Presentation by Twin Cities Diversity in Practice Executive Director, Val Jensen, given at the 2015 Annual Meeting.

1. Annual Meeting
April 8, 2015
Valerie Jensen, JD
Executive Director

2. Member Recognition
Wells Fargo
Land O’Lakes
Cargill
Corporate Members

3. Member Recognition
 Large – Dorsey & Whitney
 Mid – Fish & Richardson
 Small – Zelle Hoffman
Law Firms

4. Twin Cities Diversity in Practice The
Past 10 Years
Challenges and Opportunities As We
Move Forward
Why It Still Matters…

5. Where We Began….

6. Our Board/Our Members 2006
26
Members
14 Board
Directors

7. Our Members/Our Board 2015
46
Members
26 Board
Directors

8. Efficient and Effective Use of
Resources
Staff Members

9. Attract/Recruit 2006
Flying Squads
• Chicago, Washington
DC, Nashville, Madison
1L Clerkship
Program
• Six Clerks
Community
Outreach

10. Attract/Recruit 2015
Flying Squads
• Chicago
Ambassador Program
• Mentoring Program
• All Three Law Schools
MMRC
• Recruitment Conference
• National Recruitment
1L Clerkship
16 Clerks

11. Advance Retain 2006
Creating
Connections
New
Associate
Welcome
Partners of
Color
Directory

12. Advance/ Retain 2015
PDC
Programs
Sponsorship
Pilot
Young
Lawyers
Group
Mentoring
Circles

13. Member/Community Engagement

14. Challenges and Opportunities
Members
Diversity
in
Practice
Lawyers
of Color

15. Building Our Brand in 2015
• PDC
• Young
Lawyers
Group
• Determining
High Touch
Events for
Students
• Getting Our
Name Out
Through
Social Media
Attract Recruit
Retain
Advance

16. Doing What Matters
Understanding Why People Leave
Creating a Plan
Getting Engaged at All Levels

17. +
Locally,
Nationally,
Globally
Fastest
Growing
Populations
• What does that
mean?
• Comfort and
competence?
• What Is Expected?
Changing Face of Law

18. Shift Happens----2050?
National Geographic Predictions

19. What is your organization doing
that is different or innovative?
It Is Time to Move Beyond
Checking the Box!
What does success look like for
your organization?

20. What Can We Do To Help All Lawyers
Advance?
1. Help Lawyers build skills through
challenging, varied work.
2. Provide support and encouragement and
make lawyers feel like and become a
valuable member of the team.
3. Ensure colleagues are culturally
competent and know how to work with
attorneys of color.

21. What Can We Do To Help All Lawyers
Advance?
4. Acknowledge the level of work quality through
transparent, periodic performance reviews.
5. Tie compensation and merit bonuses to
performance reviews.
6. Ensure reduced-time schedules are not barriers
to success.
7. Evaluate the performance of partners and
managers and provide development or remove
direct reports for sub-standard managers.

22. What‘s the
Difference
Thought Provoking
High Touch
Engagement

23. Our Priorities
2015
Metrics
Sponsorship
Many Faces of
Diversity in Practice

24. Takeaways
Each organization needs to be intentional from
Attract through Retain
Review Business Plans with diversity in mind
Get Engaged – Diversity & Inclusion Work
Requires Your Engagement
Step Outside Your Comfort Zone….

25. Collects Data
From
Members
Creates a
Platform to
Share Ideas
Creates a
Safe Place to
Have The
Hard
Conversations
Twin Cities Diversity in Practice

26. Final Thoughts

27. Thank You!