(New York, July 16, 2020) — The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) has launched a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Respect (DEIR) Initiative.
At the June 8, 2020 Board meeting, the IES Board of Directors unanimously approved the Statement of Support that was distributed to all members of IES. The statement kicked off a cultural shift for leaders, staff and all members of our Society. Our next step is to establish a comprehensive diversity-based initiative. This initiative looks at the internal and external systems, processes, and assumptions of the organization with the lens of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Respect and responds with a strategically aligned approach.
The IES Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Respect (DEIR) Initiative shall initially be the responsibility of the Board of Directors, who will oversee the launch of some immediate changes (see below for more details) but more importantly will be the creation of a DEIR Committee to support and lead short and long-term changes across all levels of our society. These changes will align with the Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct (to be announced shortly) previously approved by the Board, align with our new Strategic Plan, and will have quantitative and qualitative benchmarks to achieve.
This committee will be overseeing the DEIR Initiative which will impact and support our committees, sections, leadership development, programs, services, and more. In addition, this initiative will include identifying resources to be made available for the membership to utilize both professionally and personally.
The DEIR Committee will be comprised of members from across the IES with a strong interest and commitment to this cause. If you want to be a part of facilitating change and improvement in our society as a member of the DEIR Committee, please email Tim Licitra, IES Executive Director (tlicitra@ies.org).
While the committee and initiative are being established, smaller internal tasks are already being worked on, such as modernizing and improving inclusion within the membership join and renewal applications, refreshing our annual customer satisfaction survey questions to gather valuable volunteer information, and the creation of a webpage for where resources and regular updates about this critical initiative will be housed.
Expect to receive regular updates and more information as this new committees makes progress and affects change through our society. As always, we want to hear from you about how we can positively impact our Society and the global lighting industry at-large to promote a community that is diverse, equitable, inclusive and respectful of all members.