I, Laura Schumacher, personally commit to the following:

Personal Commitment

• I believe that every individual is responsible for using the authority of their position to advocate for others. We are in a unique position to ensure that our partner firms are bringing the diverse backgrounds and perspectives needed to meet our toughest challenges, and to help future generations of underrepresented lawyers access meaningful opportunities early in their education or careers.

Organizational Commitment

• We are committed to treating everyone equally, with dignity and respect, and to continuously improving.
• We are focused on solidifying AbbVie as an inclusive employer of choice and are tracking employee representation, in our workforce and in our management.
• We are also a signatory to ABA Diversity Resolution 113 that seeks to create a legal profession that reflects the public it serves.
• Our commitment to EED&I does not stop with our organization – it extends to our partners and vendors. We have the power to influence and require the changes that we want to see from our partners and vendors, including our outside legal counsel. 
• Our key initiatives include:
• Implementing targeted recruitment strategies for diverse talent
• Ensuring robust plans for development and retention of all talent, including under-represented groups
• Ensuring training and awareness resources are provided for continuous improvement, reflection, and growth
• Building a pipeline of diverse early career talent and interests
• Leveraging partnerships to further accelerate diversity as extensions of AbbVie
• Measurable goals for outside counsel

Metrics

• We benchmark each of our internal team’s diversity as well as our recruiting results.
• We conduct bi-annual employee surveys, encompassing each of our leader’s inclusion skills, to provide valuable input from the employee perspective.
• We have set ideal targets for women and minority partners at our top firms: the percentage of hours each group bills annually on AbbVie’s matters.
• We are also striving to goals based on our aggregate spend across these firms:
• Equal female and male partners serving on legal matters
• Minority partner representation approximately doubles (moving from 8% in 2018 to 15% by 2023)
• A mix of at least 50% underrepresented lawyers serving on AbbVie matters