Diversity & Inclusion

Community Legal Aid (CLA) is committed to providing our staff, clients, and visitors with a welcoming and inclusive environment. We recognize and affirm that our organization’s success is tied to diversity and we strive to create and maintain a workplace and board of diverse, talented individuals.

To further this goal, we have established a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee which is open to all staff, and we have identified three core areas of focus for its sub-committees: organizational advancement, community engagement, and racial justice advocacy. The organizational advancement sub-committee works to ensure that all staff are supported and given the tools they need to succeed and flourish in the workplace. The community engagement sub-committee examines staff relationships with community partners, census data, and our internal client demographic data to ensure that we are adequately and appropriately serving the clients and communities most in need of legal aid. The racial justice advocacy sub-committee invites staff and community partners to identify systemic race-based barriers facing our clients and to craft creative, effective solutions.

CLA’s largest funder, the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation, coordinates a Statewide Diversity Council in collaboration with legal aid providers in Massachusetts. The Diversity Council works to identify and address issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion within civil legal aid in Massachusetts. CLA strongly supports the work of the Diversity Council and a number of CLA’s staff members are active members.