Daily Archives: January 15, 2021

Invites community to join in acts of service, advocacy and learning

, Submitted to the Pioneer

GRAND RAPIDS This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Spectrum Health affirms its commitment to eliminating systemic racism and achieving health equity in the communities it serves, by engaging in intentional conversation with team and community members, elevating the voices of those who marched with Dr. King, and encouraging team members to volunteer virtually.

Every day, our team members see firsthand the structural barriers that prevent many people of color from achieving good health and a healthy lifestyle, said Spectrum Health President & CEO Tina Freese Decker. By designating Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday, Spectrum Health is making space for our team members to further Dr. Kings legacy of removing those barriersthrough education, conversation, advocacy and acts of service.

Since 2013, Spectrum Health has organized volunteer opportunities as a way for team members to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day and to answer Dr. Kings call for justice and equality.

In lieu of in-person volunteering due to the pandemic this year, Spectrum Health is encouraging its team members and others to spend time learning about the American civil rights movement.

To help community members learn more about Dr. Kings local impact, Spectrum Health has produced a series of video stories about Michigan residents who met or marched with Martin Luther King Jr.

Spectrum Health is also encouraging its team members to read a book about diversity to a child, volunteer virtually, and explore other resources available to our community, such as the Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State University.

In addition, Spectrum Health is sponsoring:

Distribution of food baskets in Benton Harbor, in partnership with Feeding America

In-person and virtual programming about MLK Jr.s life and the civil rights movement at the Holland Museum

Donation of hand sanitizers to community partners through Priority Health

Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Week Blood Drive, in partnership with Versiti Blood Center of Michigan.

The blood drive will take place at:

Maple Avenue Church and Ministries in Holland on Jan. 19

Consortium for Community Development in Benton Harbor on Jan. 22

Baxter Community Center in Grand Rapids on Jan. 23

Spectrum Health Big Rapids, in partnership with Ferris State University, on Jan. 18 and Jan. 21

Community members are encouraged to take part in the blood drive throughout the week of Jan. 18 at a location convenient for them.

Our mission, vision and values call us to the work of addressing systemic racism and taking those actions, today and every day, that make our workplaces and communities more just, inclusive and welcoming, said Freese Decker. As Dr. King himself said, Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. Human progress comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals.

Read the original:

Spectrum Health honors legacy of MLK Jr. - The Pioneer

INDIANAPOLISThe FBI Indianapolis Field Office and our law enforcement partners are aware of a report indicating there may be protests at state capitols this weekend and leading up to the inauguration on January 20. There has not been any specific and substantiated threat to the Indiana state capitol or other government buildings in the state. Through a collaborative effort of federal, state, and local public safety agencies, the FBI and our partner agencies will continually monitor for potential security concerns and provide timely notification should this change.

All agencies remain steadfast in our mission to protect our citizens and respect those who choose to exercise their First Amendment rights, including the right to peacefully protest. Our focus is not on peaceful protesters, but on those threatening their safety and the safety of other citizens with violence and destruction of property. Criminal activity, the destruction of property, and the intentional incitement of violence to prevent others from peacefully expressing their First Amendment rights will not be tolerated.

The FBI and our partners take all threats seriously and fully investigates each threat that comes into either our National Threat Operations Center, our local FBI field office, or from partner agencies.

Citizens are urged to report suspicious and/or suspected criminal activity by utilizing:

The FBI and our partners are committed to investigating violent behavior and holding those who violate the law responsible. The FBI continues to remain steadfast in our mission to protect the American people and uphold the U.S. Constitution. We will continue to coordinate with our law enforcement partners to protect all of our communities.

As indicated nationwide, citizens with information on the incident that occurred at the U.S. Capitol last week or upcoming protests can notify the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or at fbi.gov/USCapitol.

See the original post:

FBI Indianapolis and Partners Prepared for State Capitol Protests - Federal Bureau of Investigation

Clark Atlanta University (CAU) is proud to announce its partnership with Propel Center, a new global campus headquartered inAtlantathat will support innovative learning and development for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) nationwide.Clark Atlanta Universitywill collaborate with Propel Center and the entire HBCU community to bring leadership and career development programming to its students.

Propel Center was imagined and designed byEd Farm, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing education through technology with Apple and Southern Company supporting the project as founding partners. The Propel Center is designed to connect HBCU students to technology curriculum, cultural thought leaders, entrepreneurship skills development, and accelerator programs, with a focus on social justice and equity.

