As part of the Firm's long-standing commitment to community service, Warner Norcross & Judd attorneys continue to demonstrate leadership on issues of diversity in the community and in the legal profession. We believe that our active involvement in those diversity issues not only benefits our community and profession but also helps us gain a clearer understanding of the issues of racism, sexism and prejudice that impact the communities in which we live and work. This understanding is critical to our ability to be successful in building a more inclusive organization.
Initiatives in which we have been actively involved include:
Multiracial Association of Professionals. The Multiracial Association of Professionals (MAP) is a group of professionals from all races and backgrounds who come together to promote professional growth, foster diversity and provide community leadership. Our firm was a charter member of MAP, which today is a program of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce. By creating a strong network of diverse professionals, MAP seeks to assist organizations to welcome, retain and connect professionals from ethnic minorities and their families. Several of our attorneys are members of MAP. Rodney Martin is a member of the MAP Council.
Inforum. Warner Norcross & Judd is a Platinum Sponsor of Inforum, a women's networking organization originally founded as the Detroit Women's Economic Club. The mission of Inforum is to strengthen the business climate by creating opportunities for women to lead and to succeed by fostering a diverse community of executive and professional women who share a passion for business growth and success.
In 2005, Warner Norcross & Judd played a leading role in the development of a West Michigan Chapter of Inforum. Two of our partners serve on the West Michigan Advisory Board for the group, and 14 of our women attorneys and directors are founding members. Our Managing Partner serves on the Honorary Committee, which meets regularly to offer guidance and support to Inforum West Michigan.
Hispanic Center of West Michigan. The Hispanic Center of West Michigan offers a broad array of services to the rapidly growing Hispanic members of our community, including services to assist in the formation and growth of minority-owned business enterprises. The Center offers Spanish-speaking interpreters for use when language barriers are an issue and offers its own translation services in several different languages. One of our partners sits on the Center's board of directors, serves on the Development Committee and also chairs the Bylaws Committee.
Bob and Aleicia Woodrick Diversity Learning Center. The Bob and Aleicia Woodrick Diversity Learning Center at Grand Rapids Community College serves the college and the community by encouraging respect for differences and the promotion of inclusion. Warner Norcross & Judd is a major contributor to the Diversity Learning Center and to its annual Diversity Lecture Series, which has hosted Nikki Giovanni, Barry Scheck, Sherman Alexie, Vali Nasr, and Nancy Giles, among many others, in its 13-year history. The Diversity Learning Center conducts the Institute for Healing Racism, which over 100 people from Warner have attended.
Institutes for the Healing of Racism. Institutes for the Healing of Racism first began in the mid-1980s in the Houston, Texas, area in response to racial incidents in that community. In 1999, the Woodrick Institute for the Study of Racism and Diversity began offering the Institute for Healing Racism in West Michigan. Today, the Institutes are conducted by the Bob and Aleicia Woodrick Diversity Learning Center at Grand Rapids Community College. The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce and the Grand Rapids Area Center for Ecumenism (GRACE) also sponsor healing racism institutes.
- Other Women's Initiatives. Women attorneys at Warner Norcross & Judd have held leadership roles for more than a decade at the Women's Resource Center and other leading women's organizations.
- Community Organizations. Our attorneys hold or have held board positions in a number of community organizations committed to diversity or to promoting minority issues, including Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities and the Black Educational Excellence Program.
Coaching. Several of our attorneys coach the moot court team at Grand Rapids Central High School, a school serving Grand Rapids' inner city. The team earned an Honorable Mention in each of its first two years of competition (2007 and 2008).
State Bar Associations. Warner Norcross & Judd is a signatory to the State Bar of Michigan's Statement of Goals for Minority Hiring and Retention, which has a goal of increasing minority attorneys by 10 percent. Warner Norcross & Judd is also a supporter of the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association.
Local Bar Associations. We are actively engaged in promoting the success of minority attorneys in our community. In 1991, we were a founding member of the Grand Rapids Bar Association's Minority Clerkship Program, which provides work experience for first-year law students. One of our partners,
Dan Ettinger, currently chairs the Diversity Committee of the Grand Rapids Bar Association.