These steps can help to catalyze corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
Now Let’s Do the Work
5 Concrete Ways Executives & Teams Can Address Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
1. Collaborate with Your Team
A. Create a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Team within your company B. Create a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Mission Statement with your employees to identify immediate steps and long-term goals C. Listen, learn, and collaborate D. Establish Employee Resources Groups (ERGs) within your company to support career development, social bonds, and more among your colleagues
2. Work with HR to Create a More Inclusive Environment and Diverse Pipeline of Candidates
A. Develop resources with your HR Team (Use the DEI Playbook) B. Create forums to allow cross-company dialogues, like book, movie, and article clubs to discuss diversity and inclusion C. Assign reading materials to your staff and executive team D. Ensure your HR team has reached out to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions to actively originate candidates and develop relationships. Reach beyond your familiar recruiting circles E. Ensure you’re using up-to-date practices as you approach hiring
3. Train & Inform Your Broader Team
A. Realize we are not perfect and commit to training all of your employees in unconscious bias training B. Commit to an annual diversity, equity, & inclusion survey (such as the IREC Energy & Environmental Employment Survey, co-sponsored by Renewables Forward) C. Lead regular staff training and provide up-to-date resources that educate your company in DEI practices and trace the roots of our history. (DEI Playbook and Renewables Forward Resources make great starts)
4. Prioritize Work with Minority Owned & Women Owned Businesses
A. Develop a relationship with a more diverse set of industry partners B. Work with other renewable energy companies to better source and identify minority owned and women owned businesses C. Commit to hire and contract from Diverse Suppliers, using resources such as the SEIA Diverse Suppliers’ Database, and the National Minority Supplier Development Council business database.
5. Donate & Contribute
A. Create an employee matching program for charitable gifts B. Find organizations that match your values and that can help build community wealth, ownership and resources near your assets and/or offices C. Engage with those organizations and continue learning; commit to supporting these organizations and continue learning D. Add organizations that you think others might be interested in D. Add organizations that you think expand community wealth and clean energy development; promote them to your colleagues and partners