The first-of-its-kind initiative will serve as a hub for all 100+ HBCUs, and is designed to connect students and faculty from across the community and provide them with the knowledge, skills, tools and resources necessary to transform our nation's talent pipeline and workforce. Curriculum options will include AI and machine learning, agricultural technologies, social justice, entertainment arts, app development, augmented reality, design and creativity, career preparation, and entrepreneurship tracks.

"Propel represents the most inclusive, game changing and collaborative partnership that I have witnessed within my 17 years as both college and university president. Propel will provide HBCU student-scholars across the country access to cutting-edge technology, resources, and programming to be globally competitive across multidisciplinary disciplines and career trajectories said, CAU President andChair of the Atlanta University Center Consortium Council of PresidentsGeorge T. French Jr. Additionally, French noted, "Propel will serve HBCUs across the country in an unprecedented collaborative. This multi-million-dollar public-private partnership will serve as exemplar, with reverberations affecting generations."

Students from participating schools will access Propel Center's online digital learning platform from anywhere, and will also have access to the 50,000 square-foot Propel Center headquarters inAtlanta, equipped with state-of-the-art lecture halls, learning labs, and on-site living for a scholars-in-residence program.

"The HBCU community is a tremendous engine of Black creativity, entrepreneurship, and inclusive opportunity," saidLisa Jackson, Apple's Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. "We are thrilled to join with partners and community stakeholders to support the Propel Center and be part of this groundbreaking new global hub for HBCU innovation and learning, devoted to helping faculty create best-in-class curriculum and ensuring students have access to cutting-edge skills."

"We know inequities exist in our society, and it's up to each of us to be more intentional in our efforts to make a difference and bridge the gap," saidTom A. Fanning, chairman, president and CEO of Southern Company. "We know more must be done, and the establishment of the Propel Center is another important demonstration of Southern Company fulfilling our commitment to move our communities to a more equitable future. Partnering with Apple in this initiative is an exciting way to connect future leaders with these critical resources."

"These investments are critical as we begin to truly scale Black innovation ecosystems," said Anthony Oni, chairman,Ed Farm. "By leveraging technology and partnerships to connect students with unique learning opportunities, we can lift up the talent that already exists at these institutions of higher learning and accelerate their development. In doing so, we will have a hand in shaping the workforce of the future and the leaders of tomorrow."

Additional information on Propel Center can be found atPropelCenter.org.

Originally posted here:

CAU Partners with Propel Center, a New Global HBCU Headquarters for Innovation - WCLK

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced today that vaccine providers that are ready to expand may vaccinate all health care workers and anyone 65 years and older.

Doctors, hospitals and local health departments are working hard to get people vaccinated. There may be a wait, but when its your spot, take your shot to stay healthy and help us get back to being with family and friends, said NCDHHS Secretary Mandy K. Cohen, M.D.

Because vaccine supplies are currently limited, states must make vaccine available in phases. To save lives and slow the spread of COVID-19, independent state and federal public health advisory committees recommend first protecting health care workers, people who are at the highest risk of being hospitalized or dying, and those at high risk of exposure to COVID-19.

North Carolina moves through vaccination phases by aligning to federal priorities while giving local health departments and hospitals the flexibility to move to the next priority group as they complete the previous one and have vaccines available. With todays announcement, vaccine providers who are ready may vaccinate adults 65 years and older and health care workers, which will be followed by frontline essential workers, then adults with high risk of exposure and increased risk of serious illness, then everyone. It is the responsibility of all vaccine providers to ensure equitable access to vaccines. This will mean taking intentional actions to reach and engage historically marginalized communities.

We know that people are doing all that they can to learn about the vaccines so they can make the best decision for themselves and their families. It can be hard to know what is true and what can be trusted. We are here to provide you with honest, factual information, said Secretary Cohen.

As part of the ongoing effort to educate North Carolinians about the safety, benefits and importance of receiving COVID-19 vaccinations, NCDHHS launched You have a spot. Take your shot.to provide all North Carolinians with information about COVID-19 vaccine development, testing, safety, side-effects and reactions.

A searchable list of health departments and hospitals administering the vaccination is available on the states COVID-19 vaccination website, yourspotyourshot.nc.gov. There is a wait time in many areas. Counties are in various stages as they deal with new COVID-19 cases and vaccinations. To support communities, NCDHHS is partnering with health systems, local health departments and community health centers across the state to host large community vaccine events for people currently eligible to be vaccinated.

