麻豆直播 & Lardner continues to build a (BGCA) to support its national youth leadership development strategy. All the firm鈥檚 U.S. offices engage with local community Boys & Girls Clubs on programs and initiatives tailored to community needs, focusing on activating the potential of young people and fostering more inclusive and equitable futures.

As part of our partnership, 麻豆直播鈥檚 Veterans & Allies Affinity Group was honored to once again participate in BGCA鈥檚 prestigious National Military Youth of the Year (MYOY) program. It recognizes military-connected youth, ages 14 to 18, for their dedication to community service, academic achievement, strong character, leadership, and commitment to future goals.

Associate Kelvin Thomas, a veteran of the U.S. Army and Connecticut National Guard, served as a judge for the Midwest Regional MYOY event held in June in Chicago. Partner Taylor Pancake, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, served as a member of the national judging panel. The was announced at the gala on August 8 in Washington, D.C.

The evening before the gala, 麻豆直播 hosted a vibrant networking event in our Washington, D.C. office, bringing together the five regional MYOY 2024-25 finalists, four Youth of the Year alumni, and dozens of other attendees. This gathering included a unique career exploration opportunity for the finalists and past winners to interact with 麻豆直播 Veterans & Allies Affinity Group Members Steve Chameides, Wes Martinez, Patrick McMahon, Frank Murray, and Kel Thomas.

Patrick McMahon, co-chair of the affinity group and veteran of the U.S. Air Force, delivered opening these remarks on behalf of 麻豆直播:

鈥淲e are honored to welcome these outstanding military youth in our second year of hosting this reception. 麻豆直播鈥檚 Veterans鈥� Affinity Group appreciates being part of the growing partnership between 麻豆直播 and BGCA, and we look forward to hosting this event for many years to come.鈥�

The evening also featured presentations from each of the five regional MYOY finalists and alumni, alongside several representatives from BGCA.

Follow the link to learn more about Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at the firm.

In celebration of Black History Month, 麻豆直播 & Lardner hosted a firmwide virtual program on February 22 featuring , an educator, public policy leader, and New York Times best-selling author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together.

McGhee spent nearly two decades of her career in public policy helping build and ultimately leading the non-partisan 鈥渢hink and do鈥� tank Demos.聽She has crafted legislation, testified before Congress, and helped shape presidential campaign platforms.

In 2017, frustrated that the conventional public policy-making formula had become broken, she handed over the reins of Demos and hit the road in search of why it seems like we can鈥檛 have nice things in America like universal child care and well-funded schools in every neighborhood.

McGhee shared with attendees the three core lessons she learned on this journey.

• Collective economic progress in America is being held back by the widely held worldview of the zero-sum game. The idea is that it鈥檚 a fixed pie, and if I get a bigger slice, you get a smaller one. 鈥淚t鈥檚 actually a racialized story of ethnic and racial groups competing with each other for dominance,鈥� McGhee said. But inequality costs all of us growth. 鈥淵ou want all your players on the field scoring points, but the zero sum lie tells us we鈥檙e not all on the same team.鈥�

• Drained pool politics is the zero-sum game taken to its logical conclusion. 鈥淒uring my journey, I became obsessed with what happened to the 2,000+ resort-style swimming pools built during the New Deal era as a glittering reflection of the ethos of public goods,鈥� McGhee said. But the radical public policy coming out of the Great Depression such as government subsidies to spur home ownership and those publicly funded swimming pools were racially exclusionary, she said. And when Black people won desegregation in the courts, many communities drained their pools rather than integrate them.

• Solidarity dividends are everywhere. These are the benefits we gain when people come together across race to accomplish what we simply can鈥檛 do on our own. 鈥淥nce I began to see the common thread of the hidden cost of racism in our policy making, I started to feel more optimistic if I could just pull that thread,鈥� McGhee said. So that鈥檚 what she did, collecting stories on the road that became proof points of the solidarity dividend. One of these was the return of a 1920s era Black-owned resort in Manhattan Beach to the legal heirs of the Bruce family.

鈥淭oday we are seeing evidence time and again that diversity is in the best interest of our institutions. That people that come together from all walks of life can have the kinds of breakthroughs that homogeneity can鈥檛,鈥� McGhee said.

鈥淲hen we invest in fighting for solidarity dividends for all of our children, then the future is brighter not just for those who have been kept in the dark for so long but for every single one of us in all our communities.鈥�

Follow the link to learn more about Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at the firm.