Diversity and Inclusion Matters

Foreword

Dear Reader:

Covid-19. Amy Cooper. George Floyd. Police brutality. Black Lives Matter. The presidential election. The Capitol Riots. Social justice, systemic racism, equity – these are buzzwords from the past taking on new meaning, emphasis, importance, and scorn for a broader array of people. The United States is stepping into the global spotlight once again while casting a shadow that did not, and will not, serve its legacy well. Diversity and inclusion, for the first time, is becoming one of the most coveted roles in domestic and international corporations. The years 2020–2021 are years that have and continue to redefine how we view the world, how we view our neighbors, and how to have long overdue conversations within our communities and with corporations and governments. A roadmap for these conversations has never been more necessary or critical for the next generation.

A roadmap created and generously shared by my friend and colleague Jason R. Thompson is what you have here. Jason and I met through our mutual love of sports, he at the United States Olympic Committee and I through Major League Baseball (MLB). After many iterations of practicing law, I had the good fortune of securing my first diversity and inclusion role at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and have not looked back in eleven years. It was a discipline I was not particularly familiar with, especially in professional spaces (my entry point thoroughly predates the current norm of DE&I practitioners ...