Utilities industry works to advance diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives

Continuing to create a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) means continuing to have purposeful conversations about race, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said this week at an electric utilities industry conference, and having those conversations can help the power industry develop the next energy workforce.

Bottoms spoke with Chris Womack, president and CEO of Atlanta-based Georgia Power on Wednesday on the final day of the Edison Electric Institute’s EEI 2022 annual conference in Orlando, Fla.

President Joe Biden recently named Bottoms Senior Advisor to the President for Public Engagement. In that role, she will oversee the White House Office of Public Engagement, which will work to ensure that state and local community leaders with diverse views have the opportunity to inform the work of the federal government in an inclusive way.

Building on programs already in place at electric companies, EEI launched an industry-wide DEI initiative in September 2020 that integrates workforce development and DEI priorities into one initiative. The industry’s goals include ensuring that DEI efforts are driven from the top; expanding and broadening the pool of diverse candidates; establishing stronger community connections; and creating infrastructure training programs.

Bottoms said giving employees the freedom to talk about their experiences is key to moving in the right direction.

After the George Floyd killing and subsequent protests in 2020, Bottoms appeared on national television calling for protestors to “go home” and for telling them “There’s something better at the other side of this.” While the country has made progress on racial relations, there is still much work to do, she said.

“For as much progress as we’ve made, it feels like we’re stuck and we’re going backwards,” Bottoms said. “My fear from 2020, was that we were going to lose the luxury of having good will, to have these open discussions where people … would have the opportunity to explain why they felt a certain way. I feel like oftentimes that moment is being lost and now we’re running back into our respective corners.”

Womack said it was important for people to get comfortable with having uncomfortable conversations, and that as a country we’re still having difficulty having conversations about race.

The key, both speakers said, was knowing our history so that we could learn from it and understand that history impacts employees.

“If we don’t know our history, then we’re doomed to repeat our history and our history is what it is,” she said. “We have to give people the ability to express what they don’t know and how they were brought up and give them the ability to be open and honest as they try to understand what our challenges are. It’s got to be a two-way conversation.”

Bottoms said she hopes it doesn’t take another event like the death of George Floyd to help the nation move toward greater diversity and inclusion.

To start those conversations, she said, sometimes it’s important for employers and managers to express their discomfort about the conversations and admitting they’re uncomfortable is a great place to start.

Additionally, there are facilitators who can help employers and managers to start those discussions and use those conversations to bring about understanding.

Companies also play a role in lifting their communities through job training and other programs that expose underserved communities to greater opportunities. Bottoms said that while it may take programs years to develop in a governmental setting, businesses can get those programs done faster and more efficiently to get help to a community more quickly.

The key, both speakers said, was not to remain silent, and to not get discouraged at any perceived setbacks.

“My advice would be not to be discouraged. One of my favorite quotes is from Audre Lorde: ‘Revolution is not a one-time event,’” Bottoms said. “Don’t expect that there’s going to be one DEI event, or one session in a room like this and all of your issues of race and gender have gone away. You can’t check that box. You’ve got to keep having those conversations … It may not feel like you’re making a difference, but the fact that you’re having those conversations and genuine interest in the outcomes will make a world of difference.”