Austin Bar's Equity Committee Celebrates First Anniversary Taking a Look Back BY JUDGE MAYA GUERRA GAMBLE
The inaugural Equity Summit, attended by more than 350 participants, provided five hours of MCLE ethics credits and thoughtful presentations and topics for continuing conversations and calls to action.
Judge Maya Guerra Gamble has presided over the 459th District Court since January 2019 and was elected to the Austin Bar board of directors in 2020. She is the chair of the Austin Bar’s Equity Committee. Judge Guerra Gamble is an Austin native who has spent her career in public service and hopes to continue to do so for many years to come.
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ne year ago, Austin Bar President Kennon Wooten began her term by asking us all to be her neighbor. She ended her term with a neighborhood conversation on equity in Austin, in the law, and in our lives: The thought-provoking and
successful inaugural Equity Summit, held on May 14, 2021. One of her first acts as president was to create the Equity Committee, to which I was appointed chair. I am proud of all the committee accomplished in its first year: • The development of the Austin Bar’s Equity Statement: The Austin Bar Association holds diversity and inclusion to be a core component of our mission to “enhance the legal profession, administration of justice, and our community through education, networking, and public service.” We recognize that the law plays a central role in combating inequality, and we believe that prioritizing equity and diversity and combating systemic bias makes our organization stronger and our profession better. We strive in all our actions and
initiatives to encourage, support, and celebrate the diverse experiences and voices of our members and the communities we serve, to lift up every attorney in Austin, and to make our community a welcoming place for all people. • A 21-Day Racial Equity Habit-Building Challenge, in which Austin Bar members signed up for daily emails featuring readings, podcasts, and videos designed to explore and deepen our awareness and engagement in issues of racial equality. • Four meetings of the Equity Multi-Media Club explored the award-winning documentary “13th,” the books “So You Want to Talk About Race” and “How to Be an Anti-Racist,” and the podcast “This Land.” • Highlighting diversity and equity in Austin Lawyer
Won’t you be my neighbor?
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through featured articles in the president’s column and in the Equity Spotlight column, with guest authors writing about Hispanic Heritage Month, Holidays Around the World, Black History Month, and Combating Implicit Bias to Retain Minority Talent. • A fantastic CLE on the history of the Austin Bar viewed through an Equity lens. • An Implicit Bias Jury Instructions sub-committee developed and refined a jury charge addressing implicit or unconscious bias, which will be employed in Travis County jury charges in the near future. • The inaugural Equity Summit, attended by more than 350 participants, provided five hours of MCLE ethics credits and thoughtful presentations and topics for continuing conversations and calls to action. I’m equally proud of the group of committed lawyers and law students who joined the Equity Committee, without whom none of this work would have happened. The leadership team of the Equity Committee, consisting of Judge George C. Thomas, Mindy Gulati, Craig Moore, Ayeola Williams, Drew Williams, Cathy