Action Plan and Checklist to foster diversity, respect in the profession
The New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) strives to foster and maintain a professional culture that is based on the principles of diversity, respect, inclusion and teamwork.
The NJSBA has implemented its commitment to diversity and to a culture of inclusiveness through a series of initiatives and the adoption of a Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan and Individual Checklist which provides a roadmap for sustainable and longstanding diversity consciousness and meaningful inclusion.
The NJSBA's Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan lays out a clear road map for the NJSBA and the profession. It specifically calls on the leadership of the 18,000-member organization to:
- Become engaged in the necessary work to be done in the area of diversity and inclusion for sustainable outcomes, such as increasing the numbers of diverse lawyers actively involved in bar activities. The plan calls for training on diversity and enhancing membership recruiting efforts to attract and retain underrepresented groups.
- Lead the New Jersey legal profession by example by following the action plan within our organization.
- Increase and strengthen our external initiatives in the legal community, for example pipeline programs and community outreach.
The way the
Checklist works is simple: It offers dozens of examples that leaders can use to demonstrate the type of activities they are doing to advance the goals of diversity and inclusion in their professional and personal lives.
Each year all NJSBA leaders, including trustees and chairs and co-chairs of the association’s sections, committees and division—those people whose hard work and dedication to the profession have led them to the leadership of the association and will continue to help the profession evolve—will be expected to submit an individual diversity and inclusion action plan checklist.
The tools are meant to assist with the development of programs that promote the value and richness that diversity and full inclusion bring to the NJSBA as experienced in many of other states and professions. The tools will be used to to create an annual survey on the progress the NJSBA is making in these critical areas and what pivots or adjustments need to be made in order to accomplish our achievable diversity goals.
We anticipate that all NJSBA leaders will review and wholeheartedly embrace the action plan within each Section/Committee/Division and complete the Individual Checklist to serve as an example to the New Jersey legal community.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Office of Diversity and Inclusion at (732)937-7504 or email Paula Saha, at
[email protected].