INTERLAWDIVERSITYFORUM.ORG Annual Report 2020 Welcome from our Chair About the InterLaw Diversity Forum Our Team InterLaw Diversity Forum: By the Numbers Our Member Organisations Race & Ethnicity Network LGBT+ Network The Purple Reign Project Lavender Law: Finance Law Institute Guide to Gender-Neutral Drafting Women’s Initiative the Created Forum ENABLE (dis)Ability Network Social Mobility Initiative Student Lab Summer Internship Lockdown Lift -Up Series 2020 Career Progression Report Apollo Leadership Institute UK Model Diversity Survey InterLawADVANCE Feedback 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20Welcome from our Chair I founded the InterLaw Diversity Forum in 2008 with a mission of bringing together LGBT+ talent and our allies in the legal profession. From the very beginning we embraced “supporters”, as I knew advancing LGBT+ talent would take the engagement of the whole profession, especially given the lack of diverse talent in senior positions. Based upon the findings our 2012 research, the scope of our mission soon expanded and “intersectionality”, “social mobility”, “culture” and “leadership” became essential elements of our work. We later added additional networks to support diverse talent and our allies: Race & Ethnicity Network (2016), ENABLE (dis)Ability Network (2017), and Women’s Network (2018). Our mission has been clear since the beginning – to support diverse and socially mobile talent in the legal sector, activate their allies, support their networks and employers, and to support communities beyond the legal sector. As this work has progressed, we have been blessed with an ever-growing phenomenal leadership team and a stellar group of patrons – all dedicated to our mission. 2020 has been an unprecedented year for the world and our profession. We have seen the world plunged into a global pandemic which has changed our way of life and our way of working. As the pandemic unfolded, we also became more and more aware that the pandemic did not impact us all the same. We discovered that marginalized groups, including those from racial and ethnic minorities, those from the LGBT+ community, those with disabilities, and the socially/economically disadvantaged were disproportionately experiencing the negative healthcare, mental health, and economic effects resulting from the pandemic. As these negative trends impacted the world and broader society, they were also felt within the legal profession. We knew that our mission and our work at the InterLaw Diversity Forum was now more critical than ever. We shifted our all our programming online, starting with our network meetings. We also created a programme to support our membership with a series of sessions designed to provide people with the skills to cope in this new virtual working environment, from managing productivity during Lockdown, to balancing work with family, to developing leadership skills in crisis, to virtual networking. Against this backdrop, the tragic death of George Floyd in late May sent ripples across the world and re-ignited the Black Lives Matter and modern-day civil rights movement. We have been focusing on race through an intersectional lens since 2012 and launched our Race & Ethnicity Network in October 2016. Our Race & Ethnicity work was inspired by the findings of our 2012 research about the career experiences of Black, Asian and ethnic minority talent in the legal sector. Along with the input of our leadership team, we were able to convene the Black Voices in the Legal Sector: Sharing Experiences and Empowering Allies event only several weeks after this tragic event to provide a platform for both Black, Asian and minority ethnic talent in the law, as well as tools for allies to take action during this critical time. This current state of affairs also pushed us in July 2020 to embark on one of our most ambitious events yet – the Student Lab Summer Internship . This virtual internship supported over 450 high-performing, diverse and/or socially mobile students, recent graduates, and paralegals through 29 sessions of legal-focused programming over five days. As we look back on 2020 and look forward to 2021, we see hope on the horizon for progress in the legal profession. We hope to support that change through continuing the growth of our networks and through the work of our Apollo Leadership Institute. Our key projects for 2021 include the UK Model Diversity Survey with the ABA and Microsoft, the 2020 update to our Career Progression Report alongside the SRA, and our Pathways to Success programme . Thanks to all of you who have contributed to our work and our continued success. Without the support of our individual members, our law firm and corporate members, our leadership team and patrons, and our speakers and volunteers, we could not have accomplished this work over the past year. Here is to a better 2021 for us all and to continued change in the legal sector to create true meritocracy where the best talent rises to the top! Best wishes, Daniel Winterfeldt QC (Hon) Founder & Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum01 InterLawDiversityForum.org About The InterLaw Diversity Forum works to foster inclusion for all diverse and socially disadvantaged talent working in the legal sector, and to promote meritocracy in all sectors by working to ‘level thae playing field’ in order to create environments where the best talent can succeed. Since its founding in 2008 the InterLaw Diversity Forum has expanded its scope to encompass all strands of diversity and inclusion, including Race & Ethnicity (BAME), LGBT+, Disability, Gender, and social mobility, with a particular focus on cultural change in the workplace and intersectionality. Events and membership are free and open to anyone working in the legal sector, both lawyers (including private practice and in-house counsel), as well as non-lawyers and business services staff.InterLaw’s work can be broken down into four key pillars supporting: 1. diverse and disadvantaged individuals in the profession; 2. law firms, chambers and legal employers; 3. government and regulatory bodies; and the wider community. We were honoured to have our work recognised in 2020 alongside Daniel Winterfeldt, our founder and Chair, who was named Honorary Queen’s Counsel (Queen’s Counsel Honoris Causa). This award is made by royal prerogative by the Queen upon recommendation by the Lord Chancellor, and is given to those who have made extraordinary contributions to the legal profession of England and Wales outside of the courts. Our work was also recognised when Daniel was named an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday honors in October 2020 for “Services to Capital Markets, to Equality and to Diversity in the Legal Profession”. The InterLaw Diversity Forum currently has more than 8,500 members and supporters from over 300 law firms and chambers, and over 500 corporates and financial institutions. The InterLaw Diversity Forum is a volunteer-led, not-for-profit organisation.02 Daniel K. Winterfeldt QC (Hon) Founder and Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum Partner, US Securities, Global Capital Markets, Reed Smith Usha Puri-Dewage Head of People Development and Culture, InterLaw Diversity Forum Manager of Professional Development, Cooley LLP Jonathan Leonhart Head of Operations, InterLaw Diversity Forum Apollo Leadership Institute & Model Diversity Survey Co-Leads Inclusion & Diversity Specialists Michelle Moon Lim Inclusion & Diversity Specialist, InterLaw Diversity Forum Dr. Catherine McGregor Inclusion & Diversity Specialist, InterLaw Diversity Forum; CEO, Catherine McGregor Research Gretchen C. Bellamy Senior Director, University Office for D&I, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Special Advisor to the ABA’s Commission on Racial & Ethnic Diversity in the Profession; President & Consulting Director, Bellamy Management Consulting LLC Dr. Lisa Webley, Head of Birmingham Law School; Professor of Legal Education and Research Daniel Winterfeldt Founder and Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum InterLaw Diversity Forum Leadership TeamRace & Ethnicity Network Co-Leads Daniel Winterfeldt Founder and Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum Research Leads Daniel Winterfeldt Founder and Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum Creative Lead Stephen Manion- Bredesen Creative Advisor, InterLaw Diversity Forum Dr. Richard Harvey Associate Professor in the Industrial-Organizational Program and Experimental Program, St. Louis University Dr. Lisa Webley Head of Birmingham Law School; Professor of Legal Education and Research Patti Kachidza Senior Lawyer, Axiom Sheldon Mills Director of Competition, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA); Chair, Stonewall; Senior Advisory Board Member, Apollo Leadership Institute LGBT+ Network Lead Daniel Winterfeldt Founder and Chair, InterLaw Diversity ForumNext >