It's time to talk DEI...... in DIFFERENT ways

Well, it’s 2025. All of us at the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession (“IILP”) wish you a happy new year. For me, I find myself a bit surprised to comprehend that Y2K was 25 years ago! There are new bar admittees who weren’t yet born then! Or, that next year marks TEN years since the Cubs won the World Series (please, please, please don’t make us wait another 108 years)!?

With the new year, comes changes. New laws go into effect. New – healthier? – lifestyles are launched. And, we’re navigating a new landscape for diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) efforts – with or without “belonging” or “justice” or any other “letters”. Some in the DEI community are full of doom and gloom. Some are blithely “ostrich-ing,” sticking with the status quo – until they can’t. At IILP we’re forging ahead, planning, as is our wont, to offer the legal profession innovative, creative, sometimes surprising, and, above all DIFFERENT ways to continue to advance DEI in the legal profession.?

One way we’re doing this isn’t a new way; it’s our annual #TalkIntoAction campaign. During the winter months, when its tempting to just stick close to home and bury one’s head in one’s work, we encourage the legal profession to seize this as an opportunity to join us in advancing DEI in the legal profession and maybe starting the new year with a new friend.?

Here’s how it works: During January or February, find someone else in the legal profession who 1) you don’t already know well (i.e., you’ve never shared a meal with them or had a one-on-one conversation beyond social pleasantries); and 2) has a diversity characteristic different from your diversity characteristics. Then, spend one hour talking with them about DEI. This can be done in-person or virtually. It can be a formal lunch or a casual coffee. It can be about your work or about your hobbies. Pretty much anything is open for conversation. You’re not trying to persuade or educate anyone about anything. You’re sharing and learning. And, even if you go into it with less than pure motives – business development? – that’s fine. What’s important is that you’re talking, learning, and sharing about DEI and what you and your conversation partner might each take away from it.

Snap a selfie and post it to social media with #TalkIntoAction and email/tag Jennifer Jackson at [email protected]. (You can learn more about #TalkIntoAction here.)?

2025 looks to usher in a brave new world for DEI. As organizations feel their way forward in the new landscape for DEI efforts, let’s not forget the role of the individual in advancing DEI. Let’s hike up our “new year, new you, new healthier-sized pants (or whatever you prefer to wear)” and bring a bit more individual effort to DEI. Join IILP as we move #TalkIntoAction and, one way or another, continue to make the legal profession more diverse, equitable, and inclusive.?

?

Sandra Yamate

CEO?

INSTITUTE FOR INCLUSION IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION