Taylor Porter sponsored the 2019 and 12th Annual Louisiana State Bar Association Conclave on Diversity in the Legal Profession, "Strides for Diversity - Opening Doors for the Next Generation," held Friday, March 8, 2019, at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel. The Conclave encourages discussion among judges and attorneys, primarily hiring and managing attorneys with law firms and law departments, about the importance of diversity within the legal profession and how to improve diversity within the profession in Louisiana.

This year's keynote speaker included Dima Ghawi, Dima Ghawi, LLC. Throughout her career, Ms. Ghawi has led global teams, facilitated leadership workshops and initiated woman advancement programs. Her focus now is helping her clients with leadership, employee engagement programs, and women advancement programs. Ms. Ghawi’s life mission is to enable individuals across cultures to shatter their internal and external limitations. 

The Diversity and Inclusion Workshop presenter included Dr. Katrice Albert, Executive VP of Inclusion and Human Resources. Dr. Albert is the NCAA’s executive vice president of inclusion and human resources. In this role, she leads efforts to enhance diversity, inclusion, leadership development, and education and community engagement. Additionally, she is responsible for leading national office employee relations, performance management, professional development, and compensation and benefits programs. Before joining the NCAA, she served in executive capacities with the University of Minnesota System from 2013 to 2017, and at Louisiana State University from 2005 to 2013. She led diversity, inclusion and equity strategies in both positions.

Taylor Porter’s 107-year tradition of excellence in client service and strong, commitment to diversity and inclusion throughout our law firm is evidenced by our internal promotion of diversity awareness, recruitment/retention of diverse professionals, leadership by our women and minority attorneys, and through external outreach and impact on the community. Our Firm’s diversity efforts are led by Diversity Committee Chair Katia Bowman, and also Vice-Chair Vicki Crochet. In 2017, the Taylor Porter Diversity Committee launched its BUILD (Building Unity, Inclusion, & Legal Diversity) Community Outreach Program. The program was implemented by the Taylor Porter Diversity Committee and designed to further bridge and support the Firm’s diversity efforts, combined with its traditional community outreach and volunteer work. ​In 2016, Taylor Porter, through its Diversity Committee, agreed to host annual "Dialogue on Race" sessions organized by Dialogue on Race Louisiana (DORLA) and moderator Maxine Crump. Dialogue on Race Louisiana is a membership association that brings together organizations, businesses, and individuals that have similar goals of working to end the racial divide. Through this association these groups can be a source of support and inspiration to each other as well as maximize their collective efforts.