October 2004

Lessons Learned: Three Years on the Board of Governors

by Zulema Hinojos-Fall

The very definition of the term "diversity" (the otherness of those human qualities that are different from our own and outside the group to which we belong) requires us to conclude that each of us has a contribution to make in the arena of diversity. We are all diverse. We all enrich our Association and our society with our individuality and personal experiences.

Nevertheless, we should also consider that those of us who embody the primary dimensions of diversity, which cannot be changed — age, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, and sexual orientation — are diverse in a manner which makes us unique and, for better or for worse, shapes our experiences, our lives, our future, and our place in the workplace and in society in quite a fundamentally different manner than those of us who may embody the secondary dimensions of diversity, which can be changed — educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, social status, military experience, parental status, religious beliefs, and experiences.

Only after reflecting on the fundamental differences between the primary and secondary dimensions of diversity did I seek to be elected to a seat on the Board of Governors (BOG) of the Washington State Bar Association. After presenting my credentials, competing for the position among a large field of very well-qualified candidates, and being interviewed in open session, I was elected to become the first woman of color to be a governor in our Association's 116-year history.1

The first Hispanic woman on the Board. The only Hispanic woman on the Board. Dark. Ethnic. Believe me when I tell you, it is not easy to go where no woman of color has gone before. Nor did I seek this dubious honor for its own sake. I sought this position because I believed change was needed. Because while I paid my dues to the WSBA, I saw no one in the top echelons of this Association's governance and policy-setting body who embodied those primary diversity dimensions which cannot be changed. And I asked myself, why? Were those of us with primary dimensions of diversity marginalizing ourselves out of the leadership of the Association, or were we being marginalized? Or was the answer far more complex? I sought to answer the question by seeking one of two newly created diversity governor seats. I believed, not immodestly, that whatever the reason, I was the right person for the position and could serve as a catalyst for change.

Change was needed and change has come. When I was first elected to this position in September 2001, three other women served on the Board with me. No other person of color, male or female, served on that 16-member Board during my 2001-2002 first-year term. By the 2002-2003 term, five women and two persons of color became an integral part of the total composition of the BOG, including the first Indian woman, Fawn Sharp, counsel for the Quinault Tribe, and Ron Ward, who this year assumes the leadership of the Washington State Bar Association as its first African-American president. The composition of the BOG during the 2003-2004 term included three attorneys of color and six women attorneys. That's what I call progress. However, we must remember that progress requires continuous effort. The progress we have made in the past three years must not be taken for granted or lost. Let us not go back to the time when no woman of color sat on the BOG and few women did. Let us not go back to the time when no person of color could hope to become president of our organization. Let us not forget that no woman has been elected president of the BOG since the Honorable Mary Fairhurst, justice of the Washington State Supreme Court, served in that capacity during the 1997-1998 term. Let us not forget that Seattle attorney Lem Howell served on the BOG during the 1989-1992 term, becoming the first person of color to serve, the first African American to sit on the BOG, approximately 40 years after the enactment of the Civil Rights Act. And most of all, let us not forget that it wasn't until 12 years after Mr. Howell crossed that color barrier that I became the second person of color to take a seat at the Board of Governor's table of the Washington State Bar Association.

Some have asked, why focus on diversity? We must focus on diversity because one of this Association's goals is to make sure that each individual member of our attorney community feels that the Association is inclusive, respectful, and welcoming. We must focus on diversity because it is the right thing to do. Our profession requires it and our conscience demands it. Certainly, each of our members' experience is valuable and unique, because the attorney members of this organization are as diverse as the definition of diversity itself. But while those members who embody the secondary dimensions of diversity are well represented in the leadership positions of our Association, there is still plenty of room — and need — for leader members embodying the primary dimensions of diversity. The very existence of attorneys who embody the primary dimensions of diversity means that there are those in our organization whose experiences are fundamentally different, will always be different, from those members who embody only the secondary dimensions of diversity. Because, like it or not, when one is regarded, first and foremost, in the context of our primary dimension of diversity, one is by definition being regarded as different. The pain a woman of color attorney feels when she walks into a courtroom and is immediately assumed to be (and treated like) the probation officer, the case worker, or a member of the defendant's family will never be experienced by a white male attorney, regardless of his religious views, class standing, or social upbringing. Regardless of our characteristics, we all share many pains: the death of family members, for example. However, the particular searing pain that comes from bias because of our primary dimensions of diversity will never be one that attorneys who embody primary dimensions of diversity will ever have in common with attorneys who embody only the secondary dimensions of diversity. And the particular type of white searing pain that one feels when one experiences prejudice may be all the more painful because it is caused by nothing more than a stereotypical response to those characteristics in us which we cannot change and which others find offensive.

