Commitment to Diversity

Rhoades McKee recognizes the importance of diversity as it relates to our community and the success of our law Firm. Therefore, we are committed to creating a culturally competent environment where individuals of diverse backgrounds will be able to grow and become successful members of our Firm and the community. Diversity encompasses a wide range of individual characteristics and experiences which include gender, age, race, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, marital status, disability, geographic and economic backgrounds and family relationships. Our goal is to create an environment where the skills, experience, background and uniqueness of each individual is valued. We advocate fairness, equity, equality, promote diversity, oppose discriminatory behavior and foster a culture of respect and dignity.

We believe that diversity among our lawyers and staff is beneficial to our morale, productivity and success. By creating a culture of inclusion, we eliminate the barriers to individuals of diverse backgrounds and reflect the composition of our community and the clients we serve.

The power of diversity is that it provides our clients and community with a variety of perspectives, a broader, richer environment and produces creative thinking and solutions. We firmly believe that creating and promoting diversity is essential to our success.

As a part of our on-going commitment to diversity, we will:

• financially and philosophically support our Diversity Committee and initiatives;
• enhance our recruiting efforts to promote the hiring of individuals with diverse backgrounds, especially women and minorities;
• include individuals of diverse backgrounds in our leadership, training, management and client development opportunities;
• participate in bar association and community activities that advance diversity;
• engage in mentoring and other opportunities in the community to attract individuals of diverse background to the practice of law; and
• commit the time and resources to accomplish these objectives.

Rhoades McKee has been an active participant in the Minority Clerkship Program sponsored by the Floyd Skinner Bar Association. This is a program which gives first-year minority law students the opportunity to serve a summer clerkship in a Grand Rapids law firm and to become better acquainted with the opportunities for minority lawyers in the West Michigan area.