Mission Statement and 10 Steps to Diversify Your Legal Services Program
New York State Diversity Coalition - 020051
Abstract Number: 020051
August 2002
In 1997, Lillian M. Moy, Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York (LASNNY), Carol Horwitz, then a Managing Attorney with Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A (BLSC), and Rose Morgan, then a staff attorney with Queens Legal Services and now with BLSC-A, established the New Yo rk State Diversity Coalition, a coalition of legal services staff and managers who are committed to addressing diversity issues that are encountered by legal services programs and clients. The New York State Diversity Coalition held their first training in 1997 at the New York Partnership Conference. From this initial training, the New York State Diversity Coalition developed a number of workshops including "Getting It Right: Race and Language in Legal Services Hiring," "We Don't Have Diversity Problems Here: A Day in the Life of a Legal Services Office," "Attracting and Retaining a Diverse Workforce: What Legal Services Can Learn From the Private Sector," and "Skills to Represent Diverse Clients: Cultural Competence at Work." These workshops have been presented at both local and national conferences. The coalition can share training materials including videotaped hypotheticals for the second event listed above. This coalition continues to pursue new issues and is currently working on support staff training as well program level initiatives such as developing an affirmative action plans and a creating program level diversity committees.
To view the New York Legal Services Statewide Diversity Coalition Mission Statement and Ten Action Steps You Can Take To Diversify Your Legal Services Community as PDF documents, click on the links below.
Contact Information:
Lillian M. Moy Executive Director Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York 55 Colvin Avenue Albany, New York 12206 Phone: (518) 462-6765 Fax: (518) 427-8352 lmoy@lasnny.org