Diversity Charter
Our Vision: The “Who”
Young Professionals in Energy (YPE NYC) aims to facilitate the advancement of young professionals in the NYC energy industry through a variety of events and professional opportunities. We bring together energy enthusiasts across different cross-sectors of the industry. A 501(c)(3) charitable organization, we foster an environment where all members can learn and grow from each other, share industry knowledge, discuss career matters, and grow their energy network.
Our Commitment to Diversity: The “Why”
New York City (NYC) is among the most culturally diverse cities in the world. 2021 census data showed the top four ethnic groups in New York:
White (non-Hispanic): 42.7%
Hispanic: 29.1%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic): 24.3%
Asian (non-Hispanic): 14.1%
At a combined 67%, the Hispanic, Black/African American and Asian diaspora represent a significant portion of the New York City population. Furthermore, 37.2% of New York residents were born outside of the US, well surpassing the 13.7% national average of foreign-born residents. Given the wide diversity of New Yorkers, what does this mean for our organization?
It means our commitment to representing and serving the NYC energy industry amounts to representing and serving the diversity of our city. We acknowledge the energy industry has a diversity problem and the NYC energy industry specifically doesn’t reflect the diversity of our city. 2020 US Labor Force Demographics show that People of Color comprise only 28% of the energy workforce and women comprise only 25%. Despite being one of the most diverse places in the United States and the world, New York does not rank among even the top half of cities in terms of energy workforce diversity, according to a recent E2 Report. This representation decreases drastically when moving up the organization chart; BIPOC individuals are even less represented in positions of leadership. Given the particularly strong growth seen in the energy industry (particularly renewable and clean energy markets) over the last five years, it remains clear that economic prosperity created in the industry is not being equitably shared by all.
But first, a basic question - why would we want to encourage more diversity in the energy industry? Put simply: increasing social equity helps us all do better. In effect:
Ethnically diverse executive teams were 36% more likely to have above-average profitability than peers that lack diverse leadership
Diverse cultural perspectives can inspire creativity and drive innovation
Diversity encourages mutual respect, acceptance, empathy, and open-mindedness
Inclusiveness fosters increased productivity and workplace satisfaction
Cultural diversity provides introductions to new languages, ways of thinking, knowledge, and experiences
Businesses that fail at diversity see higher levels of distraction and employee turnover, and have measured lower in productivity studies
Negotiating diversity leads to more sophisticated moral reasoning, increased cognitive action, and higher-quality scientific research
Providing equal opportunity not only improves workplace justice, but allows the workplace to realize, utilize, and support all available talent
Given the numerous benefits, what can we, as an organization, do?
Governance
The Diversity Committee will establish certain Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) related to each item in our Commitments below; these KPIs will be reviewed semi-annually and reported to the Board of Directors at the next scheduled meeting for feedback. The Diversity Committee will focus on these KPIs to understand the impact of our programming, identify areas of opportunity, measure our progress against our goals, and modify our Commitments as necessary.
Our Approach to Accomplishing our Diversity Commitment: The “How”
Our Commitments will be integrated into all aspects of Chapter programming and enable cultural transformation by challenging all Directors to re-think our organization’s vision, values, and how we represent New York City.
Promote and maintain Board Director diversity
KPI: No more than 60% of representation by one gender on the Board of Directors at the end of each recruitment cycle
KPI: No more than 40% of representation by any one ethnic group of the top four ethnic groups in New York City at the end of each recruitment cycle
KPI: No less than 10% of representation by any one ethnic groups of the top four ethnic groups in New York City at the end of each recruitment cycle
KPI: No less than 10% representation by individuals who do not identify as part of the top four ethnic groups in New York City at the end of each recruitment cycle
Promote targeted dialogue within the Board of Directors via quarterly discussions and the implementation of Diversity Advisors
KPI: A relevant DEI-related article to be shared fortnightly (per minimum), and discussed informally between Directors in between quarterly discussions
Track attendance at quarterly discussions, the format of which will be 50% KPI review and ideas for improvement where relevant and 50% discussion on industry news and shared DEI-related articles
Reconstruct programming to include the following, with the goal of the amplification of underrepresented voices in the industry:
Increased partnerships, event collaboration, and integration with minority-owned businesses, and minority-led/minority-focused organizations
KPI: 33% of events per year will be partnered with at least 1 BIPOC-focused organization
Host at least one Clean Energy Careers series annually
Thought leadership events focusing on the positive and negative effects of energy policies on the racial, social, and economic issues in a community
KPI: Incorporate at least 1 related question into each panel/thought leadership event
Ensure 100% of thought leadership events have diverse and thoughtful participants that can represent a variety of perspectives
KPI: 100% of thought leadership events will have multiple ethnicities and multiple genders represented
Cross promotion of workforce development initiatives supporting minorities’ representation in the energy industry
KPI: 100% of monthly newsletters include at least 2 events hosted by BIPOC organizations or organizations/opportunities prioritizing inclusive workforce development
Modify outbound marketing to better track and analyze YPE NYC membership demographics
KPI: Begin formal collection and analysis of data
Enhance recruitment practices to actively target minority-led/minority-focused organizations
KPI:Create a process to confirm organizations that represent bodies within the industry, universities, nonprofits, etc., commit to engagement with organizations with whom there is partnership interest, and create a database with established contacts with whom we can share industry job and internship opportunities, as well as Board openings as applicable
Last update: September 2022