Diversity
Foster Swift has a long history of working toward diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives. We actively seek change by consistently identifying disparities and implementing tangible actions to address them. Diversity in our workplace enhances our personal and professional lives, and our ability to serve our clients. Differences in ideas, backgrounds, and perspectives make life richer and more rewarding.
While we always strive for improvement, we have made great strides in building a diverse and inclusive workplace:
- Foster Swift is proud to be one of the first of Michigan’s “large law firms” to have selected a woman attorney as firm president. Anne Seurynck was selected in 2020.
- Twenty-five percent of the firm's attorneys are women, and many serve in management roles, including two members of the firm’s six-member Executive Committee and one practice group leader. The firm's Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel are also women.
- Foster Swift has historically sponsored the annual MLK Day of Celebration in Lansing, the largest of its kind in the state.
- Foster Swift attorneys are active in several affinity bar associations including the Wolverine Bar Association, the Floyd Skinner Bar Association, the Straker Bar Association and the Davis-Dunnings Bar Association.
- The firm is participating in the mid-sized Mansfield certification established by Diversity Lab and designed to ensure all talent at participating law firms and legal departments has a fair and equal opportunity to advance into leadership.
Foster Swift is a multi-generational firm with attorneys and staff members spanning across five generations. Our DEI mission is to maintain an environment where success, both personally and professionally, is measured by our core values of hard work, ambition, intelligence, and kindness. Additionally in 2021, the firm was recognized by Corp! magazine for it's diversity efforts.
We believe that a diverse and comprehensive workplace enables us to better serve and help grow our communities. We intend to continue—and accelerate—our efforts to be a great law firm by embracing what it means to be truly diverse.
Mansfield Rule
Foster Swift Collins & Smith has achieved mid-size Mansfield Certified Plus status for 2023 and 2024 and should soon be re-certified for 2025.
Empowering Women
​Foster Swift was one of 16 firms selected for the inaugural Empowering Women honorees special edition of Michigan Lawyers Weekly. This new program is designed to recognize law firms and organizations that have shown a strong commitment to supporting and elevating women attorneys.
Awards & Recognitions
In 2021, Foster Swift was selected as one of the winners by Corp! Magazine to honor in their 14th Annual Salute to Diversity Awards. The 25 honorees are recognized, diversity-focused businesses, organizations and leaders who champion diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and achievements within their organization or the community.
In 2017, Foster Swift received the Lansing Economic Area Partnership’s Regional Diversity Star Award which recognizes companies who demonstrate best practices in creating a diverse and welcoming place where global talent wants to work and succeed, which has a direct impact on our local economy.
Juneteenth and Beyond
In recent years, there has been an undeniably overdue national and even global call for change in how the issues of racial injustice, bias, and privilege are addressed. Important, difficult conversations are happening, and the time is now for all of us to change the way our society perceives and treats people of color. Change cannot be limited to just the way we think about these issues; meaningful change will only come through our actions.
