DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION
PROPONENTS
OF PROGRESS
The seeds of diversity, equity and
inclusion were already planted at
earth science and engineering firm
GeoEngineers, but as social justice
moved back into the global spotlight
in 2020, the company reaffirmed its
commitment to positive change
By Lisa Gordon
Change is not an overnight process, and its implementation
is not for those with a lack of vision and a penchant
for instant gratification.
Nurturing positive change is akin to running a marathon: You
plan and train for the big event, keeping up your energy along the
way, all the while fixing your eyes on the finish line. That’s what
it’s been like at Redmond, Wash.-headquartered GeoEngineers, an
employee-owned earth science and engineering firm that positions
itself “at the intersection of human and natural priorities.”
About eight years ago, the firm of 350 employees with offices
across the United States shifted its collective thinking. Instead
of focusing on success in financial terms, GeoEngineers honed
in on concepts that it believed would be foundational to its
future prosperity.
“One of the biggest ones is developing our people,” explained
Dana Carlisle, principal environmental engineer and a 30-year
employee. “That is a strategic initiative. When we built out that
initial concept, we understood that professional and personal
mastery needed to be part of this. If you develop your employees
to become their best selves, they take that into the job and into the
home and leverage their best selves.”
In its quest to develop “the best people on Earth,” GeoEngineers
identified empathy as an essential quality, along with passion
and resilience.
“You can achieve your goals if you have that whole foundation,”
said Carlisle. “It’s an arc that brings us directly to diversity, equity
and inclusion.”
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