Know Your CELA
The Committees Edition
CELA is launching a new, regular dispatch to help you reap the full benefits of your membership. This first edition of “Know Your CELA” will give a brief primer on CELA Committees.
In many ways, CELA is nothing without its committees. We have more than a dozen – and many of them also boast subcommittees.
This includes the Amicus Committee, Barristers Committee, DFEH Committee, Diversity Outreach Committee, Education Committee, FEHC Committee, Immigrant Employee Rights Committee, Legislative Committee, Listserv Monitoring Committee, Mentor Committee, Nominating Committee, Political/Judicial Appointments Committee, Practice Management/Technology Committee, Public Employee Committee, Wage and Hour Committee, and Worker Outreach Committee.
We are also pleased to announce a new committee as of May 2019: the Women’s Committee. You can find them all here and get involved: https://cela.org/BoardAndCommittees.
Each committee webpage includes a description of its respective focus, its members, and committee links.
How active are the committees?
Many committees have their own listserv, meet by teleconference monthly, plan webinars and other events, and share their deep knowledge of that practice area.
How do I get involved?
Contact the chairs or Administrative Director Christina Krasomil! For example, if combatting wage theft is your particular passion, there’s a committee focused on resources, education, advocacy and networking for wage and hour issues. The Wage and Hour Committee just completed its Wage and Hour Seminar in Pasadena, attended by over 100 CELA members – the co-chairs of Wage and Hour are Jennifer Kramer and Hunter Pyle. Each committee chair can be found by navigating from here: https://cela.org/BoardAndCommittees.
What are some of CELA’s committees working on in 2019?
The Diversity Committee hosted two Leadership Summits this month. The SoCal Diversity Leadership Summit was on June 6th at Southwestern Law School. The NorCal Diversity Leadership Summit was on June 13th at UC Hastings. They are free and feature fantastic guest speakers, refreshments, networking, and education. MCLE credits is also offered.
The Legislative Committee is helping Mariko Yoshihara (and our Legislative Policy Fellow Ken Wang) draft and respond to dozens of bills in Sacramento. We are sponsoring legislation to extend the statute of limitations to file with the DFEH, to stop strategic delays by employers in arbitration proceedings, to increase pay data transparency, and more. Mariko is grateful to have insights from all Leg Comm members.
Thanks for reading our first “Know Your CELA.”
Jasmin Tuffaha, CELA Communications Manager & Wendy Musell, CELA Chair