A career in the law can also mean changing a legacy. As Sharna puts it, “I don’t have any legal professionals in my family. I want to be able to break barriers for my family.”
The Year Ahead
The Office for Diversity and Inclusion looks forward to a year of continued collaboration with its signatory law firms and corporations, as well as academia, foundations, government agencies, and non-profit organizations – all necessary partners in building a legal profession that represents our diverse society.
27 New York City public high school students placed in internships at 6 law firms, 6 government and 5 nonprofit agencies, and 2 corporations through the Thurgood Marshall Summer Law Internship Program
3,885 guests hosted at diversity and inclusion events, including Celebrating National Hispanic American Heritage Month, CLEs on eliminating bias and protecting LGBTQ workers, and the Annual Diversity & Inclusion Celebration
Strengthening the diversity pipeline into the profession will remain a core focus of the year. The Office will continue strategizing ways to augment existing programming for students and expand volunteer opportunities to engage the larger legal and business communities in cultivating the next generation of lawyers.