Houthoff

DIVERSITY
We firmly believe that fostering a diverse and inclusive culture is essential to provide everyone the opportunity to develop and make a valuable contribution to the firm that we want to be. Teams with a mix of people with different backgrounds, cultures, preferences and ideas are more productive, creative and innovative.
We work in a constantly changing environment at the heart of society. Our clients represent all sorts of people in the Netherlands and worldwide. To properly understand the dynamics of our clients, diversity is very important to us. We give room to ambitious people irrespective of who they are. This requires a culture in which everyone has the freedom to be themselves and to have an open mind.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusivity-committee
We have included diversity and inclusiveness in our core values and this is safeguarded by our Diversity, Equity & Inclusivity-committee. The committee is responsible for further shaping and implementing the DE&I policy, in line with the board's stated aim of making Houthoff more diverse. Knowing that we operate in a world where there is still systematic prejudice and underrepresentation of people based on certain diversity characteristics, we want to include everyone, but focus our policy on a specific number of aspects such as gender, cultural richness, LGBTQI+, age, visible and invisible work limitations and employee life cycle. The actions included in the policy focus on awareness, coaching programmes and collaborations with social institutions and bicultural organisations.
Over the years, Houthoff has launched multiple initiatives to promote diversity within the firm and throughout the legal profession:
• Houthoff was the first law firm in the Netherlands to sign the 'Diversity in the legal profession' declaration of the Netherlands Bar Association.
• Talent to the Top Charter
For the past 10 years Houthoff has committed to this charter: a transparent commitment among a large number of Dutch top companies for equality between men and women in the workplace.
• FORWARD Foundation
We are one of the founding law firms of the FORWARD Foundation. A foundation for legal professionals that organises meetings and networking drinks with the goal of increasing the diversity of affiliated organisations, creating a network for LGBT legal professionals and exchanging experiences and best practices.
• Corporate Ladies Event
The Global Corporate Ladies Event is a yearly event, organised for women leaders from different sectors. The event covers a specific topic with a cultural activity and the opportunity to meet like-minded colleagues. The event was first organised in 2015. Read more about the 2023 edition of the event.

COMMUNITY
Corporate social responsibility is of paramount importance at Houthoff. We are involved in numerous social organisations and projects, including:
• Lawyers for Lawyers
Lawyers for Lawyers is an independent and non-political organisation that aims to promote the proper functioning of the rule of law by pursuing the free and independent practice of law.
• Johan Cruyff Foundation
The Johan Cruyff Foundation helps children move up by being active. Sport and play help children grow and develop, keep them fit and healthy, and teach them to hold their own in a complex society. Houthoff sponsors the Johan Cruyff Foundation in the form of legal advice. The firm’s advice focuses mainly on sponsorship contracts and further developing the organisation.
• JINC
JINC helps socially and economically disadvantaged young people aged between 8 and 16 gain a foothold in the employment market. Houthoff supports this initiative by providing different types of job application training and short traineeships each year.
• The Cookie Project
This Houthoff initiative supports iambe, a bakery which acts as a training and activity centre for intellectually disabled young people in Amsterdam. Each day, our meeting centres are supplied with freshly baked cookies, made by participants in the programme at their city centre bakery.