Introducing Ebony Bryant, NCBA’s First Director Of Diversity And Inclusion
By Russell Rawlings
The 2020 Report on Relationships Between the NCBA and Systemic Racism resulted in unanimous action by the NCBA Board of Governors acknowledging “the role that several of its founding members and early officers had in the white supremacy campaign of 1898, the Wilmington Massacre and Coup D’etat of 1898, and the institution of Jim Crow laws in North Carolina, the results of which have harmed generations of Black citizens in North Carolina.” The NCBA further acknowledged unanimously “that the Association resisted integration and issues a full and complete apology to all individuals, known and unknown, who were denied admission to the Association on the basis of race, the results of which have harmed generations of Black attorneys in North Carolina.”
The Board of Governors also authorized Executive Director Jason Hensley, who authored the report at its direction, “to create a staff position focused on the advancement of diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity in the legal profession.” To that end, the Director of Diversity and Inclusion position was created, and Ebony Bryant was selected to serve in that capacity, effective November 1, 2022.
“This new position sends the strongest of messages to our state’s legal and non-legal community,” said NCBA President Clayton Morgan, “that the NCBA continues to fulfill both its Mission Statement and Diversity Statement by ensuring this Director-level position brings valuable insight and awareness to both internal decision-making as well as external member engagement and opportunities.”
Bryant grew up in Hillsborough and is a graduate of Orange High School. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English, with a minor in African-American Studies, from UNC-Wilmington. Bryant comes to the NCBA from Duke University School of Law, where she served from 2007-16 as Associate Director of Admissions & Diversity Recruitment and from 2016-22 at Director of Diversity Initiatives.
Let’s meet Ebony Bryant:
How did you get here?
It’s been a very interesting journey. I was at Duke Law for 15 years – a good portion of my career. I think that is where I fell in love with the community of lawyers, and where I learned the language of a lawyer, from the beginning as a law student to alumni status as a practicing attorney. In doing that, I started to really be passionate about access. It has always been a part of who I was, but the law is a gateway to so much. And if you can figure out a way to hold doors open at the gateway, you will make quite a bit of progress. In my time there I felt like I accomplished a lot and made a lot of good connections, but I felt like it was time to do something different.
I literally opened my computer and this position called my name. I know that sounds very whimsical for a very practical profession, but it really did speak to me. It said all of the things that I was interested in doing – taking what I’ve been doing with law students to the next level and working more directly with the profession and being able to bring something new and fresh. This is a brand-new position, and the opportunity to start something is always exciting to me.
The position that I came out of was a similar situation. I was ready to come out of the admissions world and into more directly doing D&I work, and it was an opportunity to do something new. I was the first person to have “diversity” in my title at Duke Law, so when I shifted into the position of Director of Diversity Initiatives, it was an opportunity to do something different in the law and to start something new. It was very challenging and exciting, and I saw that same opportunity here.
What stood out you about the NCBA and the new position?
The report from 2020 and the work that the NCBA has been through, from the Task Force on Integration, Equity, and Equal Justice to (Executive Director) Jason Hensley’s work acknowledging the history of the organization, is something that is new. You wouldn’t think that in 2022 or 2020 you would still be considered innovative to acknowledge your past and try to right the wrongs, but that’s what the NCBA did in writing that report.
I think that also speaks to the excitement of starting something new – the opportunity to shine a light, to do some good work, and to acknowledge the richness and the diversity in the profession that’s been there but has not always been highlighted. It is exciting to me that I can come in and play a part in shining the light – a light that has been there but hasn’t been as bright as it could be and should be. That is where my excitement lies.
From the long view of the NCBA report to the duration of the pandemic, do you have a sense that the timing is perfect to launch this initiative?
The pandemic changed everything. I think there has been a huge culture shift, not just in North Carolina and not just in the NCBA but in the world, and we have all had to readjust. It has realigned a lot of people and changed the way that they thought and their perspective about going to work, and their perspective about the importance of relationships. All of that happened coming out of the pandemic, so I think it offers a fresh opportunity to do something different. People are thinking differently – their priorities are different – and this is an opportunity to jump in this space while the waters are stirred. It is an opportunity that should not be missed. And that is part of my goal for this position – to jump in while folks are ready to do some new work. I think the time is now and the opportunity has presented itself, so we need to take advantage of it, and we will.
Where do we start?
You do what the NCBA has done, and that is look at the history. You can’t come into an organization, as a newbie if you will, or a new person, and just start changing things. The beginning of my journey here has been all about research and data – gathering information and looking at the organization as an outsider so I can see what the positives are and see where there’s room for shifts or improvement. Talk to people, talk to members, talk to staff, to people who have been here. What do you see? What do you love? What would you like to see better or change?
That’s what I’ve been doing. I hope that you’ll start to see new initiatives and new things happening, but it really will be building on what has come before or left unrecognized. Otherwise, you’re doomed to repeat. I am a big proponent of looking at the past so that you can learn from it. There’s always a lesson.
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What has your research revealed thus far?
