Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summit
June 4th, 2021
Early Bird Registration ends on Friday, May 28th
The D.C. Bar Communities Office, and the D.C. Bar, have committed to exploring and creating opportunities to increase diversity and address equity issues within the legal profession. In furtherance of this goal, the Communities are pleased to present what we hope will be an educational and informative day to explore these important topics. The focus of the day’s programming is to elevate awareness, encourage greater community engagement, as well as cause increased individual reflection. Please join us for the first ever Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summit presented by the D.C. Bar Communities.
9:30 a.m. – 9:40 a.m.
Welcome – Patricia Davison-Lewis, Esq. Chair, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Subgroup
9:40 a.m. – 11:40 a.m.
Keynote Presentation - Bart Bailey, Founder and Principal Consultant, Courage to Care LLC.
This interactive presentation will provide training to cultivate workplaces where individual differences are seen as assets, healthy tension fosters innovation and creativity, and the organization’s members regularly bring their best selves to the job. Trust and Respect, leading to belonging (rather than assimilation) is the goal. The presentation will discuss the impact of Racism as a Pandemic, give clear guidance on Allyship, and wrap up with a commitment to and accountability partners for an inclusive culture through building skills in communication and communication strategies, holding space for open dialogue to share and listen, and articulate the opportunity to foster belonging between self and organization.
11:40 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Break
12:00 p.m. – 12:50 p.m.
Afternoon Breakout Session 1
- The Forgotten 40 Acres: How Real Property and Tax Laws Contributed to the Racial Wealth Gap and How To Repair It - Sarah Moore Johnson, Esq.; Raymond C. Odom, Esq.; Vanesa Browne, Esq.
This program will address the history behind the initial success and ultimate failure of Sherman's Special Field Order 15 promising freed slaves 40 acres (but not a mule), and the case for reparations today by covering areas including the real property and tax laws contributing to the racial wealth gap, various options for reparations in the United States, and why the estate tax and other taxes on the wealthy are appropriate sources of funding for reparations.
- Your Legal Career: Today, Tomorrow, and Beyond - Regina Speed-Bost, Esq.; Anna Rappaport, Esq.; Todd Braunstein, Esq.; Moderator: Imani Brooks, J.D. Candidate at American University Washington College of Law
You have a diverse perspective and identity that will be a part of your career journey. Perhaps you were awarded a DEI scholarship and are ready to take the first step in your career, perhaps you have started your career, have a position now but are thinking of a change, or perhaps you are in your career, have a position that is a great fit and rarely think of a career transition. No matter where you are in your career how your unique perspective and experience will inform your career choices and direction is more of a puzzle than a straight line. To get the most of any position you have and to manage your career is challenging. Through a panel discussion, this program will help coveted diverse law students and recent graduates think about their legal career in the long term in a very practical way by taking steps now.
12:50 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Break
1:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m.
Afternoon Breakout Session 2
- Inclusive Business Development – Faith Brinkley, MS, MBA and LaNitra Webb, MBA
Increasing client work and forging strong client relationships are key to growing business, but is your approach inclusive? Join us to learn why diverse representation in pitches is critical and the importance of approaching staffing with an inclusive lens; how to influence work allocation with key stakeholders; and ways to leverage best practice approaches to DEI in securing opportunities with clients.
- Authentic Change Agents: Championing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion through Action – Tracey S. Fisher, Ph.D.; Patricia Davison-Lewis, Esq.
A critical approach to exploring the ways in which people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds can consciously transform racial meanings and build transracial and ethnic solidarities within intersecting political, economic and socio-cultural environments. This presentation will help engage and inform personal and professional strategies that can work to interrupt and challenge systemic and structural inequity and foster change. How people can, and do, actively change systems takes conscious, intentional commitment, and devising a plan of action.
Purchase Dr. Fisher’s book, Little Big Change: Understanding, Interrupting, and Reducing Systemic Inequity here.
1:50 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Closing Remarks
