Our Commitment to Effecting Positive Change

To our clients and friends of the firm,

Faegre Drinker is deeply affected by the disturbing and terrible events surrounding the senseless deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. While these tragic events have captured the attention of the world, we know that countless incidents occur in too many places within our society that negatively impact people of color, and African-Americans especially. All lives matter will only ring true once black lives matter.

Equality under the law is the bedrock of our profession. Unfortunately, many people of color do not experience that professed equality. Faegre Drinker is committed to examining racial inequality, addressing our own unconscious biases, and living and supporting anti-racist actions and policies within our firm and across the communities we serve. Every Faegre Drinker colleague is critical in our efforts to be a diverse, inclusive and equitable organization; this effort does not rest with our colleagues who are racially and ethnically diverse.

Written words are not enough to address the inequities and social constructs that have institutionalized racism in our society. Faegre Drinker is advancing its commitment to combat racism by initiating the following immediate actions. A team led by Chief Diversity Officer Maria Lewis will facilitate 40 virtual, small-group conversations across our U.S. locations during the week of June 8 to discuss racial injustice. We are launching new channels of engagement across our office locations specifically designed to engage Faegre Drinker in combating racial injustice in our communities. And we are renewing our investment in mandatory unconscious bias training firm-wide to continue the internal work required to foster a diverse and inclusive culture. Additionally, we are continuing our efforts to recruit, develop, and retain people of color. This is a start, and we have more to do. 

Faegre Drinker is committed to effecting positive change, working alongside our clients and within our communities to assure the events of the last week are a catalyst for meaningful progress toward inclusion, fairness and justice for all.