It has shown me that there are quite a few things that are happening at the Association that people just don’t know about. Part of my job is going to be to shine a light on some of the work that is already happening. I think that there are lawyers here in the state who are not members for various reasons who may just not know some of the wonderful things that are happening here. Peeling back the curtain to some extent and just highlighting some of the things that are happening here is going to do some of the work for me. Because they’re there, really. Great things are happening that, as an outsider, I wouldn’t have necessarily known about until I started working here and peeling back the curtain a little bit. And what I see is that there are quite a few committees that are doing good work concerning DEI, but they don’t realize that they are.
Why do you think that is?
DEI seems harder than it necessarily has to be, just because people are often scared of getting it wrong. Being afraid of getting things wrong can hinder people from trying, so one of my first goals is to bring all of the folks who are working on DEI in the committees and the sections together so that they can share resources. I want to provide a home and community where they can ask questions and share information – a place where people can ask those questions rather than not doing so because they’re afraid.
Being the new person in the new position, does that help you ease the apprehension that some people might have about discussing these issues?
Sometimes it can be easier for someone new to come in and say something that some might have been saying for a long time, but the message has been dulled by time and age. But someone new can come in and say, “That’s great! Let’s try this.” You may be more inclined to try it because it’s almost like someone has to give you permission to change, right? And I’m coming in fresh and saying, “Hey, that looks amazing! Let’s do this,” and add some of the richness and the color of diversity.
For me, it is meeting people where they are. Because at the end of the day, there are certainly people who do not care about diversity and inclusion; that’s a fact, that’s the reality. But the other side of that fact is that those people work with others who do care about this work or are impacted by it. I’ve been able to break through a lot of barriers by just reminding people that even if they don’t care about DEI, someone they work with does.
Beyond the small universe that is the Bar Center, we have this huge membership spread out across a very big state that is diverse in a lot of ways. It must be exciting to engage in something on that scope.
My family history is important to me and it bears a lot of weight on the work that I do now and how I got here. My grandfather was a longtime NAACP president. My mother followed suit with her work in the nonprofit world. But they always taught me that you always reach back and bring up. You always speak for the voiceless. And you don’t complain unless you have a solution to offer.
That is how I was raised. I was raised in a small historic town in North Carolina where you had a little bit of everything. And the community all mixed together in one way or another. I was taught from a young age not to be afraid to meet people and to talk to people and meet them where they are. Once you know what you’re working with, you then know how to approach them. Often you will find that if you talk to them and treat them like human beings, even if you don’t agree, you can get something done.
Why do you think it is that people are apprehensive to have these discussions?
I think the “cancel culture” has highlighted that no one can make a mistake. But it also says that we can focus in on someone else’s error and not admit that we have also made mistakes. One of the things that I like to talk to people about is privilege, because we all have privilege in different situations. Our privileges are different and it’s not a battle about who’s the least privileged or who’s the most privileged, but it’s about how do you use it? How do you use your privilege in different situations to be an ally? How do you use your privilege in different situations to empathize or sympathize with or advocate for someone else?
It’s important not to dismiss or discount when people say things that cause trauma, and I’m not trying to pretty this up. But the fact of the matter is we have to get back to seeing people as people. People make mistakes. People get things wrong, and we have to remember that we also can do that. Where’s the grace, and where are the opportunities to have these necessary conversations? I always close out my talks, my trainings, by asking the question: How do you respond when difference enters the room? Because one day you’re going to be the one who is different.
As your career has evolved, do you sense a natural progression has brought you to where you are now?
I think so! I started in higher education, and I think you can see this across areas of my life, as I have worked with young people and learned how to meet a new generation and how to connect with understanding. Listening to and learning from a young person prepares you very well to be effective with different generations, especially if you’re in the position to travel and meet people from different parts of the country and different parts of the state. I owe a lot of those skills to having started in the admissions area of higher education, because that allowed me to meet people from all over the country. At the end of the day people are people, but culture does affect people and how they respond to things with how they’ve grown up and what they’ve seen and experienced. Outside of my family sparking the idea of access, I owe a lot to having worked in higher education. I have encountered so many different people and experiences over the last 20-plus years and it has made me the professional that I am.
I think having traveled through higher education has given me the opportunity to learn how to not only speak the language of the profession but also to understand it, and I think I’ve been successful in meeting people and more specifically lawyers where they are.
What will success look like to the NCBA’s first Director of Diversity and Inclusion?
I will tell you that I already felt success when it was announced initially that I was here. I got a message that said, “I can come back now because I feel like the organization has said that they care about me.” I hadn’t done a thing, but the fact that someone could connect me coming in to do this work as an added value and as a statement from the NCBA that DEI is important to the profession and to the organization touched me tremendously. I feel like it was an initial win. I am one who is going to take those small wins and let them motivate me onto the big ones. But anytime someone feels like they’ve been heard, or they feel like something new has happened or has been highlighted that was important to them, it’s a win. So, to me, I have been winning since November 1st!
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.