Diversity Equity and Inclusion In ASHRAE

The BOD DEI Advisory Subcommittee will be hosting its 1^st Book Club session on September 23, 2022 11:00am Eastern Time, to discuss New York Times Best Seller, Blind Spot-Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald.

>> If you would like to join the book club session, please send an email to tmlisle@ashrae.org for details.

The purpose of the Board DEI Advisory Subcommittee is to advise the Board of Directors on the following:

• All matters relating to diversity, equality, and inclusion - with a view to improving organizational awareness and performance in these areas amongst both staff and the Society membership.
• The prioritization of inclusivity issues which have relevance to ASHRAE, together with plans for addressing these issues.

The ongoing work of the BOD DEI Advisory Subcommittee will consist of the following:

• Recommend to the BOD actions to increase and improve inclusion within ASHRAE and the HVAC&R Industry and help the Society meets its commitments to fairness and equal opportunities. Recommendations would be expected to apply to:
• Appointments
• Honors and Awards
• Technical Group Membership
• Volunteer Engagement
• Chapter programs and initiatives
• Monitor inclusion within the Society and assist the BOD by advising on policies and initiatives to improve inclusion amongst the membership.
• Keep under review the Society’s policy and practices relating to equity and diversity.
• Set and publish goals based on our gaps and missing indicators.
• Advise the BOD on the nature of the data to be collected from current members and applicants that may improve inclusion.
• Facilitate communications between ASHRAE and other relevant organizations, and to work in collaboration with them, to promote and embed inclusion and diversity in the engineering, construction, and related sectors.
• Recommend Chapter and Society programs on DEI (webcasts, training and education program, Insight Articles, forums, conferences, and webinars).
• Publish and regularly showcase the work of inspirational HVAC&R engineers from under-represented groups.
• Develop/source society training programs to members on DEI including, but not limited to;
• sexual harassment
• high performance team building
• recognizing and avoiding unconscious bias
• Develop a manual of procedures and ROB for the committee.
• The BOD DEI Advisory Subcommittee will report to the BOD twice a year regarding the above initiatives.

Fundamental Advisory LLC has been retained as our outside DEI Consultant Firm. The company overview can be found here. Mindy Gulati has been leading the charge and has interviewed a few Board members to develop a DEI workshop for the Board of Directors. The session covered topics as to why DEI is important to ASHRAE, DEI Foundations, Equity, Cultural Competence, Microaggressions, Explicit and Implicit Bias and more. The BOD DEI Advisory Subcommittee is working with Mindy to create future trainings for our Chapters, ASHRAE Directors, Managers and Staff.

• How Emotional Intelligence Boosts DEI, Productivity, Growth
• Finding Your Next New Hire

We are looking for authors who can write topics relating to DEI:

Call for Authors

ASHRAE Journal Podcast | Uncovering Unconscious Bias in the HVAC&R Industry

DEI Update For Chapters | August 2022

• Microsoft: Inclusion Jounrey
• Guidance for NIST Staff on Using Inclusive Language in Documentary Standards
• Part 1: Sexual Harassment Prevention Training

• Part 2: Sexual Harassment Prevention Training | Case Studies

Suggested Readings:

• Blind Spot – Hidden Biases of Good People, Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald
• Thinking Fast Slow -  by Daniel Kahneman

Suggested Audio: Coming soon!

Suggested Assessments: Coming soon!