At Lee Smart, a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace is where all employees and volunteers, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education, or disability, feel valued and respected. We are committed to a nondiscriminatory approach and provide equal employment and advancement opportunities in our departments, programs, and worksites. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and ensure that all voices are valued and heard.
We’re committed to modeling diversity and inclusion for the entire Legal sector and to maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all.
To provide informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity, Lee Smart strives to:
- Ensuring the well-being of our staff and those we serve.
- Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and continually update and report organization progress.
- Explore potential underlying, unquestioned assumptions that interfere with inclusiveness.
- Advocate for and support board-level thinking about how systemic inequities impact our Firm’s work and how best to address that in a way consistent with our mission.
- Help to challenge assumptions about what it takes to be a strong leader at Lee Smart and who is well-positioned to provide leadership.
- Practice and encourage transparent communication in all interactions.
- Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board, staff, committee, and advisory bodies.
- Lead with respect and tolerance. We expect all employees to embrace and express this notion in workplace interactions and everyday practices.
Lee Smart abides by the following action items to help promote diversity and inclusion in our workplace:
- Pursue cultural competency throughout our organization by creating substantive learning opportunities and formal, transparent policies.
- Improve our cultural leadership pipeline by creating and supporting programs and policies that foster leadership that reflects the diversity of American society.
- Develop a system for being more intentional and conscious of bias during the hiring, promotion, or evaluation. Train our hiring team on equitable practices.
- Include a salary range with all public job descriptions.
- Challenge systems and policies that create inequity, oppression, and disparity.