Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Greene Espel provides customized, strategic solutions to address your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals and objectives.

We are thought leaders—writing, speaking, and advising nationally on improving workplace diversity and creating inclusive cultures. Our programs are grounded in extensive research comparing effective programs to ineffective ones so that we can deliver sustainable and measurable results for your workforce or workplace.

But this doesn’t mean there’s a single, perfect solution to creating diverse, equitable, and inclusive organizations. A diversity program’s effectiveness depends on the specific training method used, the characteristics of those trained, and the specific outcomes measured after training concludes. We tailor empirically-supported exercises and activities to your goals and your employees’ characteristics, so you can make your organization more welcoming and inclusive.

Through our DEI work, we (1) offer assessments; (2) help clients design and implement strategic plans; (3) provide customized trainings; and (4) offer on-going consulting services. Where applicable, we partner with members of Greene Espel’s Employment practice group for targeted investigations and litigation prevention work.

ASSESSMENT

It is hard to assess what improvement looks like without first understanding where you are. At the beginning of our engagements, we work with clients to assess where they are and articulate where they want to be. This assessment can include facilitated discussions with key stakeholders, employee interviews, surveys, and diversity assessment tools.

Once we understand your organization, we can better craft a meaningful program to drive change.

STRATEGIC PLANNING

We help clients identify their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals (both qualitative and quantitative), use our assessment to draft a report detailing where you may be falling short of those goals, and identify a clear path forward to meet your goals.

 But success isn’t just about having a plan, it is also about ensuring that we achieve organizational buy-in, including the executive leadership and employees. Our aim is to leave your leadership and employees feeling energized by the plan that we create together.

 Our strategic plans can address:

• Institutional changes to reduce bias
• Individual actions to reduce bias
• Strategies to improve recruitment, hiring, promotion and retention of diverse talent
• Improving workplace policies and procedures
• Litigation prevention

CUSTOMIZED TRAININGS

We design customized trainings to meet your audience where they are, keep them engaged, and leave them feeling empowered and energized.

Our most popular trainings include:

• Employee Trainings
  • Conscious inclusion in the workplace
  • Preventing discrimination and harassment

• Management Trainings
  • Creating policies that drive change
  • Improving hiring practices
  • Providing non-biased feedback
  • Retaining diverse talent
• Legal Industry Trainings
  • Why the legal profession is the least diverse (and how to fix it)
  • Conscious inclusion at your law firm
  • Mitigating bias in the judiciary
  • Mitigating bias in the courtroom
  • Best practices to mitigate bias (for prosecutors)
  • Best practices to mitigate bias (for defenders)
• Other Industry/Group Trainings
  • We have tailored our diversity programming to address challenges facing multiple industries and groups including city employees, court reporters, engineers, firefighters, housing code officials, the judiciary, mediators and arbitrators, and mothers.  

Our trainings are well-reviewed and award winning, recognized by both Minnesota Lawyer and the Hennepin County Bar Association. 

We have trained audiences around the country including at Thomson Reuters, Medtronic, Cargill, and Resideo as well as the Federal Defenders’ Office of the Dakotas, the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum, the Minnesota Department of Health, the Minnesota Commission on Judicial Selection, the North Carolina Advocates for Justice, the Ohio State Bar, and multiple cities and law firms. We have addressed audiences of 5 to 1000.

ON-GOING CONSULTING SERVICES

Creating a diverse and inclusive organization requires more than a one-time training. We will work with you to create a long-term plan and check in on your progress as we go.  Your long-term success matters to us. 

TEAM

Our team has over 40 years’ experience facilitating group discussions, running trainings, and designing and implementing strategic plans.

Team members include the past president of the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers and past chair of the Council of Minnesotans of African Heritage, the past president of the Association of Legal Administrators, the past president of the Infinity Project as well as lawyers with employment, public sector, and civil rights litigation experience.

We care about these issues professionally and personally.