Just over a year ago, the Journal of Addiction Medicine published a study indicating that a fifth of lawyers drink in unhealthy ways, and that 28 percent of us meet criteria for depression at some time during our careers. In addition, at some time, 19 percent of us meet criteria for anxiety disorder, 23 percent for […]
Urban Ventures: Our story
Andre Roberts was addicted to heroin. He spent six of the last eight years in prison doing time for an assortment of drug offenses. Shortly before his last stint began, Andre’s girlfriend gave birth to a baby girl, Jessica. She was his first daughter. Seeing Jessica for the first time, something in Andre changed—he felt […]
Real change is hard. And necessary.
In legal aid programs, it can become easy enough to think we’re doing our social justice work, and addressing systemic discrimination, simply by serving our clients every day. But I’ve come to realize that what we’re already doing in our day-to-day work is not nearly enough. Legal aid clients throughout Minnesota, as across the country, […]
Diversity as a growth driver
When our CEO, Inge Thulin, took office several years ago, he articulated a vision that was inspirational, aspirational, and for us, uniquely achievable: “3M Technology Advancing Every Company, 3M Products Enhancing Every Home, 3M Innovation Improving Every Life.” The “how” of the vision lives in six corporate strategies, including one imperative that ultimately fuels our […]
Communities of color and the law: We must be bold
If you are a Hmong woman and your husband has beaten you repeatedly, working up the courage to come to the Domestic Abuse Service Center at the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for help is not easy. But walking in the door and being introduced to one of our advocates, who also is Hmong, must be […]