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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Committee | Queen's Bench Bar Association
Special Committee

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Committee

An association founded because the profession excluded women has an obligation to notice who it excludes now.

How we work
Meets as needed, most work happens by email
Open to
Every member
Contact
deib@queensbench.org
Judge Judy Johnson (Ret.), Alexandra Sepolen, and former Judge Elizabeth Lee Young at the Minority Bar Coalition Unity Awards.
Judge Judy Johnson (Ret.) (center), 2025 MBC Unity Award recipient Alexandra Sepolen (center), and former Judge Elizabeth Lee Young (right)

Our charge

From the bylaws

The Board of Directors may create other special or ad hoc committees to carry on general or specific activities of this organization. Bylaws, Article VI, Section B · DEIB is a special committee of the Board. Its duties are set by the Board rather than prescribed in the bylaws, and the Board may further prescribe them at any time.

In practice

The committee's role is two-fold. Internally, we advise the Board of Directors on ways to enhance DEIB within the bar association, and we work alongside the other committees on what we program and who we put in front of the room.

Externally, we serve as the association's liaisons to the wider Bay Area legal community, and we give our time to the programs that build the pipeline behind us. The specifics are below.

What we do

  • Advise the Board on ways to enhance DEIB within the bar association. Recommendations adopted to date include the Sponsored Ticket Fund and the Clerkship Sponsorship for signature events, a 1-to-1 ticket model that increases access for members and legal professionals with demonstrated financial need.
  • Widen who belongs here. The Non-Attorney membership tier opens membership to paralegals, law firm and court staff, experts, process servers, recruiters, HR and administrative professionals, and other legal paraprofessionals who are not attorneys but do meaningful work in the Bay Area legal community.
  • Work with the other committees in evaluating program offerings and ensuring that speakers in our programs are representative of the communities we serve.
  • Serve as liaisons to the Minority Bar Coalition and California Women Lawyers, promoting Queen's Bench events to both organizations and forging collaborative partnerships with sister bar associations.
  • Volunteer at Get Into the Legal Loop, and work with the Mentorship Committee to identify speakers and craft the questions for the panel.
  • Volunteer at Color of Justice, the Foundation's flagship program introducing local high school students to legal careers.
Six panelists and volunteers at the 2025 Get Into the Legal Loop program.
Hon. Dorothy Chou Proudfoot, Avery Dotterer, Annie Persampieri, Tanya Montano O'Malley, Karen Flores, and Alexandra Sepolen at the GILL 2025 panel (from left to right)

Signature programs

The MBC Unity Award nomination

Each August and September we accept nominations for the member Queen's Bench will put forward for the Minority Bar Coalition's Unity Award, then select the nominee in a late-September joint session with the Awards Committee. Send nominations to deib@queensbench.org.

Who leads this committee

Alexandra Sepolen

Chair
Associate Attorney, Stross Wess Cutcher & Levin LLP, San Mateo

Reach the whole committee at deib@queensbench.org. It reaches the chairs and the Administrator, so nothing falls through when leadership rotates in January.

Good to know

You don't have to be on the Board

Committee chairs and members are drawn from the whole membership, not just the Board. The Executive Committee is the only exception. The President nominates each committee's chair and a majority of the Board approves the selection. Board service, more often than not, grows out of committee work. (Bylaws, Art. VI, §C.)

Join this committee

There's no application and no vetting. Tell us you're interested and we'll bring you in on the next round of work. Come to one meeting before you decide whether it's for you.

Committee Interest Form Join from your member profile Email the committee

Committee leadership, programs, and meeting schedules are current as of July 2026 and change from year to year. Corrections and updates: admin@queensbench.org.

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