Just Getting Started: The College’ s DEI Mission at Five Years Young
Hon. Joan N. Feeney( Ret.) Paul E. Harner Co-Chairs, Standing Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Just less than five years ago, the College embarked on a long-term mission to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in our industry and professional community. In March 2021, the Board of Directors appointed a Select Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion( the Commission) and tasked it with“ develop [ ing ] a comprehensive plan that instills mindfulness regarding all aspects of diversity, equity and inclusion, and actively promotes those values through the resources and endeavors of the College and [ the American College of Bankruptcy ] Foundation.”
After more than a year of intensive and groundbreaking efforts, the Commission made numerous recommendations, all ultimately adopted unanimously by the Board, that together laid a solid foundation for accomplishing the longer-term objective of advancing the College’ s DEI mission both institutionally and in the greater insolvency community. These included the establishment of a permanent Standing Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion( the DEI
Committee) to undertake that challenging and complex work.
In this issue of College Columns, we provide a brief retrospective of the first five years of the College’ s admirable DEI mission and all our Fellows’ tremendous work thus far to advance that cause.
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From the outset, the Commission and its successor, the DEI Committee, endeavored to identify and undertake concrete, substantive initiatives, rather than mere“ talk,” to advance the College’ s DEI Mission. In practice, these fell into three equally important categories: first, promoting institutional mindfulness and inclusion in the College itself; second, enhancing through public outreach the“ pipeline” of younger professionals, especially from historically underrepresented constituencies, both into and in insolvency-related professional careers; and third, publicly advancing, through a vigorous communications program, the College’ DEI mission and values, as well as awareness of its various related initiatives.
Inclusiveness( and Mindfulness) in the College. At the urging of the Commission and, later, the express direction of the Board, the DEI Committee first undertook a comprehensive analysis of the College’ s various processes for identifying, nominating, and ultimately selecting candidates for admission to the College by the Circuit Admissions Councils( CACs), working primarily through its Internal Subcommittee, now
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