COVID-19 vaccinations are free of charge, regardless of whether or not people have insurance.However, most doctors cannot provide COVID-19 vaccines in their office at this time.Individuals who are currently eligible and would like to receive the vaccine must make an appointment with their local health department or hospital.

In collaboration with local and statewide media outlets, pooled video footage and photos from recent vaccination clinics, PSAs produced by NCDHHS and other resources are available for publication and broadcast use, and can be downloaded from bit.ly/3rTOcS2.

For more information, visityourspotyourshot.nc.gov.

Excerpt from:

North Carolina health care workers and adults 65 and older are next to receive vaccine - Mountain Xpress

When Justin Phan, 20, was younger, his father and uncle struggled with addiction and were not present in his life. In seventh grade, his best friend committed suicide. And then he had his first suicide attempt as a junior in high school.

He found help with major depressive and general anxiety disorders from counselors and other resources available at the University of Texas at Austin. But now the college student struggles to get regular access to help as the pandemic has forced much of his education online.

Not being able to accurately deal with those problems in a way I would be able to with healthy coping mechanisms, if we werent in COVID times, definitely sucks and was rough on my mental health, said Phan, the son of two Vietnamese immigrants.

Phan is among the tens of thousands of college students of color in Texas who depend on school-provided mental health services that have encountered new challenges this past year.

Just like the pandemic had a disproportionate effect on people of color, students of color are also going through tremendous trauma this past year and have this sense of hopelessness and despair about what it means to be Black or brown in America, said Michael Lindsey, the executive director of New York Universitys McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research.

In June, 25.5% of young people ages 18 to 24 reported they had seriously considered suicide in the past 30 days, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.

Self-reported suicide attempts among Black teenagers rose by 73% from 1991 to 2017, according to a study Lindsey coauthored.

I worry about the countrys ability to meet the mental health needs of youth college- bound students as they are contending with the trauma of the loss, the anxiety that were seeing and that theyve experienced, Lindsey said.

Neglecting ones mental health issues can not only have a negative impact on students personal relationships but also on their ability to retain information, pay attention in class and their motivation to study, said Richard Lenox, the director of Texas Tech Universitys student counseling center.

A major challenge for universities throughout the past year has been tackling the strong sense of isolation among their students now that most interactions happen through a screen.

After universities across the country shut down in spring, officials soon heard from students that one of their biggest needs was that connection, said Eric Wood, the director of Texas Christian Universitys counseling center.

They were really, really struggling with loneliness at that time in isolation, Wood said.

Many students also dont have a reliable internet service or a private space in their homes to talk freely.

Even when students can obtain services, its not the same. Phan described his Zoom session with a counselor as impersonal. The centers virtual appointments were often booked, leaving him to wait about a month for an opening. And when he did connect with help, he often couldnt find a room that was private enough in his home, and the talks felt rushed.

Its like, bam, bam, bam, he said. I need to get all my facts out about my whole life, my whole mental disorder history, within 20 minutes, so that we can discuss in another 20 minutes about whats going on and then last 20 minutes about what we should do from this point on.

Phan said he misses the way conversations were less structured when they were in person and how he was able to casually diverge into other topics and make small talk.

To help those from marginalized communities who may not have a support system at home, the University of Texas at Dallas came up with support groups for students that align with how they personally identify -- such as those who are first-generation college students, Asian American or LGBTQ.

Prachi Sharma, one of the assistant directors at the campus counseling center, said it creates a more informal space that doesnt look like traditional therapy -- even if that space is now virtual.

Sharma said it is beneficial for students to speak with someone who shares a similar background or experiences. For example, Sharma speaks Hindi and often speaks with students who are more comfortable conversing in that language.

There has been more of an intentional effort into diversifying our staff to reflect UT-Dallas students, Sharma said.

Phans mother, who was born in Vietnam, has downplayed his mental health struggles, telling him that its just because of his personality or diet or even his day-to-day activities.

Like its my fault, Phan said, pointing out that there are heavy cultural and generational differences between the two of them.

Such cultural viewpoints can make it difficult for many to seek help from a professional, said Lindsey, noting that many communities of color traditionally resolve their emotional and psychological pain within the family.

Complicating matters even further for people of color is the double stigma many face because of discrimination and racism, Lindsey added.

