Energy Workforce and Technology Council Given Diversity Award

The Houston Business Journal named the Energy Workforce and Technology Council as an Outstanding Diversity Helping Hand.

The honor recognizes for-profit and nonprofit organizations that have shown dedication to promoting and championing diversity and inclusion in the business community or are supplying diversity-related resources, such as job sites, diversity training programs and e-learning.

“I am proud the Houston Business Journal is recognizing the Council as a leader in diversity,” said Molly Determan, COO of the Energy Workforce and Technology Council. “Our organization is dedicated to building a diverse workforce internally and across our industry. Underrepresented populations are growing in our industry, and through our DEI and workforce development programs, we are providing the tools, training, and best practices necessary for our sector to succeed in becoming more diverse.”

The Council contributes thought leadership in DEI and regularly contributes op-eds on specific issues such as flexibility, parental leave, pay equity, psychological safety, and upskilling.

Additionally, the Council has an Inclusion and Diversity Committee solely focused on fostering inclusion and diversity within the association, its 450 member companies and in the industry. The committee collaborates on ways to strategically empower qualified women and underrepresented groups in leadership positions.

The Council also provides training and workforce development programs around DEI at an organizational level and for individual contributors, advocates for workplace policies that will foster inclusive cultures and provides networking opportunities to discuss DEI initiatives.

In 2021, the Council renewed its groundbreaking study of diversity in the OFS sector to determine progress since the 2018 benchmarking survey and develop recommendations for the sector. The survey also expanded to include race and ethnicity, which established a benchmark and allowed for greater consistency and transparency in reporting across the sector. The Council is currently updating its DEI toolkit based on the updated information from the 2021 survey and will release it later this year. 

In 2020, the Council launched the first Inclusion and Diversity Business Champion Year-long Program. The program provided tools for leaders across functions to affect internal change, focusing on building internal organization capability of inclusion and diversity. Participants worked with mentors, coaches, executive sponsors, and peers to learn how to have inclusive teams. The course leveraged the Council’s DEI toolkit and provided strategies to help companies create individual plans of action.

The Council also added best practice sharing sessions for current I&D Business Champion Program participants to discuss ways to move inclusion and diversity forward and overcome possible obstacles with graduates of the program. This allows graduates to continue their learning and pass along what they learned to future cohorts.

Responding to events in 2020, the Council expanded the curriculum to address racial equality, and reopened registration to provide companies and individuals the opportunity to learn more about how to make actionable changes and create a culture of inclusion.

In the broader realm of ESG and DEI resources, the Council launched the ESG Center of Excellence, the sector’s first repository of ESG information and best practices.

Focusing on energy transition the Council also positions the sector as a key driver of the technologies and innovations that will deliver a lower carbon energy future. The Council has advocated that to attract and retain the talent needed to deliver those technologies and innovations, companies must have a more inclusive workplace.

In additional to the Energy Workforce and Technology Council, the Houston Business Journal also recognized the following organizations in the same category: 100 Black Men Metropolitan Houston, Ampersand, CannonDesign, Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce, and Lincoln Leadership Advisors.

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