BARBRI celebrates Social Mobility Initiative win
Global legal education provider, BARBRI, was crowned the winner of the Social Mobility Initiative of the Year category at last night’s Women and Diversity in Law awards.
The awards – which compromise 33 categories – recognise exceptional individuals and teams who are working to proactively make the UK legal industry more diverse. This is inclusive of disability, LGBT+, mental health, wellbeing, race equality and social mobility.
With high levels of competition in the Social Mobility initiative category from Allen & Overy, Big Voice London, Flex Legal, In-House Legal Solutions, Keating Chambers and Paul Hastings, BARBRI was recognised for the introduction of its funding initiative, BARBRI Bridges, which launched in 2021. This has seen the provider pledge £125,000 through a series of collaborations, scholarships and beyond, benefitting over 200 individuals so far.
Speaking of the win, BARBRI managing director Lucie Allen, said: “We are thrilled to be recognised for our focus on social mobility through BARBRI Bridges. As an organisation, we’re incredibly passionate about creating a legal profession that is representative of society today, and we understand that to achieve this, we need to help provide opportunities for those from all backgrounds. This means learning providers, firms, in-house teams, charities and other organisations working together to address any barriers to qualification. Although we’ve made significant progress with the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) the work isn’t done yet.”
From this year onwards, BARBRI intends to dedicate £250,000 annually to BARBRI Bridges, taking the initiative one step further with the support of its recently appointed Advisory Board.
Lucie continued: “The inaugural SQE1 and SQE2 results showed an attainment gap across different socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds. So, we’re proactively working alongside our independent Advisory Board, partners, and collaborators to help further develop the BARBRI Bridges initiative. We hope that as more organisations see the work that we’re doing, they will join us on our mission.”
BARBRI was also shortlisted for the Supplier of the Year category which was awarded to MD Communications.
For more information and the complete list of winners, please visit: https://womenanddiversityinlawawards.com/winners-2023/
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