Diversity & Inclusion Spotlight - September 2026

Beyond the Celebration: Building an Inclusive Workplace During Hispanic Heritage Month

Each year, National Hispanic Heritage Month is observed from September 15 through October 15, recognizing the histories, cultures, and contributions of people whose heritage is connected to Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. For legal administrators and managers, this observance offers more than an opportunity to host a cultural event or share an educational message. It is also a timely invitation to examine whether our everyday workplace practices create meaningful opportunities for employees of all backgrounds to contribute, advance, and lead.

This work is especially relevant in Silicon Valley. Law firms and legal departments operate in a region shaped by global businesses, multilingual communities, and professionals with a wide range of cultural experiences. Our ability to attract talent, support employees and serve clients effectively depends, in part, on how thoughtfully we manage those differences.

Recognize the Diversity Within the Community

One of the first principles of inclusion is to avoid treating any community as a single, uniform group. The terms Hispanic, Latino, Latina, Latine, and Latinx may overlap, but they are not interchangeable for everyone. Preferences can vary according to nationality, generation, geography, and personal identity.

Managers do not need to master every term. They do need to respect how individuals identify themselves. Use the terminology an employee uses, pronounce names correctly, and avoid assumptions about someone's language abilities, family background, immigration history, or cultural traditions.

Small acts of respect can have an outsized effect on a sense of belonging. Taking the time to learn the correct pronunciation of a colleague’s name, for example, communicates that the person is seen and valued. Repeatedly shortening or changing a name for the convenience of others can communicate the opposite.

Examine Who Receives Opportunity

Legal organizations often evaluate inclusion by looking at hiring numbers. Recruitment is important, but representation alone does not demonstrate equity. Administrators and managers should also consider what happens after an employee joins the organization.

Who receives high visibility assignments? Who is invited to participate in client meetings, strategic projects, or leadership committees? Who is encouraged to pursue professional development? Who receives informal coaching and sponsorship from influential leaders?

These questions matter for attorneys and business professionals alike. Employees may technically hold the same title while receiving very different levels of exposure, responsibility, and access to decision-makers. Managers can reduce this disparity by establishing clear criteria for assigning work, discussing development goals during regular check-ins and monitoring whether opportunities are being distributed consistently.

Mentorship is valuable, but sponsorship is equally important. A mentor offers advice; a sponsor actively advocates for someone when an opportunity arises. Inclusive leaders do both.

Treat Language Skills as Professional Skills

Bilingual and multilingual employees can provide tremendous value to legal organizations. Their skills may strengthen client relationships, improve communication, and help colleagues understand cultural context. However, those employees can also become the default translators, cultural interpreters, or community representatives often without recognition, additional resources, or compensation.

Managers should not assume that an employee is comfortable conducting professional legal business in another language simply because the employee speaks that language socially. Legal interpretation and translation require accuracy, confidentiality, and specialized knowledge. Qualified language-access resources should be used when appropriate.

When employees are asked to use multilingual abilities as part of their work, organizations should consider how those contributions are acknowledged in workloads, performance evaluations, and compensation decisions. Language ability should be treated as a professional competency, not as an unlimited informal favor.

Make Cultural Recognition Meaningful and Voluntary

Hispanic Heritage Month programming can help employees learn from one another, but it should not place the burden of education on Hispanic or Latino colleagues. No employee should feel pressured to share a personal story, organize an event or speak on behalf of an entire community.

Consider inviting an outside speaker, partnering with a local cultural or legal organization, supporting a community initiative, or highlighting the work of Hispanic and Latino leaders in the legal profession. Employee participation should be welcomed, supported, and voluntary.

Food, music, and cultural celebrations can be engaging components of an event, but they should not be the entire substance of the organization’s inclusion efforts. The most credible recognition connects celebration with ongoing practices involving recruitment, advancement, compensation, leadership development, and community engagement.

A September Practice Check

This month, legal administrators and managers can select one workplace process to examine more closely. Review how stretch assignments have been distributed during the past six months. Ask employees whether multilingual responsibilities are appropriately recognized. Add name pronunciation guidance to onboarding materials. Evaluate whether professional development opportunities are communicated consistently. Identify a local Hispanic or Latino bar association, legal aid organization, or community group with which the organization could build a sustained relationship.

The goal is not to solve every inclusion challenge in September. It is to make one concrete improvement that continues after the observance ends.

Diversity and inclusion become credible when they are embedded in the way an organization operates. Legal administrators have significant influence over policies, budgets, hiring systems, professional development, vendor relationships, and workplace culture. By using that influence thoughtfully, we can help create legal workplaces in which cultural differences are respected, contributions are recognized, and every employee has a genuine opportunity to succeed.