Our society treats people in really bad ways when they are struggling with a mental illness, be it depression or schizophrenia, whatever the case may be, Lindsey said. We frame people who have mental illness as being crazy. We shun them. We dont want to include them or invite them into our spaces. Its almost like we have this perpetual fear of those folks. Well, then imagine if youre Black and brown.

Meanwhile, student services are not as diverse as they should be as counselors need to be culturally competent in order to talk to and understand the unique challenges facing students who are from different communities, Lindsey said.

Many college counseling centers have done regular training in order to provide services to students from various backgrounds.

Attracting diverse staff is difficult, however. At TCU, for example, Wood has overseen the search committee for every counseling center position recently. He can count on one hand how many diverse candidates applied. He added there is a clear need for a pipeline to have more Black psychologists or students or professionals of color get those degrees.

The challenge is not only in finding diverse talent but also convincing them to choose their campuses when so many colleges are competing for diverse talent.

Thats why schools need to invest in creating pipelines, encouraging students of color to go into the mental health field starting as early as high school, Lindsey said.

For now, peer communities led by counselors help fill the gap.

Diane Taing, 21, a junior at TCU, is a leader in one such group. During a typical meeting, Taing begins the discussions by sharing her own story and mental health struggles, which she says helps other students feel more comfortable about opening up to the group..

Taing was sexually assaulted just before she started college, causing her to fall into a deep depression and feel confused about her feelings during her first semester.

The counseling center helped her come to terms with her feelings through its student communities.

Being able to connect with other people who share the same experiences as me, whether that just be the depression and anxiety or sexual assault ... really helped me in return, Taing said.

As the spring semester gets underway, Sharma said universities want to expand their group programming in order to deal with the trauma students are going through because of the pandemic and to be more intentional about establishing connections for students and for college staff.

As a country and world, I think were navigating quite a few challenges concurrently: a pandemic; an economic crisis; a politically polarized election we just went through; a racial justice movement; a lot of uncertainty, depression, anxiety, Sharma said. I also miss seeing our students in person.

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from The Beck Group, Bobby and Lottye Lyle, The Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, The Meadows Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University and Todd A. Williams Family Foundation. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Labs journalism.

Read more from the original source:

Lack of diversity and the pandemic challenge colleges to address mental health issues for students of color - The Dallas Morning News

If you follow Google Stadia at all across its various communities on the web, you won't have been able to go too far before stumbling across an unhappy NBA 2K21 player. I'm not personally a player of this game, but the frustration among the community was easy enough to grasp. Not only were there bugs affecting the playing experience, a major roster update deployed to other platforms was seemingly MIA on Stadia.

Roster updates and correct uniforms and such are an important part of a sports title, so understanding why folks who'd spent a decent chunk of their hard-earned on NBA 2K21 were upset didn't take much effort.

So, we reached out to 2K, pointing out the frustrations from avenues such as Reddit and the Google Stadia Discord. The good news is that it's certainly not intentional and Stadia hasn't been left out to pasture. A 2K spokesperson said this:

"We're aware some players are encountering issues for NBA 2K21 on Google Stadia. We've identified a bug that was preventing roster updates and will be issuing a patch that will address this moving forward, along with additional bug fixes and stability improvements."

Some players in the last couple of days have suggested the updated rosters are already rolling out, but the benefit at least of a cloud platform like Stadia is that you won't have to download any of the patches. As for the future, only time will tell, but hopefully players can get back to it in the knowledge the platform is still very much being supported.

Cloud-based basketball action

The biggest NBA game on the planet is now also available without a gaming PC or console thanks to Google Stadia.

Continue reading here:

NBA 2K21 roster issues on Google Stadia should be resolved - Android Central

Chatterjee's The Water Phoenix is a disarmingly honest memoir, empathetic and nuanced in its telling, providing a space for the reader to reflect and grieve along with the writer.

The Water Phoenix, by Rituparna Chatterjee, is steeped in a dancing range of stunning visual imagery, emanating from the active imagination of an isolated but hugely resilient six-year-old child.

The book is a disarmingly honest memoir of child sexual abuse and trauma, empathetic and nuanced in its telling, providing a space for the reader to reflect and grieve along with the writer. The autobiographical account flows seamlessly from the time Chatterjee encounters her first big loss the death of her mother to the very specific, unique journey she undertakes to heal from her childhood.

