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Presentation Highlights (what can the audience expect to learn or take away?):

How to develop and implement DEI strategies, how to measure success, and how to continue improving and evolving.

D&I Resources, Recommendations, & Inspiration

• Book: DEI Deconstructed by Lily Zheng
• Person: Ruth Bader Ginsburg is an inspiration and trailblazer in the law on gender equality.
• Other Media (podcast, show, social, publication): "The Will to Change: Uncovering True Stories of Diversity."
• Advice for someone starting, or continuing on, their DEI journey: Before you can develop and implement DEI strategies, you need to assess and understand where your organization is on DEI. From there, you can begin to set goals in recruitment and hiring, onboarding, promotion decisions, culture, and environment.  If you have a DEI plan, it's important to assess progress in achieving goals. However, measuring success should be qualitative versus quantitative.

More About Jody:

Jody E. Briandi is President/Managing Partner of Hurwitz Fine P.C. She leads the firm’s Board of Directors and chairs the firm’s Premises Liability, Retail & Hospitality Liability, and School District Litigation practice groups. Jody is an active advocate for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, oversees the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee, and also frequently speaks and writes on diversity and law firm management best practices.

Locally, she is a member of the Board of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce, the Buffalo State University Foundation, and the WNY Women’s Foundation. Nationally, Jody is a member of the National Retail and Restaurant Defense Association and the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, where she chairs the law practice management section. Jody is a recipient of the Buffalo Business First Women of Influence – Corporate Executive Award and the C-Level Executive Award and was selected to the Upstate New York Super Lawyers Top 50 Lawyers and Top 25 Women lists. Jody is a 2023 ATHENA Leadership Award honoree.