DEI Spotlight: Taneekah Freeman, Massachusetts Trial Court
Each month, the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) will be highlighting diverse attorneys from within our community on the DEIC web page to recognize their achievements and contributions. In honor of Global Diversity Awareness Month (October), which celebrates the richness of differences to promote a more inclusive environment, the DEIC is proud to shine a light on Taneekah Freeman, the deputy director of DEI training at the Massachusetts Trial Court and the current co-chair of the MBA’s DEIC.
Taneekah Freeman works at the Massachusetts Trial Court as the deputy director of DEI training in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion under the Office of Access, Diversity, and Fairness, where she works diligently to increase the Trial Court’s capacity to be more diverse, equitable and inclusive. With a commitment to improving equity across the commonwealth, Freeman demonstrates a passion for creating welcoming environments for people with historically marginalized identities. Through curriculum development, training facilitation and research, she seeks to address and eliminate identity bias, racism and other systemic barriers.
Serving as a member of MBA’s DEIC since 2022, Freeman assisted in the planning for the MBA’s Juneteenth event and also for Law Day. She also helped create the DEIC’s DEI Spotlight series and helped plan the DEIC’s three-part series on Microaggressions in the Workplace, leading the planning for Part 3, Gender Identity. This year Freeman is serving as DEIC co-chair (along with MBA Treasurer Shayla Mombeleur) and is taking a leadership role in the development of the MBA’s new DEIC Emerging Lawyers Mentoring Initiative.
To review past DEI Spotlights, click here.
About the MBA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Fellowship
A significant barrier for BIPOC law students is the inability to accept an unpaid opportunity. Students who accept these unpaid internships must either find their own scholarship funding or have substantial financial support. As a result, many BIPOC candidates decline offers for unpaid internships which ultimately affects their ability to gain necessary professional development skills. The Massachusetts Bar Association Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee is committed to addressing this inequity by creating the MBA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Fellowship. The purpose of the fellowship is to grant a scholarship opportunity that provides a stipend to one student who has accepted an unpaid internship for the summer. Open to all, the fellowship is intended to support efforts to reduce racial disparities in the legal profession in Massachusetts.
Applications for the Massachusetts Bar Foundation’s Legal Intern Fellowship Program, which includes the MBA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fellowship, are now available online at www.massbarfoundation.org/lifp. Applications are due March 8, 2024.