The entire ecosystem of abuse, abandonment and loss that Chatterjee weaves through the various chapters in the book is predominantly situated within her family. The confusion and the bewildering sense of shame that descends upon her as a child, amid persistent bullying and harassment, enhances her sense of isolation in a world full of relatives and friends. It is a story that is achingly familiar, yet painfully under-explored.

Interestingly enough, Chatterjee did not initially plan to write The Water Phoenix, she shared in an interview with Firstpost, I did not set out to write this book. I was actually working on a novel that was going nowhere, but once I began work on it (The Water Phoenix) I finished writing the book in five-and-a-half months.

On the process of recollecting childhood memories for her book, she said, I didnt experience any significant emotional turmoil while writing the book. Even as I was revisiting many painful memories, I was alright that could be because I had already healed and probably why I could write the book so quickly.

Even though The Water Phoenix is a memoir and narrates a very particular story of child sexual abuse and its effects, its not an uncommon story. According to the data released by the National Crime Record Bureau, a total of 109 children were abused every day in India in 2018, which showed a 22 percent jump in cases from the previous year. But it is not just sexual abuse that rendered Chatterjees time as a child unbearable; a combination of abuse, neglect, bullying, lack of a close confidante and her socialisation as a good-natured girl are some of the things that pushed her into the depths of despair.

The Water Phoenix masterfully narrates the consequences of learning obedience before one learns how to articulate pain.

Chatterjee observed, My story is the story of millions of Indians. Abuse is shockingly common, and many times, the elders in the family are aware of it but they prefer to ignore it because confronting abusers could jeopardise relationships within the family.

In the book, the author describes childhood as imprisonment, where freedom is doled out in penurious quantities, quite by chance. She says that children are entirely at the mercy of others for survival but often, adults even the kind ones have no idea about what they are doing, and why. As a result, its easy to fall into a mindless and oppressive pattern of doing things. But having said that, as a parent, I know its not easy to raise children. Children are extremely emotionally demanding, and for parents living in nuclear families, it can be quite hard to manage their livelihood as well as raise children with sensitivity, she explains.

She says the problem of childhood feeling like imprisonment has to be located in the nature of modern society itself, not so much in individual parents and families. There are a few tribal communities in parts of Africa where while one woman is nursing a child, another one goes and fetches water, and once she comes back, she starts to nurse the same kid. A child in these villages is raised by an entire community of people. I think thats so beautiful and loving.

Interestingly, it was finally in an all-girls boarding school that Chatterjee experienced for the first time a long-term sense of stability and safety. But the constant policing of female sexuality and body within the school premises by the teachers reinforced feelings of shame and guilt. She said, In India, puberty is everyones public business, especially if you are a girl. The constant policing of our bodies ultimately made us more conscious of it. As a result, by the time I left my school I only wore long shirts and jeans meticulously covering every inch of my body. In a way, I was already a nun when I left school; I just needed to wear a habit.

Unfortunately, several Indian schools continue to hold onto outdated beliefs and practices around sex and sexuality, perpetuating a culture of shame and silence. In a desperate attempt to break away from reality, Chatterjee immersed herself in the world of books. And it was finally at the intersection of life and fantasy that things started to gradually fall into place. She says, Growing up I didnt really have people, so books were the closest thing I had to a parent, sibling or friend. In some ways, I grew up with the stories I read. For example, I first read Alice in Wonderland in comic form, then later I read the abridged version, and then gradually I read the original book. So in a way, I grew up with the story, and thats probably why I love it so much.

The influence that Lewis Carols Alice in Wonderland exerted on Chatterjees childhood psyche is strongly evident in the way the writer articulates her experiences. The sense of homelessness and the feeling of being stuck between two worlds dominate much of the sensorial landscape of the book. Alice at once becomes both an inspiration as well as the single most relatable character in Chatterjees life, from whom she derives the strength to plough forward.

She observed, At first I thought Alice in Wonderland was a fascinating story in which all these magical things were happening to Alice one after the other, but I eventually realised, as I grew up, that she is actually going through one horror after another. There were also several lines in the story that just instinctively made sense to me. For instance: I am not crazy, my reality is just different from yours. Growing up I felt many of my friends didnt understand my reclusive nature; they thought I was strange or weird. It is only after reading the book that many of them reached out to me and said We now understand why you were the way you were.

The author dedicated her book to the survivors of child sexual abuse, to let them know that they're are not alone in their struggle. When you are a child, sometimes you dont realise you are being abused. It takes many, many years to process all the events and figure out that was happening to you was not normal. Books, in a way, gave me a template to understand the world around me and they also gave me an escape. I felt less alone."

