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FOREWORD BY
JOY HEATH RUSH, ILTA CEO
D
iversity, equity, and inclusion
came to the forefront for
the legal profession in 2016,
when a hackathon hosted by
Diversity Lab and Stanford
Law School ideated what is
now known as the Mansfield Rule.
Named for Arabella Mansfield, the first woman
admitted to the bar in the United States,
the Mansfield Rule became a full-blown
certification program in 2017. The goal was
to increase representation of four key diverse
lawyer groups - women, underrepresented
racial and ethnic groups, LGBTQ+ individuals,
and those with disabilities.
In January 2019, ILTA conducted several
hackathons of our own to generate ideas for
addressing some of the macro issues faced by
our community, including diversity, equity,
and inclusion.
Out of one of those hackathons came ILTA's
Core Value to "foster diversity, equity, and
inclusion throughout the ILTA community"
and what was then known as the Diversity
and Equity Task Force.
We received numerous applications for the first
task force. Every application had a face behind
it, and every face had a story of lived experience.
