MTALA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy Statement

The Middle Tennessee Association of Legal Administrators values a diverse, equitable, and inclusive association where all volunteers, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or disability, feels valued and respected. We are committed to the nondiscriminatory recruitment and retention of all, and provide equal opportunity for inclusion in all of our board, committee, volunteer and membership activities. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and ensure that all voices are valued and heard. 

We’re committed to modeling diversity for the entire legal industry, and to maintaining an equitable environment with inclusive treatment for all. 

To provide informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity, MTALA strives to: 

• See diversity, equity and inclusion as connected to our mission and critical to ensure the well-being of our volunteers and the communities we serve. 

• Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and continually update and report organization progress. 
• Explore potential underlying, unquestioned assumptions that interfere with inclusiveness. 
• Advocate for and support board-level thinking about how systemic inequities impact our organization’s work, and how best to address that in a way that is consistent with MTALA’s mission. 
• Help to challenge assumptions about what it takes to be a strong leader within MTALA, and who is well-positioned to provide leadership. 
• Practice and encourage transparent communication in all interactions. 

• Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board and advisory committees. 

Lead with respect and tolerance. We expect all volunteers to embrace this notion and to express it in workplace interactions and through everyday practices. 

MTALA abides by the following action items to help promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in our workplace: 

• Pursue cultural competency throughout MTALA by creating substantive learning opportunities and formal, transparent policies. 
• Generate and aggregate quantitative and qualitative research related to equity to make incremental, measurable progress toward the visibility of our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Once the content is curated it will be added to our website so others can access. 
• Improve our cultural leadership pipeline by creating and supporting programs and policies that foster leadership that reflects the diversity of our communities. 
• Pool resources and expand offerings for underrepresented constituents by connecting with other ALA Chapters committed to diversity and inclusion efforts. 
• Develop and present sessions on diversity, equity and inclusion to provide information and resources internally, and to members, the community, and the legal industry.