In short, the significance of primary dimensions of diversity and its effects on a lawyer's practice cannot be denied. Although we share much in common, the voice of those of us who embody primary dimensions of diversity needs to be heard and considered with equal weight when this Association considers governance and policy matters which impact all of us in our practice of law. Issues of access to justice, legislative proposals, recommendations, and changes for court rules and procedures and model rules of professional conduct must be considered and adopted in light of all of our members' personal and professional experiences. We need as many diverse voices at that 16-member Board of Governors' table as are qualified and are willing to serve. I urge each and every one of you to run for a Board position. I especially urge those of you whose voices have yet to be heard at the BOG to run for a Board position. And to seek the presidency of this Association. Make no mistake, it is hard work. Very long hours. No pay. But the rewards are immeasurable. You will be called upon to review and vote on proposals affecting every aspect of our practice. You will help shape policy. You will actively participate in the governance of every aspect of our Association. And you will bear responsibility, along with your fellow Board members, for the long-term policies which will affect the way we practice law in the state of Washington in the foreseeable future.

So here's what I learned after serving on the BOG for three years. I learned that the leadership of the Washington State Bar Association means it when they ask you to join, participate, and assume leadership in every aspect of this Association's governance. I learned that Dave Savage, our outgoing president, means it when he talks of raising an umbrella of inclusivity over all members of our Association. President Savage, who was elected to the BOG's second diversity seat at the same time as I was, based on his embodiment of the second dimension of diversity, geography, since he is a lawyer from Eastern Washington, a geographic area not overly represented on the BOG, has delivered on his pledge for inclusivity in our Association. And, by the way, let me say, unequivocally, that it has been an honor to work with and for Dave Savage on the BOG. President Savage has proven to be as fine a leader as has ever led the WSBA. President Savage has been a true catalyst for change and progress within our Association. Ron Ward, who succeeds him this year, will make a great president, committed as he is to lead this Association forward towards further progress and representation for all. President-elect Brooke Taylor, another fine representative of the secondary dimension of diversity, geography, is poised to continue the tradition of outstanding leadership when he assumes the presidency in 2005.

Outgoing President Savage, President Ward, and President-elect Taylor have delivered on their promise to make the leadership of this Association responsive to the needs and interests of all of its members. I am confident that they will continue to deliver on their promise. I am also hopeful that many of you will join them and others in assuming your rightful place in the leadership of this Association. I am happy to report that Marcine Anderson, an Asian-American female King County senior deputy prosecutor, has been elected to my seat. In addition to high intelligence and drive, she will bring yet another unique perspective to the BOG table and a voice embodying primary dimensions of diversity that has never before been heard at the BOG. Next year, someone will have to step up to the plate and seek appointment to Fawn Sharp's seat. I urge all of you qualified attorneys who embody primary dimensions of diversity to do so. Please let me know if you need help. I'll be happy to lend whatever support I can.

Now, as I come to the end of my three-year term on the Board, I thank my fellow governors, past and present, for having elected me to a seat on the Board of Governors of the Washington State Bar Association. I thank them for having taught me the rules of the game, for having talked and listened to me, for having allowed me to make mistakes, for having given me greater responsibility within the organization, for supporting me, treating me as an equal, and, most of all, for appreciating and respecting our differences.

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Zulema Hinojos-Fall is an administrative judge for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and an outgoing governor-at-large of the Washington State Bar Association.

ENDNOTES

1The Washington Bar Association was formed in January 1888, in the last year of the Washington Territory. In those days, all lawyers who had cases set for argument before the Supreme Court  were required to be present at the beginning of the Court term in January. Sometimes, lawyers were required to wait for days or weeks for their cases to be called on the calendar. It was in this setting that a group of lawyers met in the Supreme Court chambers in Olympia, January 19, 1888, to form the Washington Bar Association. (The name was changed to the Washington State Bar Association in 1890.) The Association originally consisted of 35 lawyers, and membership cost $5 per year. By 1913, there were about 600 members of the Bar. At that time, it was a purely voluntary organization and did not include all lawyers admitted to practice. For more on the history of the Association, visit www.wsba.org/info/history.htm.

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