OBA Trusts and Estates Section EDI Subcommittee Finishes its First Year

  • June 30, 2022
  • Nicole Woodward, Miller Thomson LLP

The OBA is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, and ensuring that everyone has access to the same treatment, opportunities and advancement. In keeping with that commitment, the OBA Trusts and Estates Section executive appointed its first Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee at its inaugural meeting in September 2021. The members of the Subcommittee are Nicole Woodward (Chair), Alexander Procope, Matthew Furrow, Angelique Moss, Robin Spurr, Darren Lund, Richard Coutinho, Bianca La Neve, Sheila Morris, and Gillian Fournie.

As its first order of business, the Subcommittee established its vision and mission. They are as follows:

Vision

An Estates and Trusts Section Executive that is reflective of the lawyers it represents.

Mission

To promote a respectful, equitable, diverse and inclusive Estates and Trusts Section by providing a forum for honest and meaningful discussion, and developing concrete diversity and inclusion programing and initiatives.

Over the course of the executive year, the Subcommittee worked to identify and propose strategies to eliminate barriers that prevent full participation of all groups. In the spring of 2022, the Subcommittee made seven recommendations in furtherance of its vision and mission, as follows: That