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43 I L T A N E T . O R G Defining diversity, equity and inclusion What do we mean when we use words like diversity, equity and inclusion in speaking about our industry and organizations? When developing the DEITF charter, we needed to come up with working definitions for these words and we turned to, among others, our member entities, business partners, and sister associations for ideas and guidance. We found some common themes. Diversity definitions speak of the countless physical, psychological, ideological, and sociological differences inherent among any collection of individuals. Common among equity definitions is the concept of fairness, particularly regarding access, treatment, and opportunities, with some referencing historical barriers that may have hindered fair access, treatment and opportunities in the past with continued impact. Finally, inclusion definitions commonly speak of everyone feeling welcome, empowered, and able to be their authentic selves with their voice heard. Here is what we arrived at for ILTA. • Diversity celebrates the differences that exist among people and the unique combination of differences that makes us who we are and affects how we experience life. • Equity, is parity in policy, process and outcomes for all people, including historically and currently underrepresented or marginalized people, to ensure fair and equitable participation at all levels, distribution of resources, and commitment to address equity issues. • Inclusion is active and intentional efforts toward addressing inequities in power and privilege to build a respectful and diverse community that welcomes all and gives everyone opportunities to grow and prosper. Establishing scope and priorities With the first Climate Survey, ILTA has set a benchmark for measuring our progress and success. The intent is to run the survey every two years. To achieve and measure success, we must first set goals and define desired outcomes; and, doing this requires our understanding and articulating exactly whose engagement and participation within ILTA have been identified as needing attention to advance the organization to becoming more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. In other words, which groups have been marginalized and underrepresented? But, the groups that have been marginalized or underrepresented depend very much on the population in question and differ markedly across, for instance, fields of study, industries and geographies. In an international organization like ILTA, which spans a range of law firms, legal departments and legal technology companies with individuals in a variety of roles and levels, the answer may not be uniform or consistent. When first embarking on its work, the DEITF – like many other groups of its kind – reminded itself of such truisms as "not trying to boil the ocean" and "needing to eat the elephant one bite at a time;" in project management terms this equates to defining scope and setting priorities. With DEI, the primary task is to answer the following question: Within our particular organization, which groups are underrepresented and less engaged; which groups feel less welcomed or feel their voices are not being heard? As with the task of defining diversity, equity and inclusion, a good starting point for determining priorities would be to explore the work done by ILTA's membership entities and business partner community. One notable initiative is the Diversity Lab's Mansfield Rule and Certification. Started in 2016, the Mansfield Rule first focussed on reducing gender inequity by certifying law firms that could establish continued progress in building diversity by considering at least 30% women for leadership roles. The rule and certification soon expanded to measuring whether firms, "have affirmatively considered at least 30% women, lawyers of color, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, formal client pitch opportunities, and senior lateral positions." (See Diversity Lab Mansfield Rule 4.0 for more information and list of currently certified firms). With well over one hundred North American law firms certified, Mansfield continues to grow. It has now extended its challenge and certification to include rules for the UK, mid-sized law firms, and in-house legal departments. Indeed, many in-house legal departments had taken a similar approach on their own. Over the years, law firms have seen a proliferation of Requests for Proposals (RFPs) requiring commitments to staff matters with certain numbers or percentages of diverse lawyers, variously identified as black, indigenous, women,

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