I, Catherine Nelson, personally commit to the following:

Personal Commitment

• I will use my voice and platform, as Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer of Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual Legal Reserve Company (HCSC), to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in HCSC, the legal profession, and in my community.
• I will hold myself accountable for meaningful and sustained investment and engagement in DEI initiatives, including through active participation and executive sponsorship of a business resource group. 
• I will engage annually with at least three (3) general counsels of other organizations to share experiences and discuss how best to promote DEI within our respective law departments, the legal profession, and in our communities.
• I will engage quarterly with diverse members of the HCSC Legal Division, including current and former LCLD Fellows and Pathfinders, to discuss their experiences and solicit feedback on ways we can improve our DEI initiatives and divisional culture.
• I will value diversity in my leadership team and will endeavor to maintain at least 50 percent diverse representation on my leadership team, and to build a talent pipeline for my leadership team, will establish career advancement opportunities for diverse attorneys to participate in and lead projects with high visibility and exposure.
• I commit to mentoring diverse talent and will identify two (2) individuals to mentor and sponsor.

Organizational Commitment

• We (the HCSC Legal Division) will develop annually a DEI plan that identifies initiatives, goals, and metrics.
• We will sponsor four (4) diverse attorneys to participate in the LCLD Fellows and LCLD Pathfinder programs on an annual basis. 
• We will maintain a shared intern program with one or more law firm partners to promote the hiring of diverse law interns and provide them exposure to both law firm and in-house working environments.  
• We will work to engage additional firms owned and led by individuals underrepresented in leadership positions in the legal industry (including women, people of color, veterans, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQ+) and endeavor to double our overall spend with such firms over the next three (3) years. 
• We will require our paneled outside counsel firms to report on diverse attorney representation on HCSC matters with our outside law firms with the goal that at least 35% of our work be conducted by diverse partners and associates within two (2) years.
• We will employ inclusive hiring practices and endeavor to recruit a diverse slate of candidates for every HCSC Legal Division hire to continue to increase representation of diverse attorneys across the Legal Division. 
• We will ensure that mentors are made available for each diverse attorney within the HCSC Legal Division.
• We will provide a minimum of two (2) DEI training sessions on an annual basis to improve cultural competency and awareness across the HCSC Legal Division.
• We will sponsor opportunities for members of the HCSC Legal Division to participate in pro bono or other community initiatives focused on equity, including addressing the needs of underrepresented communities.