Greensfelder Achieves Mansfield Certification for Promotion of Diversity in Leadership
Greensfelder is pleased to announce it has achieved Midsize Mansfield Certification, signifying the firm’s success in demonstrating a strong commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and boosting representation in firm leadership.
Diversity Lab announced its new cohort of Mansfield certified firms on May 23, 2023, the culmination of a rigorous 18-month collaboration to track, measure, and achieve diversity in leadership. Greensfelder is among 70 midsize firms newly certified.
Carmen White, Greensfelder’s Director of Diversity & Community Relations, leads the firm's initiatives to foster an inclusive, diverse workplace and was a driving force behind completing the Mansfield certification. Those efforts included reaching significant benchmarks related to lawyer recruitment, equity partner promotions, participation in client meetings and pitches, and other criteria.
“Greensfelder is proud to be part of this effort to contribute to meaningful progress in the legal profession,” Greensfelder President and CEO Kevin T. McLaughlin said. “Mansfield Certification is a testament to our long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion, and to the work our attorneys and staff put forward daily to ensure we live up to our core values of promoting equity and being people-focused.”
To build upon the original Mansfield Rule designed for larger law firms, the Midsize Mansfield Certification was launched in 2020. The certification measures whether midsize firms have considered at least 30 percent women lawyers, historically underrepresented racial and ethnic lawyers, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, formal client pitches, lateral lawyer hiring, and more. While working to achieve these benchmarks, the certified midsize firms also embedded transparency in their advancement processes through written leadership role descriptions and clearly defined pathways to leadership.
"All of the certified firms stepped up as trailblazers to create more diverse and inclusive leaderships in the midsize firm sector,” said Alyssa Jarvis, Senior Manager of Mansfield at Diversity Lab. “Despite launching this change-management effort during a global pandemic among other marketplace disruptions, these firms were not deterred from tackling challenging talent systems changes to increase diversity in their firms and the profession."
For more on Greensfelder’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, please visit greensfelder.com/about-diversity.html.