Diversity & Inclusion

Tipping the scales toward equality for all.

Diversity and inclusion have long been fixtures of Frost Brown Todd’s culture and indeed remain core to who we are. Still, we recognize that our work is never finished. We are constantly developing and refining our approach to create a more vibrant law firm for our colleagues, our clients, and communities. Our goal is for every member of the Frost Brown Todd team to have equal and ample opportunity to contribute, grow, and find fulfillment in their work.

Kimera Hall | Diversity & Inclusion Committee Chair

“As Frost Brown Todd enters a new phase of D&I, with a sharpened focus on improving our diversity metrics, I would suggest adding an “E” to our efforts. The “E” stands for equity. We want to achieve increased equity for our diverse professionals — equity of opportunity, equity of voice, and equity with respect to professional development and advancement. With a combination of inclusiveness and increased equity, we are sure to see results.”

Diversity

Black@FBT Affinity Group

Committed to Excellence

Frost Brown Todd’s Black@FBT affinity group bolsters the excellence and abilities of Black professionals by fostering community, mentorship, and business development while assisting with recruiting, developing, and retaining talent vital to the firm’s success. Each associate in the group is paired with a dedicated mentor to aid in practice growth, network building, and professional advancement. Black@FBT is committed to making a difference internally by strengthening and broadening our roster of diverse talent and externally through community service, social justice activities, and pipeline initiatives within the firm’s markets. Contact Kimera Hall to learn more.

Supporting the Future

Diversity Scholarship Fund

Our firm promotes building a pipeline of diverse attorneys in our local legal community by supporting diverse students in their education and exploration of the law. In addition to our attorneys’ mentorship initiatives, we annually award scholarships to five or more diverse law students who we believe will have a positive and lasting impact on the legal profession. Learn more.

Bernard McKay Award of Excellence for LGBT Scholars

Established by Frost Brown Todd Member Bernie McKay in 2014, the McKay Scholarship at Morehead State University recognizes and provides financial support to undergraduate students who self-identify as LGBT and who have demonstrated exceptional service to the cause of LGBT equality. Every four years, the full tuition scholarship is awarded to an incoming undergraduate and renewed for an additional seven semesters if certain academic requirements are met. In 2019, the first-ever McKay Scholar graduated from Morehead State. Learn more.

Recruitment

We participate in four regional diversity job fairs every year to be able to solicit a diverse pool of candidates beyond our local law schools. We also consider diversity from the start by using structured panel interviewing to guard against bias in the hiring process.

Community Engagement

Through various outreach programs, we connect with local and national organizations focused on righting the opportunity imbalance for diverse professionals. The following organizations are among those we routinely and adamantly support:

Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals (ALFDP)
Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati (BLAC)/CBA Roundtable
Central High School Pipeline Program
Chart Your Own Course (CYOC)/Stakeholders
Columbus Managing Partner Initiative
Cristo Rey High School Pipeline Program
Diverse by Design, Cincinnati Regional Chamber
Greater Cincinnati Minority Counsel Program (GCMCP)
Hispanic National Bar Association
Law & Leadership Institute (LLI)
Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD)
Summer Work Experience in Law (SWEL)

Equity

We have programs in place to monitor and measure our diversity metrics, focusing particularly on the advancement and retention of our diverse professionals. These metrics have helped raise awareness about potential blind spots and led to the adoption of new change initiatives, the most recent of which are detailed below. But, while we are proud that our efforts continue to pay dividends with respect to the employee experience, we acknowledge that we still have plenty of work to do. We know that being true leaders requires a purposeful commitment to EQUITY in every sense of the word.

Mansfield Rule™ Plus Certified

Frost Brown Todd is one of a select group of U.S. law firms to achieve Mansfield Rule™ Plus Certification, a rigorous 12-month benchmarking program that requires participating firms to consider at least 30% women, lawyers of color, lawyers with disabilities and/or LGBTQ+ lawyers for 70 percent or more of the firm’s leadership roles, committees and other qualifying activities during the review period.

Frost Brown Todd has also signed on to participate in the next iteration of the program, Mansfield 5.0., running from Summer 2021-2022. As part of the program, the firm has committed to participating in three-month, six-month and annual check-in surveys and data collection requests, while also engaging in community building and knowledge sharing with other participating firms.

