National NEWS

AAA Commitment to Diversity Continues Strong in 2007

December 18, 2006 -- As part of its continuing commitment to ensure that diversity and inclusiveness are part of all activities of the American Arbitration Association, the organization has established a new national committee, the AAA Advisory Committee on Diversity. The committee met for the first time on December 11 to review the AAA's diversity efforts to date and discuss ways to continue to increase diversity on the board of directors and the national roster of neutrals.

Diversity has been integral to the AAA's mission and core values for more than 80 years, beginning with the appointment of a woman, Frances Kellor, as one of the AAA's first executives at its founding in 1926. Through the years, the AAA has implemented and participated in countless diversity projects and programs through its network of offices nationwide as well as its corporate headquarters. In 1978, for example, the AAA, in cooperation with the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations of Cornell University and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, co-sponsored the Women's Arbitrator Development Program; the first training classes were held at AAA headquarters in May 1978. And in the 1990s, AAA offices held education programs and conferences for women and minorities in ADR. In recent years, the AAA has participated in ongoing programs with Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio, at its annual National Conference for Minority Professionals in ADR, including a five-day, intensive training program for professional minorities who are interested in becoming labor arbitrators. As follow-up to this training, the AAA established a unique mentoring program designed to further develop skills, offer career guidance, and provide opportunities for all-important networking in the field.

The new AAA Advisory Committee on Diversity will be in the forefront of helping to help develop ideas that will increase recruitment of diverse neutrals and directors. Currently, 22% of the AAA national roster of neutrals is diverse by gender, race, and ethnicity, with women making up 13% and ethnic minorities 7%. This is a substantial increase over the numbers in 2003, when the benchmark was first established for neutral diversity at 11% female and 6% ethnically diverse. On the board of directors, 38% are diverse by gender and/or race, a significant increase over the data from 1993, the year William K. Slate II took office as president and CEO, when only 8% of the board's directors were diverse in gender and/or ethnicity.

The members of the AAA Advisory Committee on Diversity include Sasha Carbone (AAA); Jennifer J. Coffman (AAA); Jose M. de Lasa (Baker & McKenzie); Jonathan P. Hiatt (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations); Kay H. Hodge (Stoneman, Chandler & Miller); James R. Jenkins (Deere & Company); Richard K. Jeydel (Kanematsu USA); Joia M. Johnson (RARE Hospitality International); Elizabeth J. Keefer (Columbia University); Hon. Timothy K. Lewis (Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis), committee chair; Charisse R. Lillie (Comcast Corporation); Vince J. Love (Kramer Love & Cutler); Carlos G. Ortiz (Goya Foods); William K. Slate II (AAA); Hon. John Charles Thomas (Hunton & Williams); John M. Townsend (Hughes Hubbard & Reed); Carol Young (Connecticut Assistant Attorney General); and Barbara Zausner (National Academy of Arbitrators President-Elect)