As the State's chief legal officer, Attorney General Brown is deeply committed to administering and enforcing State and Federal equal employment opportunity laws and policies and promoting a work environment free of any unlawful discrimination, harassment and retaliation. As the people's lawyer, it is important that our offices reflect the diverse communities that we serve. Diversity increases productivity and problem solving and enhances client relationships. It also reflects our commitment to equality and justice. Consistent with this commitment, the Maryland Attorney General's Office has developed several initiatives to recruit a diverse staff and to engage and support our diverse constituency.
The newly created Office of Equity, Policy, and Engagement (OEPE) identifies and helps to execute innovative strategies to advance OAG goals and priorities using a racial and social equity framework. We work closely with internal and external OAG stakeholders across a broad range of issues to promote policies and other initiatives that combat systemic inequities and protect the rights, responsibilities, and privileges of all Marylanders.
The OAG Diversity Committee was established to foster a diverse and culturally sensitive workplace. The Committee's work is focused on four main areas: hiring and retention; events and programs; education and training; and advice and legislation.
The human mind does most of its work unconsciously. Every minute, your brain is flooded with millions of pieces of information, but you can only consciously process a small fraction of them. To help us recognize our own unconscious biases (we all have them), learn how those biases affect our decision-making, and take steps to reduce those biases, we have begun training all Office staff on identifying unconscious bias. We are confident that learning about our own unconscious biases will make us better at hiring, stronger at team building, and more effective in developing the future leaders of the office.
The Office has partnered with the Community Law in Action (CLIA) Corporate Mentoring Program. The Corporate Mentoring Program is a worksite mentoring initiative and an extension of CLIA's Law and Leadership Academy currently at several local Baltimore area high schools. This mentoring program reinforces the skills learned in school-based law programs and exposes students to the professional workplace. Under the program, staff from the Office of the Attorney General serve as mentors to 11th and 12th grade Law Academy students from Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School (Mervo). Students and mentors meet monthly and participate in area college tours, public speaking and writing seminars, and other training and educational activities to encourage growth, leadership, and citizenship.
The Thurgood Marshall Clerkship Program is a summer collaborative effort of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General and several local law firms to attract diverse students who demonstrate not only a devotion to public service and the public good, but also exceptional leadership potential. The Program seeks to create a pipeline of diverse and qualified candidates for a broad array of legal practice. For more information please see the program guide and FAQs. Applications for the 2025 Clerkship are due by January 10, 2025 and can be found here.
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