In addition, the society is working to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of the staff, in part by establishing paid internships. Tags: ethnic diversity | race | inclusivity. Candid yet open-minded dialogues in which all participants seek to learn of and empathize with one another's experiences can shine a light on our commonalities. "How do groups plan to keep diverse staff, and create an environment that seeks to understand diverse backgrounds and communicate effectively?" Can mission-driven food companies scale up without selling out? In order to make real progress on diversifying corporate sustainability, we must be willing to step outside of our comfort zones and have honest conversations. The lack of diversity in U.S. environmental non-profit organizations has been well chronicled in recent years. The shareholder resolution states the lack of diversity in tech is a “crisis” that “threatens worker safety, talent retention, product development, and customer service.” The percent of people of color on staff has gone up from 9 percent to 26 percent since 2015. A 2014 study (PDF)of 191 U.S. conservation and preservation organizations, 74 government environmental agencies and 28 environmental grant-making foundations found that ethnic minorities do not exceed 16 percent of board members or staff of environmental organizations. Diversity breeds innovation and innovation breeds business growth. Eddie Love was the lone African American in a cohort of 90 wildlife management students at Auburn University and one of three people of color at his U.S. Forest Service internship in the western Great Plains region of the U.S. It's that simple. © 2019 GreenBiz Group Inc. GREENBIZ® and GREENBIZ.COM® are registered trademarks of, Why diversity in sustainability matters, and what you can do. And that's the problem: There are still relatively few connections between communities of color and the environmental sector. I have a vision of more sustainability professionals championing ethnic diversity within their respective organizations. Still, "there have to be employers ready to hire them," she said. Queta González helps organizations develop strategies to increase equity, diversity and inclusion in her role as director of Center for Diversity & the Environment in Portland, Oregon. In September, the sixth annual HBCU Climate Conference, which brings together historically black college and universities staff, faculty and students, will take place in New Orleans and expects 400 attendees. Diversity comes in many forms: gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, age, culture, socioeconomic background, etc. The shift in framing diversity beyond gender is evident in a number of developments last year. In addition, the society is working to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of the staff, in part by establishing paid internships. Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050; CODEN: SUSTDE) is an international, cross-disciplinary, scholarly, peer-reviewed and open access journal of environmental, cultural, economic, and social sustainability of human beings. "Organizations need to see diversity as a great opportunity," she said. Her organization has trained over 5,000 underserved, underrepresented young adults, ages 16­-25, in environmental stewardship — ranging from conservation to urban agriculture to landscape management. The lack of diversity stunts the mainstreaming of sustainability. "If you are not connected, you won’t hear about or get those jobs.". "We’re slowly increasing our diversity," Scoonover said, but admitted, "we have more progress to make." Diverse talent pool for every field is working to increase the racial and ethnic diversity the... 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