AIPLA Committee Report and Workplan
DATE: January 24, 2017 MEETING: 2017 Mid-Winter Institute
COMMITTEE NAME: Diversity Committee
COMMITTEE LEADERSHIP: Arlene Neal (Chair), Justine Gozzi (Vice Chair), Valerie Caloway (Board Liaison)
SUBCOMMITTEES:
Professional Development Subcommittee: April Mosby (Chair)
· Plan and maintain a speaker bank
· Plan and schedule webinar speakers for committee meetings
· Coordinate Liaison program
Outreach Subcommittee: Clara Jimenez and Kandis Gibson (Co-Chairs)
· Help plan annual/midwinter/spring meetings
· Develop outreach events to engineering/law schools in connection, where possible, with AIPLEF other AIPLA committees, and other affinity bar associations.
· Coordinate Social Media (Linked In, Newsletter, Facebook) communications
DISCUSS THE OVERALL MISSION OF THE COMMITTEE AS IT RELATES TO AIPLA’s VISION, MISSION, and VALUES, STRATEGIES & GOALS:
Our goal is to effectively serve AIPLA members from diverse backgrounds, to encourage the professional growth of our members, and to embrace and celebrate the diversity of our membership. We intend to develop content to facilitate our members' professional development, to promote our members within AIPLA, and to provide awareness and understating of diversity within the IP profession, in general, and AIPLA in particular.
PROJECTS:
Plans for stated meetings:
2017 Mid-Winter Meeting:
Diversity Fun Run – A guided 5K run or 3K walk on a path around the conference location
Committee Meeting Event: Business Meeting to discuss committee tasks for 2017
2017 Spring Meeting
Committee Meeting Event: TBD
Diversity Fun Run – A guided 5K run or 3K walk on a path around the conference location
2017 Annual Meeting
Committee Meeting Event: TBD
Plans for coordination between stated meetings:
Multi-City Happy Hour: Clara Jimenez and Kandis Gibson (co-chairs)
The 2017 AIPLA Diversity Committee Multi-City Happy Hour will be held on June 8, 2017. The event will be meetings of attorneys from diverse backgrounds in various cities around the United States. In this regard, numerous sub-events will be concurrently held in various geographic locations by law firms, corporations, and/or universities. These events may include seated dinners, cocktail parties, passed hors d’hoeuvres, talks on topics of interests or other types of gathering.
Multi-City Career Events: Clara Jimenez and Kandis Gibson (cochairs):
The 2017 AIPLA Diversity Committee Multi-City Career Events will be held in the fall of 2017. These events may include panel or roundtable discussions or mock interviews with reception. AIPLA Diversity Committee intends to work with local affinity associations, AIPLEF, and USPTO regional offices to coordinate and host these events.
Member Communications
● Committee Microsite – Arlene Neal (lead) – Update committee microsite to reflect current committee projects, contacts, and activities.
● Social Media – provide multiple social media avenues for committee members to share information and interact including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, committee blog and committee microsite:
● Book Club – Justine Gozzi (lead) – The newly initiated book club will read a book followed by a teleconference to discuss the book.
Plans for communication with the committee clusters/board liaisons:
The committee is planning a number of programs to promote diversity in the IP profession. In particular, the committee plans to host programs or events at the three stated meetings, free webinars, a Multi-City Happy Hour that is to take place each spring, and Multi-City Career Events that are to take place each fall. We have also created a “speakers bank” to provide speaking opportunities to committee members.
Women in IP Law Speaker’s Bank (Nicholas Camillo and Mansi Shah - lead)
The Diversity Committee intends to use its Speaker’s Bank to increase participation by our members in the AIPLA educational programs as speakers and moderators at stated meetings, webinars, and other events.
Book Club (Justine Gozzi-lead)
The newly initiated book club will read a book followed by a teleconference to discuss the book.
Diversity Committee Liaisons (Rakhi Nakhanj-lead)
The TSC Liaison program links members of the Diversity Committee with leaders of substantive committees within AIPLA to promote diverse groups working on important issues facing AIPLA. The TSC Liaison Program’s goal includes increasing member participation, mentoring, and leadership of diverse attorneys in the substantive work of AIPLA. The current liaisons are active in the above-referenced subcommittees. We are also looking for TSC Liaisons for the numerous additional substantive committees.
PUBLIC EDUCATION:
As noted above, the committee hosts a number of free webinars on topics of interest to attorneys from diverse backgrounds. The committee also plans to host Multi-City Career Events, and outreach events to engineering/law schools in connection, where possible, with other AIPLA committees, and other affinity bar associations.
MEMBER SERVICE:
Webinars (April Mosby-lead) –
Conference calls which may include a speaker that facilitate our members' professional development and encourage members' engagement.
GLOBAL OUTREACH:
Coordination with other organizations:
a. PTAB BAR - conference coming up in March. AIPLA Diversity Committee to coordinate a happy hour with the PTAB Diversity Committee.
b. Hispanic National Bar Association
· IPLI institute in July/August - AIPLA Public Education committee will fund a dinner.
· AIPLA Diversity Committee to help with a mock interview program that happens during the same week. Two hour event.
c. National Bare Association
· AIPLA Diversity Committee to co-host happy hour during AIPLA Annual Meeting
d. South Asian Bar Association - AIPLA Diversity Committee to reach out to organizers of SABA National Convention, to take place in DC from July 13 to 16. to see how we can participate in the event.
e. Minority Cooperate Council Association - Blueprint event happens in DC in August. AIPLA Diversity Committee to investigate hosting a happy hour or breakfast?