June 17, 2022

 Vinny Sachdeva

pride diversity inclusion pride month Elevate values

In conjunction with June’s global designation as Pride Month, we invited Elevaters to attend a company-wide session, ‘Being an Out and Proud Elevater’, hosted by Mathew Todd, VP and General Manager of ElevateFlex and Kunoor Chopra, VP of Legal Services. Many colleagues from around the world joined members of our leadership team to share personal stories of different cultures and discuss the need for sensitivity and inclusivity in our language and actions. The webinar demonstrated Elevate’s commitment to making the company a place that welcomes individuals regardless of their orientation or identity.

While some may view June’s designation as Pride Month as having an exclusive focus on the struggles and achievements of members of the LGBTQ community, at Elevate, we see June as that and more. Yes, it involves remembrance and celebration. But it also underscores the value of diversity and the impact of creating a safe environment for our colleagues to bring their whole selves to work.

This year, Pride Month comes amidst a heightened emphasis on diversity and inclusion. In the legal sector and beyond, people increasingly recognise that diversity and inclusion foster a greater sense of community, more innovation, and stronger employee engagement. All of these ultimately benefit our customers.

Being out at the workplace requires feeling safe about being open and authentic. At Elevate, we understand that. Throughout Elevate, we know respecting our colleagues for who they are and their choices helps us fulfill Elevate’s collective purpose of trying to improve the legal industry and ‘make a dent in the universe.’ It also makes for deeper, more enjoyable relationships with our colleagues throughout the legal community. Creating a safe and inclusive environment heightens the satisfaction we experience in seeing our ideas, innovations, and plain hard work result in real improvements in the careers and lives of our fellow professionals and results for our customers.

Elevate’s emphasis on diversity and inclusion goes beyond a single month or one meeting. Throughout the year, we conduct unconscious bias training for our hiring managers and work continuously to recruit from a diverse pool of candidates otherwise disadvantaged by the traditional hiring process. Our Synergy program goes year-round, too, with a series of free-flowing company-wide discussions in an open and safe forum. Last year, we expanded our efforts to include disability inclusion, appointing a VP to lead Disability and Inclusion and working to lead change and encourage our fellow industry colleagues.

As 2022 continues to unfold, our efforts will continue long past the end of this month. Meanwhile, Elevate’s values remain unchanged: We Innovate, We Deliver, We Care.