Canadian Lawyer InHouse

25 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE SEPTEMBER 2017 W hen you lead the legal department for one of the most diverse school boards in the country, the time comes when you realize those providing services to the organization should be demonstrating a commitment to diversity as well. The Toronto District School Board is the largest public school board in Canada and fourth largest in North America with 40,000 employees and 250,000 students in the city. In 2016, the TDSB started work on de - veloping new strategic directions to support its Learning Centres Strategy. The LCS involves a board-wide restructuring that re- sulted in the grouping of schools into one of four hubs where staff can collaborate and share resources. The three strategic directions are: Vision for Learning and Service; Service Excel - lence; and an Integrated Equity Framework. Together, the strategic directions are aimed at achieving "Equity of Access and Out- come for All Students." As a result, TDSB legal services undertook a close review of its role, responsibilities and opportunities to support the objective and legal focused on three key projects: LEGAL SERVICES RFP In November 2016, the TDSB launched a Request for Proposals for legal services in eight areas of law. They added "demonstrat- ed commitment to equity and diversity" as a selection criterion with points awarded for tangible examples of this commitment — for example, sponsorships, speaking engage - ments, involvement with organizations rep- resenting lawyers from ethnic backgrounds and law students from diverse backgrounds. Acting general counsel Leola Pon says she was inspired to do this by the leadership of BMO Financial executive vice president and general counsel Simon Fish, who led a similar program a number of years ago. At the time, Pon was an associate at Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP. "Understanding that one of the largest companies in Canada — a bank — made this such an important criterion for them, I thought if I ever had an opportunity to do it in the future I would do it as well. We're so glad we've had the opportunity," she says. In the RFP, 10 per cent of all points were allotted to a demonstrated commitment to diversity. The proponents had to give exam - ples of what they do — such as sponsorship of ethnic lawyer associations or programs involving LGBTQ. A simple statement of commitment wasn't sufficient — Pon was looking for actual demonstration. "Some firms were able to demonstrate that, but, unfortunately, some firms had a simple statement and I think nowadays, especially if they know the TDSB and our commitment to equity, they should know you have to do more than a simple state - ment. I actually encouraged a lot of firms to take another look at how they approach their submissions to actually devote quite a bit of time and effort to filling out that sec - tion," she says. In some cases, firms analyzed their own workforce statistics and went beyond show- ing the male/female makeup of their law- yers. "I thought that was extremely impor- tant. The concept of equity and diversity is much broader than that," she says. "I am trying and we have attempted to include equity and diversity in all aspects of our procurement process." As a result, Pon says, there is greater awareness in the legal community that the TDSB is committed to diversity and achiev - ing equity, and that it expects its legal ser- vice providers to share this commitment. "No other TDSB department has, to our knowledge, included this criterion in its pro- curement process," says Pon. "We have shared this idea with leaders of other departments and have recommended to the procurement department that they include this as a manda- tory selection criterion for all RFPs." Members of the TDSB legal services team have also participated in learning op- portunities such as anti-racism and anti- oppression training, service excellence workshops and equity workshops. All TDSB lawyers participated in a Law Society of Up- per Canada CPD session by David Lepofsky: "Ensuring Access to Your Law Office and Services for People with Disabilities." As part of its service excellence com- mitment, TDSB lawyers delivered human rights training sessions in 2016 and 2017 for school administrators and superintendents of education. "We often consult with TDSB staff who have expertise in equity issues. We hope to positively influence other TDSB depart - ments and leaders by sharing our ideas, ini- tiatives and advice," says Pon. IH Category: Diversity Department size: Small, public sector Company: Toronto District School Board Pushing external providers to demonstrate diversity ROBIN KUNISKI Left to right: Dawne Jubb, Patrick Cotter, Neda Ebrahimzadeh, Ryan Goldvine, Front: Michelle Sun, Gail Geronimo, Leola Pon, Avneet Grewal, Agnes Iliopoulos.

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