The Water Phoenix does not shy away from discussing the impact of childhood trauma on the emotional and psychological well-being of adults. Chatterjee poignantly describes the insidious ways in which unresolved childhood anxieties manifested in her daily life as a young adult. The pain she endures as a result of once again not knowing what is happening to her is explored with heartbreaking honesty, and her decision to not pathologise her challenges sparked by a single moment of deep realisation about her own life opens the future course of healing. According to Chatterjee, The Water Phoenix is ultimately a book about healing and forgiveness.

She shared, The path I chose towards healing helped me realise the power of our inner reality and its ability to shape our environment. The hallucinations that I had started to experience were a manifestation of my deep-seated fears. Once my inner reality changed, my visions became more positive and I was able to embrace them. There are many books on child sexual abuse but only a few on healing and what works, therefore, I felt a sense of responsibility to write about my own journey towards healing and forgiveness. What the book finally offers is a very kind perspective on forgiveness that has almost nothing to do with the abuser, but has everything to do with you.

On the subject of how the family as a social unit can evolve to prevent violence against children, Chatterjee observed, When parents follow their own joy, they teach their children to do the same, this leads to less suppression. But the more I think about it the more I feel that family, in any case, is not the answer. We need more intentional communities where individuals depend on each other and live collectively.

In The Water Phoenix, Chatterjee captures a whole range of issues and emotions that gradually unravel and are then patiently explored. Hope and the human ability to heal from trauma is central to its narrative. But at its heart, it is a deeply sensitive memoir that extends a warm hug to anyone who has ever felt misunderstood, alone or hurt by others.

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Rituparna Chatterjee discusses her memoir The Water ..enix, the complexities of child sex abuse, and healing - Firstpost

Yusuf Zakir (photo courtesy of Davis Wright Tremaine)

As we know all too well, 2020 was a challenging year for us as individuals, for the legal profession, and for the nation. But the year was not without its positive developments. In my view, the most significant positive change within Biglaw last year was an increased commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

In fact, I would describe 2020 as the year that Biglaw got serious about diversity. At Lateral Link, in practically every meeting we took with firms to discuss their talent needs, diversity was a central focus. And it wasnt just all talk and no action, with firms boasting about their commitment to diversity but not doing anything differently. I saw many situations where firms really did do things differently for diversity, such as looking harder, keeping searches open for longer, and working with diverse recruiters, who tend to have the strongest pipelines of diverse candidates.

We arent far into the new year, but so far, it seems that firms are continuing to focus on diversity in 2021. This past Tuesday, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP announced a great new policy:

Fostering DEI at our law firm and in the legal profession is everyones business. These efforts and their resulting benefits make us better. To that end, we are proud to announce the firms DEI Billable Hour Credit Policy. With this policy, the firm will count up to 50 hours of eligible DEI activities annually towards the billable hour requirement for each full-time attorney.

The purpose of this policy is two-fold. First, we seek to recognize and reward attorneys who are committed to DEI at Davis Wright Tremaine and in the broader legal profession. Second, we seek to encourage broader participation in DEI initiatives across our attorney population.

Biglaw runs on billables, so giving billable-hour credit for diversity work is an important step. Because compensation at firms is generally tied to billable hours, Davis Wright and other firms with this policy are putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to diversity.

Heres another step firms can take to advance diversity: hire a chief diversity officer. Indeed, law firms around the country have been on a hiring spree when it comes to diversity professionals. The Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals (ALFDP) now boasts roughly 250 members, more than double its membership from just seven years ago.

Last October, Davis Wright Tremaine hired its first Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Yusuf Zakir. Before joining DWT, Zakir was the Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Holland & Knight, and before that, he was the Manager of Global Diversity, Recruiting, & Engagement at Latham & Watkins. He previously worked as a litigation associate at Latham before making the jump over to the DEI space in 2015. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto and his law degree from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles, and he served as a law clerk to Judge Virginia A. Philips (C.D. Cal.).

The DEI Billable Hour Credit Policy is just one of a number of changes that Zakir and DWT have planned to promote diversity going forward. I recently spoke with Zakir to get his thoughts on how law firms should think about DEI.

Zakir agreed with my view that despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and the recession, which disproportionately affected underrepresented and marginalized communities, Biglaw did make progress last year regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Over the second half of 2020, especially after George Floyds murder, discussions around DEI accelerated, he said. Firms are now being much more intentional about diversity compared to 2008. Back then, during the last economic downturn, DEI was not as established in law firms as it is today.