Stay Interviews

Many companies ask departing employees to sit for an exit interview to understand why the person has chosen to leave the organization. Frost Brown Todd is in the process of establishing the convention of “stay interviews.” This will enable us to better understand why lawyers remain with the firm and what might cause them to leave.

Community Engagement

The following organizations are among those we routinely and adamantly support:

Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals (ALFDP)
CBA LGBT Committee
CEO Action Signatories
Equality Ohio
Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession (IILP)
Women in Law Empowerment Forum
Pride Parade Corporate Sponsor

Inclusion

Inclusion Training & Workshops

Creating an inclusive environment benefits us and our clients, who receive better service from the multitude of talent that can only be achieved with people of different backgrounds, distinct perspectives and varied experience. We conduct regular mandatory training on unconscious bias, micro inequities, inclusion and other cultural competencies to ensure that Frost Brown Todd continues to be a place where people can both express and be themselves.

We also host numerous voluntary workshops and luncheons throughout the year featuring nationally recognized speakers. These workshops are widely attended across our offices and are often participatory in nature, encouraging team members to share experiences and engage more deeply with topics through conversations with their colleagues. Below is a sampling of recent inclusion workshops hosted by Frost Brown Todd:

Mass Imprisonment in America with Sam Mihara
Hispanic Heritage: Fireside Chat with Judge Marilyn Zayas
Gatekeeping, Storytelling, and Social Change: The Secret History of Women in Hollywood
Pride Month: Screening and Q&A with directors of CURED
Not Passing by Passover
The Elephant in the Office, Parts 1 & 2
Bias Interrupters
A Conversation About Being Black in America
Generational Differences
Fail Better
Recognizing Bias Against Refugees and Understanding Our Neighbors’ Journeys
Memories of Heart Mountain
City of Cincinnati Poverty Simulation
Colorblindness and Internal Bias
We are the Solution, Not the Problem
The Reinterpretation of Women’s Rights in Islam
Let Me Tell You Something: Creating an LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Workplace
How Emotional Intelligence Can Produce a More Diverse Workplace
The Impostor Syndrome

In addition to training, we conduct employee surveys and monitor firm-wide metrics on recruitment, advancement and compensation. This ensures that we remain vigilant and continue to make progress toward our inclusion goals.

Quarterly D&I Reports

Being a truly inclusive law firm requires hard work, ingenuity, and the courage of one’s convictions. But it can also mean getting to work with young people, amazing community organizations, and having a good deal of fun in the process. In addition to relating new developments in our diversity and inclusion journey, these periodic reports are a testament to the extraordinary people who work for us and with us and whose service to diversity is an example and inspiration for us all.

The Frost Brown Todd Diversity & Inclusion Award

Every year we come together to recognize attorneys and business professionals who have gone above and beyond in their service to our diversity and inclusion goals. The recipients of the Frost Brown Todd Diversity & Inclusion Award are true champions of fairness and equality, as evidenced by their support for colleagues and the work they do outside the firm to enrich the lives of their fellow community members.

Recognition

D&I Perspectives

We have amazing people with a true passion for diversity and inclusion. We asked a few of our own to lend their perspectives on what this work means to them and for new colleagues just getting started at the firm. Watch the short video to learn more.

Diversity & Inclusion Committee

Brian Michael Cooper

Member

Houston, TX

713.590.9331

BreAnna S. Davis

Associate

Indianapolis, IN

317.237.3459

Ryan W. Goellner

Member

Cincinnati, OH

513.651.6840

Adam P. Hall

Chief Executive Officer

Cincinnati, OH

513.651.6784

Kimera J. Hall

Diversity & Inclusion Committee Chair

Dallas, TX

214.580.5843

Miles R. Harrison

Member

Louisville, KY

502.779.8121

Alicia S. Kappers

Professional Development and Integration Director

Cincinnati, OH

513.651.6766

Kimberly K. Mauer

Women's Initiative Committee Chair

Cincinnati, OH

513.651.6743

Derrick L. Maultsby Jr.

Associate

Pittsburgh, PA

412.513.4290

Stephanie V. McGowan

Managing Associate

Indianapolis, IN

317.237.3833

Christopher L. Johnson

Chief Diversity Officer

Lexington, KY

Louisville, KY

859.244.3206

Inclusion@Work

We work hard to put our diversity and inclusion values into action every day, not just at the firm, but anywhere we believe our leadership can make a difference. Click below to see inclusion hard at work.