Join us in thanking our outgoing  Board C0-Chair, Caryn Boisen, for her years of service! We asked Caryn to share some thoughts about her experiences with TCDIP over the years.

What’s one TCDIP program, initiative, or milestone that’s meaningful to you?
Experiencing firsthand the genesis of WILD (Wanton Injustice Legal Detail) has been incredibly meaningful for me over the past year.  The idea for WILD started within days of the tragic killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, when Darnell Cage and Dadri-Anne Graham of TCDIP’s Emerging Leaders Group (ELG) stepped up with a vision and plan to utilize the power of TCDIP’s 60+ members to fight against the injustices faced by Black people in the Twin Cities.  Darnell and Dadri made a compelling presentation to TCDIP’s Board in early June 2020, and the Board quickly recognized that furthering WILD’s mission is a necessary first step to furthering TCDIP’s mission to attract, recruit, advance, and retain attorneys of color in the Twin Cities.  Without addressing and overcoming the myriad of social injustices faced by Black people in the Twin Cities, we will never achieve the goal of building a diverse and truly inclusive legal community.  It has been an honor to lead TCDIP, alongside Executive Director Summra Shariff, my Co-Chair Neera Chatterjee, and the rest of the Board, through this incredible journey.  I can’t wait to see what WILD can achieve!

What do you look forward to seeing from TCDIP in the future?
Since TCDIP’s inception, the organization has done so much to made great strides in the “attract and recruit” part of our mission.  What is more difficult and where the conversation and action must become much more focused is on the “advance and retain” part of our mission.  The key is inclusion.  If people don’t feel connected, included, and valued in their community, they’re not going to want to be part of that community.  TCDIP can and will play a very important role moving forward in this regard because inclusion should not and cannot be the responsibility of diverse lawyers alone.  All lawyers in the Twin Cities are responsible for creating an inclusive legal community.

What is the most rewarding part of serving on the TCDIP Board? 

It is very rewarding to see attorneys from competing organizations working together to achieve a common goal.  This collaboration makes TCDIP truly unique.