At Covington, we recognize the differences among us as an asset and a source of strength. We believe that excellence in the practice of law knows no racial, ethnic, gender, religious, sexual orientation, or other boundaries. Covington lawyers bring a wide variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences to our practice. By recruiting, retaining, developing, and promoting a diverse group of lawyers, we advance the interests of our clients, our practice, and our entire profession.
We asked members of our Diversity and Inclusion networks to tell us more about the networks, their goals and what they are currently working on.
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Azumah Cofie: Associate - Multicultural Network (left)
Roderick Dirkzwager: Associate - LGBTQ+ Strand (right)
Eddy Eccles: Special Counsel - Disability and Mental Health Strand (left)
Antonio Michaelides: Special Counsel - Social Mobility Strand (right)
Tell us more about the Covington Diversity and Inclusion Networks
Azumah Cofie - Associate - Multicultural Network
The Multicultural Network (MCN) is a recent strand of the wider Diversity & Inclusion Committee that aims to promote ethnic diversity and inclusion within the EMEA offices. It is effectively a support network for ethnically-diverse colleagues, where members share ideas and organise events and activities.
Eddy Eccles – Special Counsel - Disability and Mental Health Strand
The Disability & Mental Health Subcommittee is a really exciting part of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee here at Covington. We are a group who meet on a monthly basis to pursue the goals of the subcommittee in a friendly, fun environment. Everyone always brings a lot of good ideas, and great energy and commitment.
Tell us about the goals of the Covington Diversity and Inclusion Networks
Roderick Dirkzwager – Associate - LGBTQ+ Strand
Our main aim as the London LGBT+ Affinity Group is to foster a supportive community for our LGBT+ members and allies. As well as organising social events to further increase our sense of community, we are focusing our efforts on internal training and recruitment activities to promote this sense of community across the firm.
Antonio Michaelides – Special Counsel - Social Mobility Strand
The primary goal of the social mobility strand is two-fold: to provide a support network for those already at the firm from less socially mobile backgrounds, and second to raise awareness of this as a diversity strand, so that those who are less familiar understand the challenges faced and what can be done from an inclusion perspective. A big part of this is also external, so we will be coordinating outreach into communities to help support members of more deprived communities begin to develop the skills needed. We are considering partnering with the Social Mobility Foundation, the Sutton Trust, IntoUniversity, as well as other organizations, in this regard. The social mobility strand is really about inclusion as much as it is about diversity.
Eddy Eccles – Special Counsel - Disability and Mental Health Strand
The aim of the Disability & Mental Health subcommittee is to promote a positive environment possible for people at the firm who feel affected by disability or mental health issues. We do this by designing and coming up with different initiatives, as well as offering a useful point of contact for members of the firm who may have concerns in this sector.
Azumah Cofie - Associate - Multicultural Network
The primary goal of the MCN is to create an inclusive environment and a sense of community in the London office, where all Covington colleagues can come together to explore cultural differences, engage in effective conversations about race and privilege, and foster allyship. Tied to this goal is the multicultural network’s aim to recruit, retain, develop and promote candidates from ethnic minorities.
Tell us about the activities the diversity and inclusion networks are working on at the moment
Roderick Dirkzwager – Associate - LGBTQ+ Strand
We are working with a variety of different diversity initiatives in London to increase the outreach of our group. "Out of America" is an LGBT+ network of US law firms in London which organises various networking events, including guest speaker presentations. We previously hosted a speaker event through the network with LGBT+ human rights barrister, Dr Chelvan, who shared his inspirational experiences helping LGBT+ asylum seekers in the UK. We look forward to hosting similar events in the future at our new offices at 22 Bishopsgate. Our members are also involved in a number of LGBT+ mentoring initiatives and pro-bono projects. We want to encourage more LGBT+ individuals to consider law as a career, and pro bono work is a really rewarding way to use our legal skills.
Eddy Eccles – Special Counsel - Disability and Mental Health Strand
At the moment, we are arranging a series of talks to take place throughout the coming year, to raise awareness and promote discussion on mental health issues. We are also hoping to sign up to the Government's flagship Disability Confident scheme in the next few months, which will allow us to access a whole set of new resources and know-how, and to obtain accreditation for the initiatives we are carrying out.
Azumah Cofie - Associate - Multicultural Network
The Multicultural Network’s inaugural events took place for Black History Month, consisting of a conversation with Bazil Meade MBE, creator of the UK’s first gospel community choir, and a lunch and learn session with British historian S.I. Martin.
For more information on D&I at Covington, please go here.
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