Foster Cohesion & Inclusion
Embodying diversity, equity, and inclusion and creating a sense of belonging
Overview
Under Goal 3, we will foster cohesion and inclusion by striving to make the Air District’s workforce more diverse and reflective of the communities we serve. To increase organizational cohesion, we will make sure everyone in the organization understands and respects the value of a diverse workforce, one that welcomes and includes everyone.
We will become One Air District, where employees have a sense of belonging and understand and value how diverse backgrounds and expertise come together in support of the organization’s mission and vision. We will also be more united in our goal to advance environmental justice by increasing the capacity and effectiveness of employees, Board members and advisory bodies to integrate environmental justice into all aspects of our work. We will broaden all employees’ internal knowledge of the Air District and create more opportunities for relationship building among employees.
To increase morale and overall organizational effectiveness, we will better recognize employees’ contributions. We will expand professional development opportunities to foster success, boost morale, and enhance workforce retention.
Embody Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
This Objective has 2 strategies.
We will build on our efforts to ensure the Air District’s workforce is diverse and reflective of the communities we serve to instill community trust and develop better solutions to air quality problems. Read more.
To achieve this strategy, we’ve created and will be tracking the following commitments:
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified fourteen actions to advance this commitment and have completed four. We developed a library of equity-related interview questions for use in hiring interviews, expanded our mentorship program to include temporary employees, matched our college interns with mentors, and hired a new environmental justice law fellow.
We are now working on developing data analysis tools to better understand the demographics of our hiring pool, including fellows and interns. We are preparing surveys to better understand how to increase pathways to permanent employment, determining how we can better consider inclusivity in hiring decisions and are looking at ways to increase employment opportunities for people historically underrepresented in environmental justice fields.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified seven actions for this commitment. We have begun work to increase participation in our mentorship program through targeted outreach. We are also developing curriculum for internal training to support professional development, have launched an emerging leaders program, and are looking to offer employees individualized development plans.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified seven actions for this commitment, four of which have been completed. We have conducted allyship learning sessions, developed and offered allyship workshops, developed and launched a webinar on allyship, and revised and expanded our employee resource group guidelines.
We are now focused on establishing new employee resource groups and hosting identity-based networking conversations.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
No actions have been identified for this commitment. Check back again soon.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
No actions have been identified for this commitment. Check back again soon.
We will build on our efforts to ensure the Air District’s workforce is diverse and reflective of the communities we serve to instill community trust and develop better solutions to air quality problems. Read more.
To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following commitments:
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified twelve actions for this commitment, one of which has been completed. To increase the diversity of our supplier pool, we have secured new software to improve our procurement process.
We are now focused on efforts to include equity in all Air District Board decisions. We have drafted guidelines for incorporating socio-economic considerations into Board materials and are now planning staff training. Trainings will be on the new guidelines and on new procurement procedures and software.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified four actions for this commitment and have completed one. To advance efforts to offer continuous learning, we have developed and published a calendar of diversity, equity, and inclusion training opportunities. We are now holding workshops and developing hiring best practices that will be available to all hiring managers to ensure unbiased hiring and promotion practices.
Become One Air District
This Objective has 4 strategies.
We will broaden internal knowledge of Air District activities and create opportunities for relationship building to increase understanding of how different roles and perspectives come together in support of the organization’s mission and vision.Read more.
To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following commitments:
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified nine actions for this commitment and completed two. To help employes learn about the organization, we have created a dynamic newsletter and updated orientation materials for new hires.
We are now working on engaging staff in the work we are doing to implement the strategic plan to increase awareness across the organization.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified five actions to advance this commitment and have completed two. To help employees learn from one another, we have launched an internal directory that can be used for employees to learn more about each other and have trained all directory administrators.
We are now working on piloting internal collaboration hubs, guidelines for use of internal employee directory, and engaging staff in the work we are doing to implement the strategic plan to increase awareness across the organization.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified thirty actions for this commitment and completed eight. To help employees get to know one another, we implemented “employee spotlights” at internal all staff meetings. To improve relationships, we have hosted multiple coffee chats and other social events, including an “ofrenda”, a traditional Mexican Dia de los Muertos celebration.
Over the next year, we will continue employee spotlights at all staff meetings, social events and coffee chats, as well as the development of a new staff ambassador program to help build relationships among employees.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified one action for this commitment. We are working on developing a comprehensive job shadowing program at the Air District, where employees can experience the work of their peers, to broaden their understanding of the challenges, opportunities, and connections to their own work.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified three actions for this commitment. We have started working on best practices on how to collaborate across departments and are creating internal communication plans to highlight key program milestones and employee achievements. Next, we will look at updating our employee survey to assess our One Air District efforts on employee morale and satisfaction.
We will increase the capacity and effectiveness of employees, Board members, and advisory bodies to advance better integrate environmental justice into all aspects of our work. Read more.
To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following commitments:
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified two actions for this commitment. In the next year, we plan to develop and launch an environmental justice training curriculum to increase Air District Board and Advisory committee members’ and employees’ knowledge of environmental justice.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified six actions to address this commitment and have completed two. We have added environmental justice as a core competency in our performance evaluations and have completed executive training. We are now working with the employees’ association regarding new performance evaluations to reflect environmental justice and equity. Next, we will create a plan to operationalize environmental justice as a core competency across the organization and begin staff and manager training.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
No actions have been identified for this commitment. Check back again soon.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
No actions have been identified for this commitment. Check back again soon.
We will better recognize employees’ contributions to increase morale and overall organizational effectiveness. Read more.
To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following commitments:
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified one action to support this commitment. Next year, we will begin work on a multi-faceted employee incentive program to better recognize employees.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified two actions to support this commitment. To better recognize employees, we have started work on identifying and selecting an employee recognition platform vendor. Next, we will begin designing the employee recognition program.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified three actions for this commitment; two actions have been completed and one is underway. We have modified performance evaluations to include collaboration, innovation, cross-functional learning, strategic plan, and skill development performance factors. We have also added performance factors and executive core competency definitions in the performance evaluation process to improve performance evaluation process. We are now updating our employee training to include the new performance factors.
We will expand professional development opportunities to foster success and diversity, boost morale, enhance workforce retention, and improve overall organizational effectiveness. Read more.
To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following commitments:
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified four actions to advance this commitment and have completed one. We aimed to increase our mentorship program participation to 60 individuals and have successfully done so. We are now developing a survey for program participants to better evaluate program. Next up, we will administer the survey and incorporate results and best practices into the mentoring program.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified five actions to advance this commitment; three actions have been completed. To improve employee onboarding, we have updated and launched our “first day” new hire orientation. We have also developed a “first day” and “60 day” employee satisfaction surveys.
We are now incorporating survey results into our orientation programs and developing and rolling out a One Air District onboarding program for new hires.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified ten actions to advance this commitment; eight of these actions have started. We have started several training programs, including a Managers Learning Academy, supervisor trainings, and training on executive core qualifications and performance factors in performance evaluations. We are also developing a management development curriculum, an on-line calendar of all available training, and establishing a mandatory training policy and procedures.
Status of actions to implement commitment, as of September 30, 2025
We have identified four actions to advance this commitment and have completed three. We have modified the performance review evaluation form to require supervisors to review all skill building opportunities the employee completed, to require supervisors to ask employees to identify at lead one area where they would like to improve, and to offer Individualized Development Plans. Up next, we will develop a succession planning framework.