Messaging: Promoting & Outreach

Key Concepts 

 Equity, Diversity & Inclusivity help raise the bar and make us better practitioners, better professionals and better leaders

 Tell the story, tell it again, tell it once more and keep telling it

 Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity are strategic goals and values of the Associations

 Bar associations are leaders of our profession's values and priorities. We set the standards and vision in our communities. When bar associations prioritize EDI, they institutionalize critical values. 

Include the topic of EDI on every section agenda & discuss goals regularly

Engage in personal one-on-one outreach to section members, not just emails

  • Design a welcoming and encouraging invitation to new members and members you are inviting to be more involved with your section – make the ask a give
  • Make time for outreach with new or potential members after meetings or events
  • Consider sponsoring a potential new section member by covering their fee to an event or CLE to show the value of section membership

Collaborate with other sections on EDI ideas, events & strategies

  • Use the CBA online communities to promote section collaboration
  • Considering a section liaison to other sections to facilitate collaboration and learn what is working for other sections
  • Plan joint events with other sections

Create consistent messaging and promotional materials

  • Update your section’s webpage quarterly to ensure that new members know how to join, attend meetings and events and how they can learn more about your section 
  • Be mindful of imaging and photos that promote EDI in your online and print publications
  • Incorporate EDI in your section’s publications
  • Prioritize diverse authorship as you fill content for your section’s print publications – this can develop into micro-volunteering opportunities
  • Include the CBA’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Mission and Values Statements on your section’s meeting agendas
  • Re-publish relevant articles from the ABA, the Associations, and other resources in your section’s newsletter
  • Promote EDI on online platforms (e.g., social media, your section’s online community) and communicate with your section liaison if you need help from the CBA’s Communications Department
  • Use your section's publications and promotional materials to lead members to the EDI webpage, your online community and work that your section is doing

Ensure diverse speakers at CLEs and other section events

  • Ask section councils to monitor their CLE speakers and panels to ensure diversity at each event
  • Invite diverse speakers to CLEs to discuss substantive law not just equity, diversity& inclusivity topics
  • Collaborate with CBA-CLE and your CLE liaison to invite diverse speakers to your section's programming 
  • Reach out to specialty/diversity bar associations and others to recruit and identify diverse speakers

Resources for Messaging, Promoting & Outreach