I, Michele Connell, personally commit to the following:

Personal Commitments

• I will convene with the ERG champions/committee quarterly to provide support and identify and address the needs of each resource group.
• I will partner with and lend my leadership support to the Office of DEI, Pro Bono, and Foundation teams to impact diversity in the firm and in the communities in which we live and work.
• I will commit to using my professional resources to connect diverse attorneys with client opportunities unique to their area of practice that is within my purview.
• I will ensure that the firm complies with the Mansfield Rule guidelines of consideration for leadership positions, promotions, and lateral hiring.
• I will partner with a group of general counsels on DEI initiatives and work together to ensure the overall improvement of underrepresented lawyers in the legal industry.
• I will meet with Practice Group Leaders quarterly to align DEI objectives and strategies in each practice group and to ensure improvement of key metrics.
• I will work with the Office of DEI to ensure high caliber and practical DEI training is delivered across the firm to lawyers and professional staff annually.
• I champion the further development of our mentoring and sponsorship program to meet the evolving needs of the mentees, mentors and sponsors.
• I will monitor and track the utilization of underrepresented lawyers to ensure access and equitable work assignments and work with partners to influence pivots/direction change when needed.
• I will partner with our clients to support their DEI objectives to meet their needs and goals for diversity representation on their matters.
• I will meet with the firm LCLD Fellow and Pathfinders twice a year regarding their progress in the program and understand other professional concerns.

Organizational Commitments

• Culture. Ensure that lawyers and other professionals are committed to the firm’s vision for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and will support it by taking actions to increase diversity and equity in the workforce and maintain an inclusive workplace. The accountability measures that Squire Patton Boggs will use to continually measure success include:
• Utilize our newly formed office of DEI to set, track and measure performance against our strategic priorities.
• Provide billable credit to all attorneys who participate in approved DEI efforts.
• Develop programming and events to encourage meaningful interaction between attorneys in historically underrepresented groups, Firm Leadership, and the Global Board.
• Designate deputy practice group leaders as liaisons to the Office of DEI on areas of attorney utilization, performance, and professional development.
• Create a global employee resource group (ERG) committee that allows champions from the firm’s various ERGs to collaborate and improve the utility of ERGs for all participants.
• Provide routine updates to the firm’s Global Board on the progress of the firm’s DEI priorities.
• Career. Recruit, hire, develop, retain, and promote lawyers and other professionals to sustain a high-performing law firm that reflects our values in the communities in which we operate. The accountability measures that Squire Patton Boggs will use to continually measure success include:
• Fully integrating DEI efforts into the Firm's Compensation structure for partners through its Partner DEI Objectives that were launched in 2021. This also includes routine surveying of Partners’ DEI efforts and providing necessary support to partners.
• Develop annual DEI training curriculum that includes various forms of learning for all firm employees.
• Invest in regular business development training and retreats focused on unique business development opportunities for historically underrepresented attorneys.
• Create a Sponsorship program for senior associates in historically underrepresented groups who are in partner- track positions to facilitate the transition from associate to partner.
• Revamp the firm's mentorship program for junior associates to ensure that targeted mentoring is available to associates in historically underrepresented groups in areas that may be unique to their lived experiences (e.g., first lawyer in their family, coming out at work, etc.).
• Community. Align our pro bono, philanthropic and corporate social responsibility efforts to activities that help create greater access and equity in the provision of legal services. The accountability measures that Squire Patton Boggs will use to continually measure success include:
• Provide billable credit to all attorneys who participate in approved pro bono efforts.
• Establish a legal advice clinic for women of color business owners with New Voices Foundation.
• Continue to elevate the pro-bono work the firm does with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers “Return to Freedom Project,” University of Akron School of Law as part of Ohio Governor DeWine’s Expedited Pardon Project, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles among others.
• Continue to awards fellowships to first- and second-year law students who demonstrate a steadfast commitment to public service and a developed interest in public policy through the work of the Squire Patton Boggs Foundation.
• Clients. Engage our clients with DEI efforts, support the growth and development of their diversity efforts, and provide diversity metrics to improve representation of diverse lawyers working on client matters. The accountability measures that Squire Patton Boggs will use to continually measure success include:
• Use attorney internal data to ensure attorneys are utilized in a way to ensure client needs are met.
• Partner with clients on ways in which they can improve their own DEI initiatives through our in-house DEI expertise.
• Rigorously monitor internal demographic data through a DEI dashboard to ensure that responses to client RFPs that include DEI requests are always up to date.