An ISBA initiative to develop ways that encourage minorities to travel the educational pipeline into the legal profession will gain momentum as it enters its third year.

ISBA President Jack C. Carey has deemed the work of the Task Force on Diversity, “making important inroads to broader diversity in the Illinois legal profession,” a strong focus of his year in office.

The pipeline project began during the presidential term of Irene F. Bahr as a joint program of the Committee on Women and the Law and the Committee on Minority and Women Participation.

Past president Joseph G. Bisceglia established the diversity task force and appointed E. Lynn Grayson of Jenner & Block as its chair.

Grayson organized the work into three committees: Diversity Pipeline Project, Illinois Legal Community, and Illinois State Bar Association.

The pipeline committee, headed by Alice M. Noble-Allgire, Andrew P. Fox, Tracy L. Prosser and Venu Gupta, provided support for improved legal education opportunities for minorities by establishing partnerships and coordinating information.

The legal community committee, chaired by Sonni C. Williams and Gwen Rowan, completed a statewide diversity survey that addressed qualitative and quantitative factors.

The ISBA committee, led by Patrice Ball-Reed and Deborah Cole, developed a report card on the status of minority attorneys in the membership, leadership and programs.

On Feb. 15, the task force conducted a Hire Big 10: Diversity in the Law conference that was attended by minority students in Big 10 schools, Notre Dame, DePaul and the University of Chicago.

Representatives of bar associations, law firms, corporate law departments, public offices and faculties spoke about opportunities in the legal sector and made recommendations for getting into law school.

The two ISBA committees held a similar two-day program April 11 and 12 at the Southern Illinois University School of Law.

“We hope our combined efforts this year and moving forward will contribute to positive change within the Illinois legal profession,” Grayson said in her report published in Diversity Matters, the newsletter of the two committees.