University of Pittsburgh
IN-39: Sustainability Office Diversity Program

Pitt's Sustainability team works to include diverse and inclusive voices, perspectives, and individuals across campus and in partnership. Specific to recruiting, diversity is imperative. In recruiting new Pitt Sustainability employees and interns, Pitt Sustainability positions are primarily posted through Pitt Human Resources (which has its own broad DEI recruiting strategies).

However, the Pitt Sustainability team also purposefully ensures that the position opportunities are distributed around campus and off-campus to reach a variety of audiences who might be specifically interested in the specific position, including for diverse and underrepresented candidates. Position descriptions are also reviewed by multiple Pitt Sustainability team members to ensure inclusive language is being used.

While the University does not have an official policy to require that diverse candidates are regularly interviewed, the Pitt Sustainability team does regularly review candidate interview slates to ensure that diverse candidates are represented for both new employee and intern positions. All interviews also include questions focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The Pitt Sustainability team's professional development is performance-based, not prescriptive. While we do not verify that Pitt Sustainability employees complete DEI training, we have full trust and assurance that they do -- and have answered yes above.

To help systematize this approach for the Pitt Sustainability team, the Office of Sustainability developed new employee training materials in 2023, which incorporate DEI training materials and are deployed to our cross-departmental team. In 2021, Pitt’s Office of Sustainability also initiated a new intern training structure, which includes a day of content dedicated to identifying biases and learning how equity is essential to sustainability work. All new interns are required to complete this training.

EMPLOYEE TRAINING MATERIALS
Pitt defines sustainability as “balancing equity, environment, & economics so current and future generations can thrive.” There is no sustainability without equity.

1) OEDI - Familiarize yourself with the University’s Office for Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (OEDI).
2) Basic Needs - Check out University-wide basic needs resources, including the on-campus Pitt Pantry. (https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/campus-culture/basic-needs/)
3) Accessibility - If you will be creating communications content (newsletter, website, social media), please review the digital accessibility tips (https://www.diversity.pitt.edu/big-ideas-content-editors)
4) Implicit Bias - We all have biases we may be unaware of:
• Please take at least 3 implicit bias quizzes, reflect on your results, & consider how those biases may impact your position & role on the Pitt Sustainability team, within the University, & with external partners & stakeholders. (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/selectatest.html)
• Access the following LinkedIn Learning training via your my.pitt.edu portal: Understanding we are all biased (https://www.linkedin.com/learning/unconscious-bias/understanding-we-re-all-biased?u=2252458)
• Review this 2020 webpage including Pitt’s racial justice statements, videos, & the “Sustainability & Equity” articles at the bottom. (https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/racial-justice-statements-resources/ )
• The Guide to Allyship – Review this open-source starter guide to help you become a more thoughtful and effective ally. (https://guidetoallyship.com/)

INTERN TRAINING MATERIALS
1) Implicit Bias - We all have biases we may be unaware of:
• Please take at least 3 implicit bias quizzes, reflect on your results, & consider how those biases may impact your position & role on the Pitt Sustainability team, within the University, & with external partners & stakeholders. (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/selectatest.html)
• Access the following LinkedIn Learning training via your my.pitt.edu portal: Understanding we are all biased (https://www.linkedin.com/learning/unconscious-bias/understanding-we-re-all-biased?u=2252458)
• Review this 2020 webpage including Pitt’s racial justice statements, videos, & the “Sustainability & Equity” articles at the bottom.(https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/racial-justice-statements-resources/ )
• The Guide to Allyship – Review this open-source starter guide to help you become a more thoughtful and effective ally. (https://guidetoallyship.com/)
2) Equity, a Pillar of Sustainability – Watch the following lectures:
• The economic injustice of plastic by Van Jones (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjvjSlpJoqo)
• How empowering women and girls can help stop global warming by Katharine Wilkinson (https://www.ted.com/talks/katharine_wilkinson_how_empowering_women_and_girls_can_help_stop_global_warming)

3) Accessibility - If you will be creating communications content (newsletter, website, social media), please review the digital accessibility tips (https://www.diversity.pitt.edu/big-ideas-content-editors)

The Pitt Sustainability team also regularly hosts and attends a number of DEI-focused and -related trainings, both internally and externally; many of these opportunities are also advertised on the Pitt Sustainability event calendar: https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/events/

Additionally, there are copious virtual DEI events and training both at Pitt and nationally that Pitt Sustainability team members attended. Key ones worth highlighting include:

+ Annual Pitt Diversity Forum - This forum is often recorded and archived allowing employees the opportunity to engage in DEI-focused content all year long.
2024 event info - https://www.diversity.pitt.edu/events/diversity-forum-2024
2021 Archive: https://canvas.pitt.edu/courses/125555

+ Anti-Black Racism: History, Ideology, and Resistance First Year Course (with course materials now online) - https://www.provost.pitt.edu/anti-black-racism-history-ideology-and-resistance-final-course-syllabus

+ Center for Teaching & Learning's Anti-Racism Resources - https://canvas.pitt.edu/courses/643/pages/anti-racism-resources

+Center for Urban Education’s Lunch & Learn Series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsZ39MWpeY4Uf1kTvAXxGEbY5DCHSe05X

+ My Racial Journey – 10-week, guided curriculum aimed at helping us challenge the ways we participate (often unknowingly) in racism by developing basic knowledge and skills about race. https://www.mrj.pitt.edu/

+ Pitt ‘s Let’s Read It!: LGBTQIA+ Banned Book Club –
Event Example 1 = https://calendar.pitt.edu/event/lets_read_it_lgbtqia_banned_book_club_-_reading_all_boys_arent_blue
Event Example 2 = https://calendar.pitt.edu/event/lets_read_it_lgbtqia_banned_book_club_-_reading_gender_queer

+Provost’s Diversity Institute for Faculty Development - https://teaching.pitt.edu/diversity/diversity-institute/#2023-events

+Various LinkedIn Learning DEI trainings, to which all Pitt students and employees have free access.

