IEc’s DEI Committee aims to advance our diversity-, equity-, and inclusion-related values and goals through development and implementation of initiatives that create a supportive environment for our staff, collaborators, and clients. By introducing new programs and improving existing processes, the committee strives to create a more inclusive workplace and equip IEc staff to work with individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds, cultures, and organizations. IEc’s DEI Committee is comprised of the COO, the HR Director, and several other staff members.
More information about our DEI initiatives is below: Creating an Inclusive Workplace, Anti-Racism Committee, Summer Internship Program.
Creating an Inclusive Workplace
We understand that creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture at IEc is a long-term and continuing process. Therefore, we are engaged in initiatives to provide our team with ongoing opportunities for learning and growth to foster an inclusive environment at IEc. Some examples are:
- Formal training for staff in communications both internally and externally
- Library of documents and links to sources such as podcasts, articles, and other multimedia that contain information on DEI, anti-racism, social justice, and other related topics; accessible to and updated by staff
- Formal support programs to improve writing and presentation skills, in particular to support individuals for whom English is a second language
- Staff directory with options to include pronouns and name pronunciations
- Affinity groups to facilitate connections outside of specific project work
- Continuing education series that provides an opportunity to discuss uncomfortable or challenging but important issues in the workplace and beyond
- Presentations and primers developed by staff as well as invited speakers to expand awareness of environmental justice issues and ongoing work
Anti-Racism Committee
IEc’s Anti-Racism Committee (ARC) was formed in response to the events of the Summer of 2020 and before, including the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Manuel Ellis among countless others, and the growing awareness of perpetual racial injustices and police violence. We actively combat and resist systemic racism by learning to recognize and understand racism, cultivating personal change and accountability among our staff, and promoting an anti-racist culture at IEc. In pursuit of these goals, the ARC is engaged in efforts such as establishing spaces for continuing education on anti-racism, creating identity-based affinity groups for staff, and organizing direct community aid. Through a comprehensive search, we also identified several community organizations that share the vision of eliminating systemic racism. To help support these community efforts, we donated funds in 2020, 2021, and 2022. See the list of organizations.
Summer Internship Program
As part of firm-wide efforts to increase the diversity of professionals in the fields of economic and environmental consulting, IEc is excited to offer a paid summer internship program open to undergraduate applicants who self-identify as members of a group historically underrepresented in the environmental and economic consulting profession, including, but not limited to Black, African American, Hispanic, Latinx, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and North American Indigenous groups. Our program provides applicants with the opportunity to apply their academic skills to current, real-world IEc projects through a comprehensive, hands-on learning experience. Potential project areas range from science to economics, policy to finance, performance evaluation to litigation support. On any given project, interns will engage and work closely with IEc staff, who will provide guidance on technical tasks as well as long-term career development to facilitate the intern’s transition from student to working professional.