In early December, LCLD Members joined President Robert Grey and the LCLD Community for the Language of Leadership series' final installment of the year: a live, in-depth discussion with Joel Unruch, LCLD Board Member and General Counsel of Accenture, on how leaders can use their personal commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion to drive lasting change.

"I made the pledge, I made it public, I shared it with the legal department...and we are reviewing it constantly," said Joel of his Leader's Pledge, the detailed and strategic action plan to advance diverse attorneys that is now a condition of LCLD Membership. "We don't need to do this alone. We can do this together in a data-driven way to see what's working and what's not."

The conversation delved into the power of transparent data-tracking, executive buy-in, providing "intentional opportunities" to diverse attorneys, and staying accountable to bold objectives and long-term goals. Joel and Robert also discussed the ongoing development of DE&I at Accenture, where 46 percent of the global company's 674,000 employees are women; one current goal is to be "50/50 gender neutral by 2025," including at the managing director level.

"The only way to make the pledge powerful," Joel said, is to make DE&I part of an organization's overall objectives—and these objectives must align with "what diverse attorneys need from their leaders."

He emphasized the importance of having personal conversations with diverse attorneys about their goals, challenges, and visions for the future, in addition to gathering feedback on DE&I progress via surveys. "We have a lot to learn, but we also have a lot to unlearn," Joel said, and maintaining these dialogues is crucial to avoid "losing the momentum" that has grown over the past two years.

The next Language of Leadership webinar will take place on January 19, 2022, with LCLD Member Katie Rowen, Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Vontier Corporation. Click here to register.

Thank you to each of the distinguished leaders who joined the Language of Leadership conversation in 2021. We applaud you, and the 160+ LCLD Members who are leading from the front and using their collective voice for change. Together, we can build a legal profession as diverse as the nation it serves.

January  |  Teresa Roseborough, LCLD Member, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary, The Home Depot Inc.  |  TERESA'S PLEDGE

February  |  David Zapolsky, LCLD Member, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary, Amazon.com  | DAVID'S PLEDGE

March  |  Tim Murphy, former LCLD Member, former General Counsel, Mastercard

April  |  Dev Stahlkopf, LCLD Board Member, former Corporate Vice President and General Counsel, Microsoft (now Cisco Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer)  |  DEV'S PLEDGE

May  |  Halimah DeLaine Prado, LCLD Member, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Google LLC  |  HALIMAH'S PLEDGE

June  |  Deborah Majoras, LCLD Member, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, The Proctor & Gamble Company  |  DEB'S PLEDGE

July  |  Matt Cooper, LCLD Member, General Counsel, Capital One Financial  |  MATT'S PLEDGE

August  |  Katya Jestin, LCLD Member, Co-Managing Partner, Jenner & Block LLP; and Tom O'Neill, former LCLD Board Member, Partner, Jenner & Block LLP  |  KATYA'S PLEDGE

September  |  Rick Palmore, LCLD Founding Chair Emeritus, Senior Counsel, Dentons US LLP  |  RICK'S PLEDGE

November  |  Dana Rao, LCLD Member, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary, Adobe Inc.  |  DANA'S PLEDGE

December  |  Joel Unruch, LCLD Board Member, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Accenture  |  JOEL'S PLEDGE