Since the inaugural meeting of the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee one year ago, the group has been hard at work leveraging resources and convening stakeholders to identify opportunities to improve DEI in Ohio’s civil justice system.
With the help of Equius Group, a Cleveland-based consulting firm, and data consultant Rachel Perry of Strategic Data Analytics (SDA), the DEI Committee has spent the last year taking a data-driven approach to some of the most pressing civil legal issues impacting Black and brown communities across Ohio, including debt and wealth building, health, housing, and education.
First, SDA helped the DEI Committee identify census tracts in Ohio with the most concentrated need among Black and brown poverty populations. Then, during the winter and spring, Equius conducted more than 20 interviews with nonprofit leaders in the identified communities, seeking first-hand input on legal intersections to reduce disparities.
“It was important that we spoke directly to the people who are serving these communities,” said Foundation Executive Director Angie Lloyd. “We wanted to reflect in our process the lived experiences of those who have worked on these systemic and extremely complex issues.”
At a May meeting, DEI Committee members gathered to discuss the interview data and brainstorm potential upstream interventions, including, but not limited to, remedies within policy or law, administrative processes and procedures, training and education, technology, and new access pathways.
Equius is working on a report that will include broad recommendations about where the Foundation could look for programmatic opportunities for equity-advancing projects.
“We’re excited to be at this stage of the process where we’re reviewing potential impactful interventions,” said Lloyd. “In the near future, we hope to be at a point where we’re ready to fund a program or programs that will benefit some of Ohio’s most vulnerable communities.”
The Ohio Access to Justice Foundation is leading the statewide effort to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion in civil legal services. A gift to the Foundation supports this crucial work.