For Immediate Release
April 22, 2020
Contact: M. Dru Levasseur
(202) 637-7661 // dru@lgbtqbar.org
Lavender Law 365® expands nationwide to bring diversity, equity, and inclusion coaching to law firms, law schools, and companies across the country.
The expansion is a direct response to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs taking a hit from the COVID-19 Crisis.
Washington, D.C., April 22, 2020 – The National LGBT Bar Association and Foundation’s Lavender Law 365® LGBTQ+ inclusion coaching and consulting program is expanding in response to the threat that the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis is putting on efforts to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in U.S. law firms.
The program is an offshoot of the wildly successful LGBT Bar Association’s annual Lavender Law® Conference, with the vision of transforming the annual event into an every day commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion. Lavender Law 365® is an LGBTQ+ diversity, equity, and inclusion coaching and consulting program designed by lawyers for lawyers to promote inclusive workplace policies and culture in the legal profession for law schools, law firms, and companies. Presented by M. Dru Levasseur, Esq., a leading figure in the LGBTQ+ equality movement for over 25 years and an openly transgender attorney, the program covers LGBTQ+ competency for legal professionals, addressing the LGBTQ+ diversity gap in the legal field, recruiting and retaining LGBTQ+ employees, and more.
“The legal profession can do better. In this time of crisis, we have an opportunity to reset and prioritize what makes us better as lawyers. Diversity makes us more effective and helps the bottom line,” said Dru Levasseur, Deputy Program Officer, National LGBT Bar Association and Foundation.
As an organization that was born out of the HIV/AIDS crisis, the National LGBT Bar Association and Foundation has always been fully committed to promoting justice in and through the legal profession for the LGBTQ+ community in all its diversity.
“We know that now, more than ever, the most marginalized in our communities are being hit the hardest, and so it is crucial to center diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in our work, not push them aside.”
The expansion will include new options to reach audiences, including virtual presentations, one-on-one coaching and additional digital content, and consulting offered through Affiliate Bar Associations.
About Lavender Law 365®
Lavender Law 365® is the only LGBTQ+ inclusion coaching and consulting program designed by lawyers for lawyers, specifically to enable the implementation of best practice standards for LGBTQ+ equity across law firms, law schools, and companies.
About the National LGBT Bar Association
The National LGBT Bar Association and Foundation is a national association of lawyers, judges and other legal professionals, law students, activists, and affiliated lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender legal organizations. The LGBT Bar promotes justice in and through the legal profession for the LGBTQ+ community in all its diversity.