Work that Works

Karlyn Percil, CEO of KDPM Consulting Group and Certified Emotional Intelligence & Neuro-Leadership Coach, shares research-based strategies and resources developed through the lens of intersectionality and lived experience that organizations can use to create a culture of psychological safety and address lack of representation in C-suites and board rooms.

Catherine “Cat” Youdan offers an inside view of an innovative system that Blakes, Cassels & Graydon LLP has implemented to leverage technological and human resources to level the playing field by allocating work to associates more equitability and objectively. By taking direct aim at workload disparity that can lead to burnout or disengagement, the program is also ensuring that all associates enjoy the skills- and relationship-building opportunities that will help them advance in their careers.

John Brown and Bryn Gray, leaders in McCarthy’s EDI, mentorship, and pro-bono programs, including the recently launched Indigenous Human Rights Clinic, offer insight on how organizations can engage with Indigenous communities to build trust and awareness that will improve access to justice and inspire Indigenous youth to pursue a career a law. Gain practical advice on crafting an effective Reconciliation Plan, creating a welcoming workplace for diverse talent, and cultivating culturally sensitive and astute lawyers.

As we contemplate a return to the office and the merging of our physical and virtual workspaces, how do we carry on with progressive initiatives from “the before times,” while using all that we’ve learned over the past year to create a hybrid practice model of unprecedented innovation, inclusion and engagement? Monique Jilesen, a partner at Lenczner Slaght who is leading the firm’s COVID response, provides an insider’s take on combining technology and human potential to best effect in the reconfigured legal workplace.

A young lawyer, passionate about community-based organizing, empowering marginalized populations, and working with youth, Shani Ocquaye is a driving force behind the development and implementation of Humber College’s EDI framework and strategy. She offers insight into constructing deliberate and well-defined diversity programs, in collaboration with community, task force and employee resource group members, and creating an academic and workplace experience that is inclusive from the jump.

Nikki Gershbain talks about the change she has helped lead in D&I at McCarthy Tétrault as Chief Inclusion Officer detailing what has worked in her firm, and how a comprehensive, integrated, action-oriented and evidence-based approach to embedding inclusion in the workplace topples both structural and cultural barriers.

Creating workplaces that work requires a focus on individuals and systems. This episode features Debbie Burke-Benn, an award-winning ‘Authentic Leader’ with a passion for inclusion and vast experience in leading organizational change across various settings, sectors and continents. She delivers helpful insight on disrupting the status quo and both engaging and leveraging the strengths of diverse employees to boost innovation and better serve the public. Hear how “the why” in diversity and inclusion work is often more difficult to capture than “the how.”

Norie Campbell, Group Head and General Counsel, TD Bank Group, has been successfully leading high-impact inclusion efforts and focusing on real-world, practical strategies that recruit, engage and advance diverse candidates into leadership roles. She shares these strategies and describes how they are catalyzing change across the Bank and effectively connecting diversity and inclusion efforts to customer and community engagement.

Tanya “Toni” De Mello, Assistant Dean for Student Programming, Development and Equity at Canada's newest law school, talks to us about the promise and the future of the profession. We look at how legal employers can adopt lessons learned from her leading role in creating an inclusive and innovative academic community – and her revelatory PhD research into recruitment in the legal sector – in their efforts to cultivate more equitable and diverse workplaces that attract, empower and inspire the best work from up-and-coming leaders in law.

How can today’s workplace leaders tackle the ever-important wellness component of work that works? Like all the other components of a modern workplace, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. In the latest episode of Work that Works, OBA President Charlene Theodore sits down with lawyer, Catherine Shearer (host of the Happy Lawyer Podcast) to discuss the varied yet practical ways lawyers and their employers can work together to help bring more happiness to the practice of law and legal workplaces. The episode qualifies for 45 minutes of professionalism hours.