The Pitt Sustainability team collaborates with the University’s Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (OEDI) on a number of efforts – and a member of OEDI is a member of the University’s Chancellor’s Advisory Council on Sustainability.
https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/team-member/chancellors-advisory-council-on-sustainability/

The Pitt Sustainability team also officially serves on the Planning Committees for 2 major annual OEDI educational events: 1) Pitt’s (annual) Diversity Forum and 2) Indigenous Cultural Festival.

PIT DIVERSITY FORUM

Since its conception in 2020, the Pitt Sustainability team has been creating and leading sessions for the Pitt Diversity Forum. The annual Pitt Diversity Forum focuses on key social justice concepts, practices, and policies for education and implementation.

Past sessions Pitt Sustainability staff collaboratively organized and led include:

2022: Rewiring Our Systems: Transforming the Intersections of Inequity – Including feature speaker session “After Redlining: Overcoming Unjust Impacts and Building Equitable Futures”. https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/event/after-redlining-overcoming-unjust-impacts-and-building-equitable-futures/

2021: Dismantling Oppressive Systems: Building Just Communities
1) Feature session “Combating Environmental Racism & Injustice”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ6ibnsuI2Y
2) Panel discussion “Environmental Justice: Building Just & Sustainable Communities.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKdrQMpRHoM
3) Session on “Diverse Spend at Pitt: Progress Update.” https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/diversity-forum-2021-sustainability-sessions/

2020: Advancing Social Justice: A Call to Action
1) Panel discussion "Environmental Justice is Social Justice: Past, Present, & Future in Southwestern Pennsylvania.” https://pitt.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=c6b2d734-a2c6-4d9a-bf54-ac08010a497d
2) Discussion in "Black-Owned Businesses at Pitt: Opportunity and Commitment.” https://pitt.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=be08f788-068c-434f-a614-ac850127919b
3) Panel discussion in "Protest to Policy: Environmental Justice, Economic Justice, Economic Equity and Community Activism." https://pitt.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=bc850c3a-1110-4750-ad15-ac0800f4bc0a

INDIGENOUS CULTURAL FESTIVAL

In 2022, OEDI started an Indigenous Community Engagement Initiative of which they Office of Sustainability is a strong partner. As a result, the University created an annual Indigenous Cultural Festival held every September. This weeklong celebration of the Indigenous cultures of our Pittsburgh region includes an educational Pow Wow at Schenley Plaza (adjacent to campus) that teaches attendees the significance of various Indigenous dances and regalia. Additional displays across campus highlight Indigenous knowledge, history, and narratives -- and Indigenous craft workshops are held throughout the week.

The Pitt Indigenous Cultural Festival is planned in partnership with community partner COTRAIC (Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center) and ends the following weekend with COTRAIC’s Annual Pow Wow. The University provides free transportation and entry for students to attend COTRAIC’S Pow Wow.

Indigenous Cultural Festival - https://www.diversity.pitt.edu/events/indigenous-cultural-festival

COTRAIC’s Annual Pow Wow - https://www.cotraic.org/events/44th-annual-pow-wow

The Pitt Sustainability team includes 21 employees under its umbrella, 40 paid affiliated student interns, and over 80 additional dedicated collaborating faculty and staff leading the charge across campus and our community. Of the Pitt Sustainability staff team, 4 individuals have formal DEI and/or environmental or social justice responsibilities:

1) Jennifer Barnes (she/her), Supplier Diversity & Sustainability Manager, Purchasing Services - Jennifer works with the procurement team in Purchasing Services and Strategic Sourcing to advance socially and environmentally responsible purchasing. Jennifer’s bio: https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/team-member/jennifer-barnes/

2) Sam Chan (she/her), Assistant Director of Sustainability, Office of Sustainability – Along with her standard duties helping lead Pitt Sustainability efforts, Sam helps foster collaborations, cross disciplinary opportunities, and community involvement, including those focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Sam’s bio: https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/team-member/samantha-chan/

3) Student Sustainability Engagement Manger, Office of PittServes, Student Affairs - The Student Sustainability Engagement Manager is charged with advocating and advising Pitt’s Student Office of Sustainability (SOOS), its paid student leaders, and the SOOS Student Council. Responsibilities include overseeing the student-led Eco-Justice Collective, which is dedicated to integrating environmental justice into Pitt’s culture through community engagement, education, and outreach and awareness. Job Description - https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/team-member/vacant-student-engagement/

4) Sarah Ramaley (she/her), Assistant Director, Basic Needs, Student Affairs - Sarah oversees the Pitt Pantry, Thriftsburgh, and initiatives that support student well-being. Sarah’s bio - https://www.studentaffairs.pitt.edu/people/sarah-ramaley

• Pitt Sustainability's Racial Justice Statements & Resources - https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/racial-justice-statements-resources/
• Pitt Sustainability’s Land Acknowledgment - https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/history/
• Course Materials from Required First Year Course, "Anti-Black Racism: History, Ideology, and Resistance (PITT 0210)" - https://www.provost.pitt.edu/anti-black-racism-history-ideology-and-resistance-final-course-syllabus
• Pitt Annual Diversity Forum - https://www.diversity.pitt.edu/events/diversity-forum-2024
• Pitt Indigenous Cultural Festival - https://www.diversity.pitt.edu/events/indigenous-cultural-festival
• University of Pittsburgh's "Creating a More Racially Equitable University" webpages - https://www.diversity.pitt.edu/social-justice
• Meet Pitt's Sustainability Team - https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/team/staff/