Better Decision Making Through Diversity by Flor M. Colon

Summer 2009

Xerox Corporation’s legal department is getting ready to distribute surveys to a group of law firms that the company hires asking for information about their diversity commitments and policies, as well as the diversity of their attorneys. Our intent is to convey the message that diversity is an integral part of Xerox’s mission and core values, and we expect the firms we engage to demonstrate a similar commitment to diversity. Our interest in the demographics of our outside counsel does not stem solely from our ideals about good corporate citizenship; we also firmly believe that diversity will provide us with superior representation. Simply put, we have found that combining a broad range of backgrounds and experiences -- in our outside counsel, in our in-house legal team and in our greater work force -- leads to the development of creative strategies and sophisticated ideas.

I personally learned this lesson early in life. Growing up in a Hispanic neighborhood in New York City, I was surrounded by people who had very similar backgrounds and life experiences to my own. My world opened up, however, when I traveled just a few miles away, to a high school in another urban neighborhood. Suddenly, I had classmates and friends of many different races and ethnicities, including African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Caucasians.

Exposure to these many varied cultures was a great learning experience for me. I quickly realized that, whether working on group projects or having classroom discussions, students were more creative when they were presented with different points of view. As I furthered my education at Pace University and later at Brooklyn Law School, my world continued to expand as I forged friendships with individuals from a wide range of ethnic heritages and family traditions, gaining new insights and fresh perspectives along the way.

However, that trend in my life changed significantly once I began practicing at a law firm. Diversity, which had played such a meaningful role during my formative years as a student, was abruptly missing during my years as a young lawyer. It seemed unnatural. As a young associate and the firm’s sole Hispanic attorney, I felt the absence of diversity more acutely. In addition to the limited ethnic diversity among my coworkers, there were also few people whose socio-economic background was similar to mine. For those of us who did not grow up with family friends or relatives who were doctors, lawyers, and business people, the white-collar world can initially be intimidating. The professional business culture, in which one pursues new clients and becomes active in various boards and groups, was not familiar to me. While I was mentored by some very good people at the firm who helped in my professional development, I never found a mentor whose background was similar to mine.

When I joined Xerox’s legal department, my outlook changed once again as I saw that diversity had been a part of the company’s culture for many years. Xerox’s commitment to diversity is visible at every level in the company starting with our CEO, Ursula Burns – the first African-American female CEO of a Fortune 500 company – and her predecessor and current Chair of the Board, Anne Mulcahy. In addition, Xerox supports a number of caucus groups within the company that represent the interests of Hispanics, Asians, African-Americans, GLBTs, and women. Each caucus group is assigned a “champion” who is a senior executive in the company. Within the legal department, we created a diversity committee in 2008, for which I serve as Chair. For us, the committee is an extension of Xerox’s long-standing commitment to diversity. As our first order of business the committee prepared a mission statement. Our goals are simple. First, to ensure that we are purchasing quality and cost-effective legal services from law firms that similarly value an inclusive culture and promote diversity throughout their organization. Second, to ensure quality diverse representation on Xerox’s legal matters. The survey to outside counsel that I mentioned at the outset will give us the information we need to assess how some of our firms are doing in these areas.

For Xerox, achieving diversity is a means to an end and not an end in itself. The ultimate goal of these initiatives is to make meaningful connections with a variety of people in order to advance our common business objectives. Ultimately, we seek to forge the professional and personal relationships that will enable us to bring a variety of viewpoints together – to challenge each other’s ideas with trust and respect – in order to develop the most creative business solutions.

___________________________________________________________________________

Flor M. Colon represents the Xerox Corporation as Senior Managing Counsel for all legal matters arising out of the Latin America region of Xerox’s Developing Markets Operations. She is also the Chair of the Diversity Committee of Xerox’s legal department. Ms. Colon earned her JD from Brooklyn Law School and her BA in Political Science from Pace University. She resides in Rochester, New York.