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Commission on Racial & Ethnic Diversity in the Profession 

The mission of the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession (The Commission) is to serve as a catalyst promoting diversity and inclusion within the legal profession and the ABA by facilitating the entry, participation and retention of diverse lawyers. The Commission achieves this by furthering the development of substantive programs and services in which diverse lawyers, law firms and law students will actively participate.If you would like to support the Commission’s projects please contact [email protected]

2025 Spirit of Excellence Nominations Now Open!

The Spirit of Excellence Awards celebrate the efforts and accomplishments of lawyers who work to promote a more racially and ethnically diverse legal profession. Awards are presented to the lawyers who excel in their professional settings; who personify excellence on the national and international level; and who have demonstrated a commitment to racial and ethnic diversity in the legal professional.

Download - Nomination Form

2024 ABA Spirit of Excellence Award

ABA 2024 Midyear Spirit of Excellence Awards Information

ABA Model Diversity Survey

The ABA House of Delegates passed Resolution 113 that urges all providers of legal services, particularly law firms, to expand and create opportunities at all levels of responsibility for diverse attorneys.

Join - the GC Pledge

Diversity and Inclusion Champion Awards

This award will honor one ABA Section, Division, or Forum that has demonstrated through their actions the level of commitment and impact that was made in one or both of the previous two bar years on diversity and inclusion.

Collaborative Bar Leadership Academy

The CBLA marks the first substantive program resulting from a collaboration of the six sponsoring bar associations and lays the foundation for further collaborative efforts to foster diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.

Go To - 2024 CBLA

ABA CREDP Strategic Plan High Level

The strategic plan adopted by the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession.

The Innovator

A newsletter of the ABA’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession. We use this publication to keep in touch with you regarding our activities and developments to promote diversity and inclusion in the profession and to highlight the diversity and inclusion efforts of the ABA’s various Sections, Divisions and Forums.

About the Commission

Created in 1986 and the oldest racial and ethnic diversity entity within the ABA, the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession through its work and programs, is a catalyst for creating leadership and economic opportunities for racial and ethnically diverse lawyers in the legal profession.

Timeline

2020

The ABA Commission on Racial & Ethnic Diversity in the Profession has received proposals to analyze and to report on the data it has complied through the Model Diversity Survey. The proposal submitters are Dr. Richard Harvey, an associate professor of psychology at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, MO. 

2019

The Model Diversity Survey obtained 105 corporate signatories and negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding with the Interlaw Diversity Forum in the United Kingdom.

2018 

The Presidential Showcase program: ““Trump and Diverse Communities – A Kaleidoscope of Controversy”, was the best-attended Showcase event of the 2018 Annual Meeting.

2017 

At the 2017 ABA Annual meeting, the Commission hosted a panel entitled “Enhancing Justice and Reducing Implicit Bias in the Legal Profession:  Strategies that Work.”

2023-2024 Leadership