DBA Launches DEI Goals to Encourage Member Participation
As of January 1, 2022

Click here to self report your DEI Hours

The DBA’s Allied Bars Equality Committee is putting into action a part of their 2021 plan for additional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs and participation.

The DBA DEI challenge is as follows: the DBA encourages its members to aspire to complete three hours of CLE training in the areas of diversity, inclusion, and equity each calendar year; the DBA will recognize members who complete such training.

Click here to view a list of DBA members who completed the 2024 DEI Challenge.

Members who complete the three hours of training must self-report to be included in the recognition. Click here to self report your DEI Hours.

Below is the motion that the Equality Committee presented to, and had approved, by the DBA Board of Directors: “The DBA seeks to encourage continuing legal education (CLE) on the important topics of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Diversity focuses on the representation of groups of people within an organization through the organization’s demographic makeup. A diverse team consists of people from different backgrounds with a rich mixture of different life experiences, identities, characteristics, traits, and beliefs. Examples of diversity demographics include (but are not limited to) race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information.

Inclusion focuses on actively respecting and valuing every individual’s ideas, knowledge, perspectives, approaches, and styles to maximize organization-wide success by ensuring that individuals have a sense of belonging and feel valued in their authentic presentation to and participation in the organization.

Equity involves the recognition and active efforts to remove or remedy barriers and biases faced by diverse individuals to ensure equal access to advancement opportunities and resources and to ensure the individual is on an equal footing with their colleagues in terms of growth and development within the organization.

With these principles in mind, the DBA moves that (1) the Dallas Bar Association call upon its members to aspire to complete 3 hours of CLE training in the areas of diversity, inclusion, equity each calendar year, (2) the Association specially recognize members who complete such training, and (3) the Association call upon its Sister Bars, other local bars, and the State Bar of Texas to make a similar aspirational request of their members coupled with a recognition system to include recognition by the State Bar College.”

The DBA will strive to identify programs that qualify for the DEI Challenge. If you know of an upcoming program, please contact Mary Ellen Johnson at mjohnson@dallasbar.org.