During late 2020, SPE relaunched the former Women in Energy (WIN) Standing Committee as the renewed Diversity and Inclusion Standing Committee (D&I Committee). The D&I Committee aims to expand SPE’s goal to bring diversity and inclusion to its members with the vision of advancing the society’s commitment to diversity and inclusion within the oil and gas community through advocacy, collaboration, and education. D&I Committee’s mission is five-fold:
- Uphold the legacy of WIN, which is set out to promote leadership, representation, and recognition for women within SPE
- Provide and support platforms whereby members can share their ideas surrounding diversity and inclusion
- Provide support to local SPE sections and chapters in the creation and maintenance of diversity and inclusion committees
- Collaborate, support, and advise on topics relating to diversity and inclusion within SPE and external to SPE
- Promote diversity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields
Diversity and inclusion is essential to the workplace because it promotes employee engagement, company confidence, and attracts talent. Additionally, having a diverse and inclusive workplace improves revenue growth for a company and encourages innovation. As part of the international framework, the D&I Committee supports the creation of local section and chapter committees by providing coaching, mentorship, and access to the broader network of global SPE D&I committees.
The D&I Committee will continue its planned global programming to include two events at the 2021 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE). The 2020 WIN event focused on succeeding on the corporate ladder and the skills and people needed for the global energy transition. While globally we have made significant strides for diversity and inclusion, we still have room for continued education, growth, and development. The committee is structured to provide support to its goals:
D&I Committee organizational structure. Source: SPEI D&I Committee
The Committee aims to boost and support continued growth at region/country level, with a special focus in connecting local SPE D&I committees in sections and chapters to identify best practices and facilitate collaboration worldwide. The committee leadership will prioritize these initiatives:
- Increase the number of SPE sections with a local D&I committee (by mid 2020, more than a quarter (56) of the total SPE Sections had an active WIN program or committee)
- Define, create, and formalize partnership with other nonprofit organizations and corporations globally
- Honor the legacy of the former WIN Committee by promoting the presence of women in STEM, continuing with the SPE’s ATCE flagship conference effort, including the breakfast panel session
- Increase its social media presence by promoting the committee’s spirit, mission, vision, and values
- Recruit leaders to represent D&I throughout SPE’s global sections and focus on diversity networking events and programs
- Create and facilitate mentoring and inclusive leadership channels
- Evaluate the potential launch of a D&I recognition and live broadcasting of ATCE D&I events
Additional resources are available via the SPE D&I Committee website or by emailing diversityandinclusion@spe.org. The annual call for five new Standing Committee volunteers for the SPEI D&I Committee is now open through the SPE Volunteer Portal. Although there are only limited positions, there are opportunities for additional resources/support and general volunteerism. The commitment includes (but not limited to) ATCE flagship event, social media idea generation and post authoring, webinar content creation, and more.
Contributed by D&I Committee members Yoshi Pradhan, Endeavor Energy Resources; Zahraa Alkalby, Total; Amber Sturrock, Chevron; Linda Battalora, Colorado School of Mines; Leila Hamza, Schlumberger; Stacey Earley, Transocean; Gary Lohse, De Nora Water Technologies; Margaretha Rijken, Chevron; Mariam Seif Eldine, WesternGeco Schlumberger; and Jillian Thomas, Society of Petroleum Engineers.
The article was sourced by TWA Content Creator, Bruno S. Rivas.