Leveraging Our Strengths to Promote Racial Equity in the Community

During our internal discussions on racial equity in the workplace, we ask ourselves a question: What specific actions can we take to promote racial equity in our community?

• K|W|W is a member of Ohio Business Competes, a nonpartisan coalition of businesses committed to achieving nondiscrimination policies and legislation at the state level, most especially related to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Ohio is now in the minority of states that do not protect employees from being denied jobs based upon perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. The coalition’s goal is to enable Ohio to attract and retain the best talent and to grow Ohio’s economy.
• In an effort to leverage our strengths as labor and employment lawyers, we identify certain minority-owned, minority-controlled businesses and provide them with pro bono (i.e., free) legal services regarding employment, labor and HR-related topics.
• As a direct outgrowth of our internal conversations, we offer a Rise & Learn session for our clients entitled, “How to have effective conversations with your employees about racial equity in the workplace.” This session provides an overview of why having such conversations in our workplaces is so important, including considerations related to fostering workplaces committed to diversity, equity, inclusion and opportunity; a review of best practices in planning for and conducting these conversations; and an opportunity for the attendees to discuss among themselves issues related to racial inequity.

Our goal is to help organizations succeed by ensuring that they have a solid foundation for effectively managing their human resources.