Compiled for LCLD Members and the Board of Directors every Wednesday, this digest is designed to brief you on the latest headlines about LCLD Members and organizations, as well as thought-provoking articles on diversity in the legal profession, talent development, mentoring, and leadership. Past issues of the Digest are also archived on the LCLD web site.
If you have questions about the Digest, articles you'd like to share, or if you would like to subscribe, please email Communications Manager Caitlin Puffenberger at cpuffenberger@lcldnet.com.
1. Crowell’s Dwyer to Head Leadership Council on Legal Diversity
“Going forward, we need to focus on the other side of the equation: what leaders of LCLD’s Member organizations are doing to rethink and further advance the career trajectories of diverse talent,” says Ellen Dwyer, LCLD’s incoming Chair. The American Lawyer
2. LISTEN: Sabbaticals & Career Swerves with Zohra Tejani
In a discussion on tackling career changes head-on, LCLD Fellows Zohra Tejani and Heather Hubbard share how participation in the Fellows Program was a “game changer” in their lives and careers. Hustle & Flow Podcast
3. Advancing Black Leaders, Part 2: The Costs of Code-Switching
- A study on black employees and “code-switching”—or changing one’s style of speech, appearance, or behavior in an effort to better fit in at work—found that “no diversity environment perfectly eliminates code-switching.” Harvard Business Review
- However, “organizations can and should play a pivotal role in creating environments where code-switching is not necessary for success, particularly by cultivating spaces that value inclusion and differences,” the researchers write. Harvard Business Review
4. Companies Partner to Increase Inclusion in the Technology Sector Through Computer Science Education
- LCLD Member organizations Microsoft and Walmart, along with the Cognizant U.S. Foundation, are investing $3 million in a computer science curriculum at 150 college campuses across the country. Microsoft News Center
- The program will help “ensure everyone, no matter their background, can be the leaders and computer scientists solving tomorrow’s challenges,” says Kate Behncken, 2015 Fellow and Lead of Microsoft Philanthropies. Microsoft News Center
5. OpEd: The Racism Right Before Our Eyes
The first step to dealing with racism, writes columnist Jamelle Bouie, “is to shake ourselves of the idea that explicit racial discrimination is yesterday’s problem. It’s a live force in American life that works in tandem with structural racism to recapitulate past injustice and reproduce racial disadvantage.” The New York Times
6. Getting the Most Out of 360-Degree Reviews
360-degree reviews are only effective if feedback is kept confidential, candor is encouraged, and there is transparency around the objective of the reviews. Harvard Business Review
