Yale University
IN-39: Sustainability Office Diversity Program

Above and beyond the recruitment practices of the university, the Yale Office of Sustainability paid extra (while regular recruitment sites are free) to post job opportunities on sites that are specifically designed to recruit candidates from minority and underrepresented groups. One of the sites that the office posted job opportunities on in 2021 and 2022 for this purpose is the Minority Professional Network, https://www.mpndiversityjobs.com/. As a result, two women of color were hired by the Office of Sustainability in 2021.

In the fall of 2021, Yale Sustainability Liaisons (employed and overseen by the Office of Sustainability) went through cultural competency training with Dwight Hall (Yale's community outreach office) to make our programming be more culturally sensitive.

Additionally, the Yale Office of Sustainability's Associate Director Amber Garrard was a panelist in a virtual environmental justice panel in February 2021 with Climate Conversations: Centering Justice & Local Voices.

Finally, the Yale College Council (YCC), GREEN, and the Yale Student Environmental Coalition (YSEC) celebrated Yale Sustainability’s Environmental Justice month with a conversation on centering justice and local voices in climate work in February 2021. The panel discussion highlighted themes of environmental justice, resiliency, a green recovery, and local partnerships, and featured Mayor Justin Elicker, Brent Peterkin (Gather New Haven Executive Director), Kiana Flores (New Haven Climate Movement and New Haven high school student), Onaje Jackson ‘77 (environmental leader and Yale Blue Green member), and Hema Patel ‘23 (Association of Native Americans at Yale co-president).

The co-chair of the Sustainability Implementation Steering Committee (SISC), Deborah Stanley-McAulay, specializes in and focuses on inclusion and justice, and she also oversees the Yale Office of Diversity & Inclusion. Deborah leads the SISC subcommittee on inclusion and justice. The SISC is a rotating selection of faculty and staff that support the execution of the Yale Sustainability Plan, particularly its integration into the scholarship at Yale. This group meets three times per year. Deborah has oversight of the University’s progress in staff diversity; as well as to ensure and facilitate an integrated vision and shared responsibility for diversity. Under Deborah’s leadership, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) works collaboratively to accomplish the institutions diversity goals. Deborah works with internal university departments and external organizations and agencies and serves as the University’s chief liaison with the University’s eight Affinity/Employee Resource Groups; Yale African American Affinity Group (YAAA), Yale Latino Networking Group (YLNG), Asian Network at Yale (ANY), Yale University Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Affinity Group (LGBTQ), Yale University Working Women Network (WWN) Yale Veterans Network (YVN), Future Leaders of Yale (FLY) and DiversAbility at Yale (DAY) . The diversity progress to date has contributed to strengthening the climate and culture of Yale University and to making the University an Employer of Choice.
Deborah's full biography can be found here: https://your.yale.edu/our-offices/human-resources/human-resources-senior-leadership/deborah-stanley-mcaulay