Almost two years ago, the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power began charting a pathway down a road of inclusiveness, understanding, diversity, and most notably, equity.
On June 19, 2020, Mayor Eric Garcetti, under Executive Order 27, directed every city department to advance racial equity within city government. In it, he stated: “We have to translate our ideals into action and we have to start with our own government. We must be prepared to think broadly and creatively to ensure that people of color, women, persons with disabilities, and veterans may equally participate and prosper in public life and society. We must live up to our democratic ideals by placing racial equity and inclusion at the center of our policymaking.”
These were words that we, the largest municipal utility in the United States, not only took to heart, but acted upon. We wanted to take meaningful steps to ensure that all of our employees, as well as our customers, have equitable opportunity and the services that they need to thrive. In order to bring about lasting and needed change, it was clear that we needed to do something impactful regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion.
To address racial equity at LADWP, it was imperative for us to complete a deep dive into where we were before proceeding. First, we needed to solidify what our vision for DEI meant to us. LADWP’s vision on diversity, equity, and inclusion has three core objectives:
1. To reflect the diverse communities, we serve.
2. To create a culture where every single employee feels seen heard and valued and opportunities for career advancement are equitable.
3. To understand that utilities as a result of their physical and financial assets, human capital, and community mission have substantial opportunities.
Transforming vision into reality is not something that happens overnight. To see real, sustainable change that lives beyond this moment, we took a comprehensive multi-faceted approach. After solidifying our vision, we embarked on the development of a Racial Equity Action Plan. With the assistance of locally based minority-owned firms, we started this process by first analyzing our workforce data, followed by communication and dialogue with current and former employees through one-on-one interviews, focus groups, and a department wide survey. From this, we were able to identify and outline many recommendations, both short term and long term. One of the fundamental recommendations was to establish our first-ever Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. For far too long, these offices, historically, have been delegated to the bottom rungs of organizational charts with very little access to resources, staff, and influence over an organization’s initiatives. At LADWP, our thinking on DEI was different. We understood and recognized that DEI should be a part of the culture and central policymaking, both internally and externally, leading to the Department’s success. That is also why our DEI office reports directly to our General Manager’s Office and is in charge of HR, supplier diversity, community engagement, and our data equity metrics group.
Workforce development has always been a pivotal component to our DEI initiatives. The disparities that people of color, women, LGBTQ+, and others face in hiring, promotions, and recruitment, are among the key issues that we are looking to improve. As LADWP faces a rising number of retirements, competitive threats, and workforce demands to meet aggressive 21st Century goals, it is important that we reimagine key workforce development drivers such as hiring, recruitment, training and employee development. Removing bureaucratic barriers and strategically working with other departments will allow us to meet key hiring goals. For example, one of our key objectives in this area is working with our City Personnel Department to give LADWP flexibility in civil service rules that impede our hiring and promotional opportunities. We need to develop career path workshops and make career ladders accessible to employees, develop a formal mentorship program, ensure that employees on panels come from diverse backgrounds and recruit from universities and colleges that serve underrepresented populations.
One of the recommendations of our Racial Equity Action Plan was to strengthen our partnerships, particularly as it relates to recruitment, with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Through our membership with the City’s HBCU Recruitment Committee, the Department learned of an organization that we felt could help with this recommendation. Advancing Minorities’ Interest in Engineering or A.M.I.E. represents the 15 ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) HBCU Schools of Engineering. These 15 HBCU Schools of Engineering represent less than 3% of all the engineering schools in the country, yet they produce over 30% of all African American engineers in the United States. On February 8, 2022, our LADWP Board of Water & Power Commissioners unanimously approved a five-year/$5 million Letter of Agreement (LOA) with AMIE. This LOA is task order driven for research and development. Some areas of focus for potential technical and research development include, but are not limited to, assistance in developing energy efficiency programs, promoting water conservation, enhancing water recycling and climate adaption planning, etc. While engineering and scientific research are at the core of this agreement, the ability to recruit new talent into the Department’s workforce is just as critical. Historically, LADWP has been recruiting from just a handful of HBCUs in the past. This new agreement allows the Department to significantly expand upon its recruitment pool. In the 2020 Engineering By the Numbers Report, produced by the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), six of their Top 20 institutions that produce African American engineers are represented by AMIE.
The opportunity to lead the Department in building a diverse and inclusive organization in which employees and stakeholders can look upon with pride is a responsibility we take seriously. In other words, simply checking the box was and should never be an option when it comes to addressing these important issues.
Martin L. Adams is the general manager and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the nation’s largest publicly-owned utility.
Monique Earl is the senior assistant general manager over LADWP’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and serves as the Department’s Chief DEI Officer.
Learn more at ladwp.com.
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