Each year, Twin Cities Diversity in Practice (TCDIP) representatives and stakeholders from all our Member Organizations gather for our Annual Meeting to reflect upon recent accomplishments and our goals for the following year and beyond. The Annual Meeting provides an opportunity to hear from leaders in our community and to engage in honest discussions on challenging topics. For example, in 2019 Ivan Fong, General Counsel at 3M, inspired our membership by sharing his concrete actions to foster inclusion as part of a larger effort to improve attorney well-being throughout his organization.

As Minnesotans and legal professionals, we share a responsibility to gain a deeper understanding of the history and issues that led to deep racial disparities in our state. By understanding the root causes, we can take more meaningful action to create equitable communities.

The Minnesota Racial Equity Challenge is a six-month, in-depth course to learn more about the people who live in Minnesota, the history of racism in this state, the racial inequities that currently exist in our state and their origins, and what we can do to eliminate these racial inequities. During the course, participants explore readings, podcasts, and other materials and gather twice a month for a guided discussion to process the readings and materials. After completing the course, participants are recognized publicly by TCDIP and WILD with our Minnesota Racial Equity Challenge Certification. View the 2022-2023 course syllabus at this link. Stay tuned for our next iteration of the Minnesota Racial Equity Challenge. 

We honor the participants below with our 2021 Minnesota Racial Equity Challenge Certification.

We honor the participants below with our 2023 Minnesota Racial Equity Challenge Certification.

In 2019, we launched the Twin Cities Diversity in Practice (TCDIP) Leadership Council, a forum for General Counsel and Managing Partners from TCDIP Member Organizations to collaborate and challenge one another to overcome the obstacles we collectively face. The Leadership Council provides a forum for General Counsels and Managing Partners to:

• challenge and hold each other accountable
• share resources and best practices to spur innovation • extend the impact of individual Member activities
• evaluate collective efforts to increase diversity

The Leadership Council also serves in an advisory capacity to the Executive Director and Board of Directors by providing feedback on strategic priorities for the organization and making recommendations for the future.

Through our General Member Meetings, Twin Cities Diversity in Practice (TCDIP) provides a forum for Member Representatives and ELG Representatives to gather and hear from thought leaders. Our Member Engagement and Innovation Committee develops the content for these meetings, with a focus on developing interactive, timely programming where Members can share best practices and learn how our Member Organizations can better implement diversity and inclusion initiatives while collaborating with one another.

Each year, Twin Cities Diversity in Practice (TCDIP) hosts three to four CLE programs designed to facilitate organizational transformation and create more inclusive workplaces for attorneys of color. CLEs are open to all attorneys at TCDIP Member Organizations. We especially encourage senior leaders interested in organizational change and development to attend.
Recent CLEs:

• Activating Allyship to Combat Anti-Black Racism, presented by Ritu Bhasin. In June of 2020, over 800 people attended this conversation with Ritu Bhasin and Brandon Blakely that presented concrete ideas to counter anti-Black racism in the legal workplace. Ritu and Brandon discussed talent management practices, inclusive sponsorship, and support structures for Black attorneys and other attorneys of color.
• Racial Equity in the Workplace, presented by Dr. Robert Livingston, Lecturer of Public Policy at the John
  F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. At the main event, attendees learned specific strategies that can be used in the workplace to increase retention, combat bias, and create inclusive environments for attorneys of color. The event also included a separate program exclusively for attorneys of color to discuss strategies to build and leverage power in the workplace.
• Diversity and the Predicament of Good Intentions, presented by Dr. Constanza Ocampo-Raeder, Assistant Professor at Carleton College and Consultant with Brightsmith. The workshop was designed specifically for those who are directly involved in diversity and inclusion work. Using an anthropological lens, Dr. Ocampo-Raeder shared how we can think about diversity in complex ways and avoid trafficking in the exact patterns we seek to avoid. Teams of professionals from TCDIP Member Organizations participated in a workshop where they discussed how to take their current diversity initiatives from surface-level to truly meaningful.
• Why the Legal Profession is the Nation’s Least Diverse – And How to Fix It, presented by Sybil Dunlop, partner at Greene Espel. During this webinar, Sybil Dunlop discussed the problems in the legal industry affecting hiring, promotion, and retention, and presented ideas all legal departments can incorporate to fix the issues. She discussed how to use diversity metrics effectively and how to assess diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.