New U.S. WIN Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee

DEI Committe & Resource Library

U.S. WIN is proud to announce that the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) working group will become a standing committee.  This change was made to continuously highlight this topic’s importance to the organization.  Ensuring that the workforce is diverse and inclusive is as vital as ever in today’s climate to promote retention and recruitment in the field, which the committee plans to promote via varying initiatives, focused subcommittees, and a resource library.  Juliann Edwards, Chair of U.S. WIN and Vice President of Energy Origination and Development in Power and Energy Solutions at TC Energy, highlighted the following:

 

“As one of the leading support organizations in nuclear, it is important that we focus on the industry challenges ahead. The DOE Liftoff report noted that the U.S. will need ~375,000 additional trained workers to deliver the much-needed 200 GW of advanced nuclear. This unprecedented growth is only achievable with the leadership and support of organizations like U.S. WIN, NEI, ANS, and NAYGN. 

 

At U.S. WIN we are elevating the DEI working group to a stand-alone committee to demonstrate our attention to this topic. The DEI Committee will create initiatives, programs, and a deep repository of tools that will empower and remind everyone that we each have a role to play in energy transition.”

— Juliann Edwards, U.S. Women in Nuclear Chair

 

At the national conference in July, U.S. WIN rolled out the revised strategic objectives which strengthen them in attracting, retaining, and advancing a diverse workforce in the nuclear industry, and include more influence in diversity, inclusion, and belonging.

  • Attract a diverse workforce to pursue professions and trades in the nuclear sector
  • Foster a culture of inclusion and belonging that retains a diverse workforce in the nuclear sector
  • Create professional development and networking opportunities for career advancement
  • Inspire advocacy and public support for the advancement of nuclear energy and technology

 

Please see the new DEI “About Us” page here to learn more about the DEI committee.  To view our DEI Library or to submit your own ideas, click here.  Note that to access the library or to make a submission, you must be logged into your U.S. WIN account.

New U.S. WIN Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee

The U.S. Women in Nuclear (U.S. WIN) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee was created as an initiative in conjunction with the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), and several executive sponsors from across the nuclear industry. This U.S. WIN committee is committed to extending the nuclear field’s culture of excellence to the effort to build a diverse and inclusive workforce. We believe that providing opportunities equally and equitably to all members of our communities is not only just, but also provides the diversity of perspectives and experiences necessary to advance the field. This group is committed to achieving and sustaining a diverse and inclusive workforce, and believes that everyone has a role in moving the needle. This committee consists of the following:

 

Executive Sponsors: Industry Executives who support the U.S. WIN DEI Committee, providing strategic advice to the U.S. WIN DEI Oversight Committee and advocating for the committee in the nuclear industry.

Executive Sponsors include:

  • Kelvin Henderson, Duke Energy
  • Tim Rausch, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
  • Maria Korsnick, NEI
  • Grover Hettel, Energy Northwest

 

U.S. WIN DEI Oversight Committee (OC): A committee of U.S. WIN Steering Committee members who provide oversight to the DEI Committee and Subcommittees, ensuring the DEI strategic objectives and actions are aligned with the vision and strategic objectives of U.S. WIN.

DEI OC includes:

  • Jhansi Kandasamy, Idaho National Laboratory
  • Victoria Dennis, TVA
  • Kaitlin Rekola, NEI
  • Savannah Fitzwater, U.S. Department of Energy
  • Julie Ezold, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

 

U.S. WIN DEI Committee: A committee of U.S. WIN members, INPO personnel and NEI personnel focused on leading, facilitating, and supporting the development of strategic initiatives for submittal and approval by the U.S. WIN Steering Committee. DEI committee members meet regularly to discuss gaps in current DEI practices and metrics, and to review the current objectives and action plans of the subcommittees.

DEI Committee Chair – Mandy Hare, Duke Energy

 

DEI Subcommittees: The DEI Committee has selected four focus areas to develop strategic action plans to drive results in these areas. Each subcommittee consists of a lead, supporting members, and a member of the DEI OC.

  • Inclusion (Employee Life Cycle) – the U.S. WIN DEI Committee is dedicated to ensuring all members of the community feel valued. This effort includes ensuring that personnel are being educated on what DEI is, why it is important, and actions each employee can make to improve inclusion in the workplace. This effort also includes reducing bias in recruiting, and making necessary tools available for the hiring process.
    • Inclusion Subcommittee Lead – Lee Ann Hamilton-Steiner, Duke Energy

 

  • Middle Management – the U.S. WIN DEI Committee is championing increased promotions of women, people of color, and other marginalized communities into middle management positions throughout the nuclear field. Focuses include growing diverse candidates, recruiting sponsors/mentors, and providing middle management the necessary resources to grow and succeed within their companies.
    • Middle Management Subcommittee Lead – Denise Brandon, Energy Northwest

 

  • LGBTQIA+ – the U.S. WIN DEI Committee is focused on fostering a safe environment for LGBTQIA+ coworkers and colleagues in the nuclear field by ensuring members of this community feel valued and included. Education efforts are underway for employees and management to provide the correct information and language necessary to drive inclusivity.
    • LGBTQIA+ Subcommittee Lead – Kaitlin Giles, Southern Nuclear Company

 

  • DEI Library and Outreach – the U.S. WIN DEI Committee is committed to sharing lessons learned and best practices in current DEI practices and metrics. The U.S. WIN website hosts the DEI Library platform. U.S. WIN members can submit materials such as presentations, demonstrations, webinars, speaker recommendations, handouts, website links, training and development materials, or anything else that may be helpful to share with others through the DEI Library Submission Form. These submissions are then viewable on the DEI Library page, allowing U.S. WIN members to leverage what others are doing to create more equitable environments and strengthen the overall development of this movement nationwide. The goal is to collect enough submissions that the DEI Library becomes a vast network of resources dedicated to efforts that create meaningful, systematic change. As this tool is designed to share DEI best practices, it is a top priority for the subcommittee to populate the library with ideas from DEI experts throughout the industry.
    • DEI Library Subcommittee Lead – Savannah Fitzwater, U.S. Department of Energy

 

To submit your idea to the DEI library, please visit www.winus.org/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-library-submission-form/. Note that the DEI Library and DEI Library Submission Form are accessible only after logging into the U.S. WIN website to prevent spam submissions. However, signing up as a U.S. WIN member HERE is free and will promptly provide you with access to the DEI library and many other resources!