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Diversity Initiatives
Kutak Rock demonstrates its commitment to diversity through investment of time, effort, budget and resources.  To further this commitment, our Diversity Committee is responsible for the development and implementation of a cohesive diversity message and programs across the firm that embody our core value of diversity and inclusion.

• Members of Kutak Rock Diversity Committee

Michelle Adams
Trinidad Galdean
Jay Gilbert
Jill Goldstein
Jim Hathaway, III
Buck Heim
Antoinette Hewitt
Ruth Isaac
Beth Jensen
Mike Kazamias
Seth Kirshenberg
Courtney Koger
Paige Martin
Debby Nye
Patricia Peterson
Loc Pfeiffer
M. Lou Raders
Peggy Richter
Alicia Terry
Margot Wickman
Daphne Aronson, Director of Diversity (Chair)

Throughout the firm, our diversity initiatives focus on recruitment, retention and promotion of diverse attorneys and staff at all levels.  Some of the efforts undertaken by Kutak Rock are summarized below: 

• Kutak Rock and the Robert J. Kutak Foundation contribute to the Kutak Rock Diversity Scholarship programs at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Law and Creighton University School of Law.  Awarded by the respective law schools to incoming students as part of the enrollment process, these scholarships were created to assist building a more diverse student body in Nebraska.   
  
• Kutak Rock has participated in the Colorado Pledge to Diversity Program since its inception in the early 1990s.  The program includes a summer clerkship opportunity for diverse students at the end of their first year of law school.   
  
• We have also sponsored Kutak Rock Scholarships to provide financial aid for third-year minority students at the University of Colorado School of Law and the University of Denver College of Law.
  
• In 2006, Kutak Rock established a partnership with INROADS to sponsor ethnically diverse college students to gain exposure to the firm’s practice.  We offer a multiyear summer internship program through INROADS in our Omaha office.  Upon successful completion of the program, the INROADS interns will have the opportunity to participate in the firm’s summer associate program at the end of their first year in law school subject to approval by the recruiting committee. 
  
• Kutak Rock participates in the Heartland Diversity Legal Job Fair in Missouri, the Rocky Mountain Diversity Legal Career Fair in Colorado and the Nebraska Diversity Summit Job Fair. 
  
• Kutak Rock joined other law firms in Omaha, Nebraska, Kansas City, Missouri and Wichita, Kansas in creating and signing, respectively, the Nebraska Diversity Call to Action, Kansas City Metropolitan Area Managing Partners’ Diversity Initiative Action Plan and the Wichita Bar Association Managing Partners’ Diversity Initiative Action Plan.  Our managing partner at the Wichita office received the President’s Award for his role on the Drafting Committee of the Wichita Bar Association Managing Partners’ Diversity Initiative Action Plan in 2006. 
  
• Kutak Rock and its attorneys actively participate in diversity events and organizations through memberships, attendance at events and/or financial contributions.  Organizations supported by the firm and our attorneys include the National Association of Women Lawyers, the National Bar Association, the Hispanic National Bar Association, the Hispanic National Bar Foundation, Minority Corporate Counsel Association, Arizona Women Lawyers Association, Arizona Asian American Bar Association, Anti-Defamation League, NAACP, the Urban League, the Philippine American Bar Association, INROADS, Atlanta Women’s Foundation, Orange County Asian American Bar Association, Orange County Hispanic Bar Association, Virginia Asian American Bar Association, Arkansas Association of Women Lawyers, Puerto Rican Bar Association, and many others.