When the OCBA board met on October 28, 2021, to engage in its first strategic planning session since 2016, we identified a number of goals as a result of feedback received from our membership. Over the next year, we made a concerted effort to accomplish many of those goals, and as I write this column, we are just past the one-year mark. I am pleased to share some highlights of what we’ve accomplished thanks to the dedication and hard work of our executive director, Jennifer Roosenberg; her incredible and tireless staff; many of our committee chairs and committee members; and the board.
—Strategic Planning Goal 1: Increase Programming and Targeted Activities to Newer Attorneys
In furtherance of our efforts to increase programming, support, and integration for newer attorneys, the OCBA has done the following:
• Hosted a New Lawyers Needs Forum in early 2022.
• Established a Welcoming Subcommittee of the Membership Committee.
• Revamped the process for welcoming and onboarding new members by the OCBA staff and members of the Welcoming Subcommittee.
—Strategic Planning Goal 2: Support and Develop Attorney Well-Being Programs
In furtherance of our efforts to support and develop attorney well-being programs, the OCBA has done the following:
• Established the Lawyer Well-Being Committee, which boasts a roster of 40 members.
• Developed a resources page that lists resources already available at the State Bar level and through Oakland County.
• Developed and circulated a survey to our membership that resulted in over 200 responses that will assist the committee in developing programming to support and address the needs of our membership.
—Strategic Planning Goal 3: Increase Integration
In furtherance of our efforts to reach every member and make every member feel integrated and included in the organization, the OCBA has done the following:
• Held several interactive Bar Night Out networking events throughout the year.
• Established a Welcoming Subcommittee whose members actively attend networking events to greet attendees.
• Implemented new training points for OCBA staff and committee chairs and vice chairs to better identify new members to a committee.
—Strategic Planning Goal 4: Expand Efforts to Increase Diversity in the OCBA and the Legal Profession
In furtherance of our efforts to increase diversity in the OCBA and the legal profession, the OCBA has done the following:
• Established BLOC (Bar Leaders of Oakland County), which currently has 17 affinity bar associations and the State Bar of Michigan as members.
• Hosted the inaugural meeting of BLOC and shared information regarding existing pipeline programs.
• With the help of the OCBA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, started creating an inventory of all programs each member bar association of BLOC currently has in
place.
The goals identified above are just four of many. As I emphasized in my first column, it is a part of the OCBA mission statement to serve the professional needs of our members.
It is the hope of the board that through continued efforts in pursuance of the goals identified through our most recent strategic planning session, we are able to achieve that portion of our mission statement to its fullest.
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Elizabeth L. Luckenbach is the 90th president of the Oakland County Bar Association. Luckenbach is a member in Dickinson Wright LLP’s Troy office.
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