Intentionality is a key concept when it comes to promoting diversity. Firms cant just go about their business and let the problem of diversity somehow solve itself; effort must be made.

At the end of the day, DEI is about how intentional we are, Zakir said. Managing partners, department and practice group chairs, and law firm partners in general need to be intentional about developing talent. How do we make sure that a commitment to diversity is fully embedded throughout the organization?

Without intentionality, you run into problems like affinity bias, our unconscious tendency to work with and professionally develop people who are like us. Because the upper echelons of Biglaw are not very diverse, affinity bias can lead to the replication of this lack of diversity unless law firm leaders and partners, especially equity partners, make conscious, intentional efforts to develop a broad range of talent, not just people who are like themselves.

How can law firms address affinity bias and other forms of unconscious bias? Yes, training is important and if your firm doesnt already have training on this, it should. And training shouldnt just be something that employees go through when they join the firm and never go through again; it should be revisited and reinforced. For example, a firm might want to have the lawyers who conduct on-campus interviews at law schools go through a refresher training before the start of OCI.

But training alone isnt sufficient to solve the problem of bias. Zakir emphasized that firm processes also need to be structured in ways that address the potential influence of bias, perhaps through the addition of bias interrupters.

Again, take on-campus interviewing at law schools. This is definitely an area where unconscious bias can have an effect; interviewers tend to bond with interviewees who are like them. Indeed, this is why law firms often send alumni of a particular school back to their alma maters for OCI, so they can bond with the applicants.

To address potential affinity bias, some firms have added a bias interrupter to the OCI process, Zakir explained. If an interviewer passes on a candidate from an underrepresented group, the interviewer might be asked to articulate in more detail why they made that decision, instead of just not putting the candidate on the callback list. The interviewer might still make the same decision in the end, but at least they will do so with intentionality, not unthinkingly.

Intentionality should extend to compensation as well, according to Zakir. In other words, firms shouldnt just pay people what they want to pay them and let the chips fall where they may. Instead, firms need to track how compensation breaks down along such lines as gender and race/ethnicity and if the results are not equitable, firms need to ask why.

Given all the changes law firms are making, large and small, to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion, Zakir is optimistic about the future of DEI in Biglaw.

There is rightfully a lack of patience on the part of many, he said. But change takes time. The upcoming presidential inauguration reminds us of that. Kamala Harris will be the first in so many categories as Vice Presidentfirst woman, first Black or South Asian woman, first person of color. Harris was born less than a year before the Voting Rights Act was passed. And next week, she will become the Vice President. This is incredible progress, but it can be traced back to the work of individuals over time who committed to these efforts and paved the way for others. Progress takes timebut change does come.

To recap, here are five steps law firms can take to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, if they have not taken them already:

Of course, there is no single action a law firm can take to ensure diversity. Advancing DEI requires intentionality, long-term commitment, and leadership from the top. Its hard work.

The good news is that 2020 was a year when law firms started focusing on diversity. And even though many of us are happy to turn on the page on last year, lets hope that Biglaws commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion remains with us, for many years to come.

(Disclosure: Lateral Link placed Yusuf Zakir into Davis Wright & Tremaine, as part of our robust and growing practice helping law firms and corporate legal departments to find chief diversity and inclusion officers. If youd like our assistance in finding a chief diversity officer, please reach out to my colleagues Gloria Sandrino and Monique Burt Williams. Thanks.)

Ed. note:This is the latest installment in a series of posts fromLateral Linksteam of expert contributors.This post is by David Lat, a managing director in the New York office, where he focuses on placing top associates, partners and partner groups into preeminent law firms around the country.

Prior to joining Lateral Link, David founded and served as managing editor of Above the Law. Prior to launching Above the Law, he worked as a federal prosecutor, a litigation associate at Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz in New York, and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. OScannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. David is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at dlat@laterallink.com.

Lateral Link is one of the top-rated international legal recruiting firms. With over 14 offices worldwide, Lateral Link specializes in placing attorneys at the most prestigious law firms and companies in the world. Managed by former practicing attorneys from top law schools, Lateral Link has a tradition of hiring lawyers to execute the lateral leaps of practicing attorneys. Clickhereto find out more about us.

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5 Concrete Steps Law Firms Can Take To Advance Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion - Above the Law