Hilarie Bass Launches Bass Institute for Diversity & Inclusion
Former ABA president and co-president of Greenberg Traurig to work with companies to promote more women to senior leadership and power.
January 28, 2019 - (Miami, Florida) – Hilarie Bass, immediate Past-President of the American Bar Association (ABA) and former Co-President of Greenberg Traurig, is launching today the Bass Institute for Diversity & Inclusion. The institute brings a C-level perspective to the issue of retaining and promoting women to senior roles by focusing on best practices that have been proven effective at “moving the needle,” with the eventual goal of bringing diversity and inclusion to every level of the organization.
“There simply aren’t enough women at the table,” says Bass of her inspiration for creating the Institute. “Not having women in senior leadership positions is bad for women, of course, but, more importantly, it’s bad for business. Companies invest a fortune in recruiting the smartest, most competent women, but then they fail to retain them and to promote them into positions of senior leadership.”
Through the Bass Institute, Bass will work with companies, law firms and institutions to evaluate why current diversity programs have failed to accomplish their goals and recommend granular changes in approaches to hiring, compensation, promotion and performance evaluations. “When women leave a company before they’ve reached their full potential, and contributed their full potential, the company pays a high price,” Bass says.
The institute will help companies through services such as creation of effective and innovative inclusion and diversity programs, as well as executive counseling and workshops on diversity and inclusion best practices and strategies. The institute’s approach is based on methods that have been proven to change workplace culture and diminish the impact of the unconscious biases that all humans hold and that prevent workplaces from being truly inclusive.
The Bass Institute for Diversity & Inclusion will be supported by its nonprofit arm, the Bass Foundation. The donor-supported foundation will curate and disseminate current studies that show the most effective strategies for creating diverse and inclusive workplaces. It will also share real-life examples of inclusive workplaces that successfully retain diverse talent and utilize best practices. The Bass Foundation will also host related conferences, including an AmLaw 100 Managing Partners Conference this May and future Women’s Leadership Workshops.
As the former co-president of Greenberg Traurig, one of the country’s largest and most prestigious law firms, and immediate past-president of the American Bar Association, Hilarie Bass brings more than two decades of experience in senior management roles. Having seen firsthand the ways that companies of all kinds struggle to retain and elevate women in the C-suite, she was inspired to begin her diversity push with a woman-focused goal.
“The Bass Institute will be fully focused on helping companies ensure that there are more women at the table, more women making major decisions and more women making it into senior management,” says Bass. “Not having women at the table is simply no longer acceptable or affordable.”
In addition to leading the institute’s initiatives, Hilarie Bass will continue to be a keynote speaker on the topics of women leadership, implicit bias and gender parity, and is available as a speaker for organizations and at corporate events and conferences around the world.
Learn more about the Bass Institute for Diversity & Inclusion at www.bassinstitute.org. Hilarie Bass is available for interviews.
Contact:
Ian McCluskey, Thinking Heads Americas – imc@thinkingheads.com
Video of Hilarie Bass explaining why she founded the Bass Institute for Diversity & Inclusion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxfX9lQs2ps
Link to this press release: bassinstitute.org/blog/launch
High-resolution photo of Hilarie Bass: bassinstitute.org/picture-download
The Bass Institute for Diversity & Inclusion and Hilarie Bass on social media:
Twitter: @Bass_Instituteand @HilarieBass
Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCfW9zDiP4kgoe5i8gU7qu3w
LinkedIn:linkedin.com/in/hilariebass/
