Mindful Mondays: City Bar Series on Well-Being and Mindfulness

The Power of Inclusion: Being the Solution

Originally held on Monday, May 10, 2021 | 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Program Instructor:
Cecilia B. Loving
Deputy Commissioner and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (“CDIO”)
Fire Department of New York City

  • With continued violence against Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), including violent racism by law enforcement and hate crimes against our Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, many of us are saddened, frustrated, and even depressed about the need to see radical change. We long for a quick fix, but the real work necessary to support a more diverse, equitable, accessible, and inclusive work environment requires that we help bring change by changing ourselves. Join Deputy Commissioner and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Cecilia B. Loving as she shares her perspective on how to create a more inclusive world by being the solution. So often we look beyond ourselves for change when the real change starts within. Through Commissioner Loving’s work on Meditating with Compassion, Healing with Generosity, and Leading with Love, she will share tools on how legal practitioners and administrators can develop personal practices to be more proactive in supporting a more inclusive work environment. She will teach the importance of welcoming yourself to uplift others, honoring your purpose to give your best, being silent to listen to what is important, sharing your story to find common ground, walking in balance to achieve harmony, leading change to reduce implicit bias, and developing the tools to co-create a better work environment.

    Cecilia B. Loving is a thought leader in diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion. She is a winner of the National Diversity Council’s 2021 Top 100 Diversity Officers Award; the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services’ 2021 Innovation Award for FDNY’s Inclusive Culture Strategy; Lawline’s Top Women Faculty of 2020 Award; and the City Bar Association’s 2020 Diversity and Inclusion Champion Award. She oversees diversity and inclusion initiatives for over 17,000 members of the FDNY, including but not limited the Fire Commissioner’s Taskforce on Racial Inclusion & Equity, and the Fire Commissioner’s Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, FDNY Courageous Conversations on Racial Inclusion, Bravest Women Talks, Diversity and Inclusion Innovation Labs, Inclusive Leadership Training, and similar initiatives. She is founder of the Mindfulness Group at FDNY and is Chair of the NYC Bar Association’s first Mindfulness and Well-Being in the Law Committee. She has written several books, including God is a Lawyer Too and Unbroken Circles: Holding Space, Healing Harm and Transcending Edges, as well as numerous articles and blogs, including “Some Ways to Help Racial Healing”; “Setting the Tone Right Through Inclusive Leadership”; “The Power of Inclusion: Treating Others Well is Essential to Our Well-Being”; “More Support for Mindfulness: Reduction of Implicit Bias”; and “Restorative Circles: Finding Solutions from Ancient Traditions.”

    Program Fee: Free for Members | $50 for Nonmembers

  • 11:00 am – 11:10 am
    WELCOMING YOURSELF AND OTHERS

    • Appreciating ourselves allows us to appreciate others
    • Use meditation to appreciate everyone
    • Connect at work beyond your comfort zone

    11:10 am – 11:15 am
    HONORING YOUR PURPOSE

    • Our calling is greater than our careers
    • Our values must align with our purpose
    • Create a leadership philosophy for your job

    11:15 am – 11:25 am
    BEING SILENT TO LISTEN

    • Activism is how we show up
    • Love is the only way to heal racism
    • Interrupt bias with a meditation program at work

    11:25 am – 11:35 am
    SHARING YOUR STORY

    • Circles are powerful tools to share stories
    • Create a community to hold space for healing
    • Integrate restorative practices at work

    11:35 am – 11:45 am
    WALKING IN BALANCE

    • “All our relations” teach the importance of balance
    • Cultivate practices that balance Spirit, Body and Mind
    • Engage balance in the workplace

    11:45 am – 11:50 am
    LEADING CHANGE

    • Inclusion seeks authenticity over perfection
    • Inclusion creates opportunities to appreciate
    • Inclusion inspires the innovation of adaption

    11:50 am – 12:00 pm
    CO-CREATING IMPROVEMENT

    • Manage expectations with an inclusive culture strategy
    • Use challenges as opportunities for growth
    • Tell a new story of how to be a more inclusive work environment

    12:00 pm – 12:05 pm
    QUESTIONS

  • New York: 1.0 Diversity, Inclusion and Elimination of Bias
    New Jersey:
    1.0 Diversity, Inclusion and Elimination of Bias
    California:
    1.0 Elimination of Bias
    Pennsylvania:
    1.0 Professional Responsibility
    Connecticut:
    Available to Licensed Attorneys

    Newly admitted New York attorneys (attorneys admitted to the New York State Bar for two years or less) cannot earn CLE credit in the category of Diversity, Inclusion and Elimination of Bias.

  • Sponsoring Association Committee:
    Mindfulness and Well-Being, Cecilia B. Loving, Chair

    Co-Sponsoring Association Committees:
    Alternative Dispute Resolution, Charles M. Newman, Chair
    Government Ethics & State Affairs, Jennifer G. Rodgers, Chair
    Mental Health Law, Karen P. Simmons, Chair

    Sponsorship Opportunities are Available! Please Contact:
    Angie Avila, Manager, Membership Outreach and Sponsorships | (212) 382-6608 | aavila@nycbar.org

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