Dawn named diversity champion

Birmingham Black Lawyers was founded in 2010 with the aim to embrace and encourage diversity in the Birmingham legal community, encouraging a higher level of integration and involvement in the legal profession by people from a BAME background. 2019 was the first year of the Birmingham Black Lawyers Excellence Awards, which were presented to the winners at their annual Summer Ball.

Dawn Brathwaite was nominated for her work in diversity, both at Mills & Reeve and in the wider community. Alongside her commitment to community involvement, Dawn sits on Mills & Reeve’s diversity and inclusion steering group.  She also led the firm’s BAME taskforce.  The aim of this  taskforce was to propose how to increase representation of BAME people across the firm.

In addition to her work in diversity, Dawn is also a training principal, providing mentoring and guidance to trainee solicitors at the firm, and heads up the Birmingham office’s corporate social responsibility committee.

Dawn said: “I am delighted and honoured to have been recognised by Birmingham Black Lawyers. The issue of low BAME representation in the legal profession continues to be a cause for concern when we consider that a third of all law students are from a BAME background.  It is great to be with a firm that is actively working to address this.”