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PRIDE Employee Resource Group (ERG)

I. Mission Statement

Pride@WHOI seeks to make the Institution a more welcoming and inclusive place for LGBTQIA+ employees.

Many members of the LGBTQIA+ Community at WHOI are already engaged with GLOW (a social group begun at WHOI and open to LGBTQIA+ people and allies from the Woods Hole scientific communities and the broader community). While GLOW serves the broader LGBTQIA+ Falmouth community, this new ERG will specifically address the needs of Queer WHOI employees in particular.

II. Pillars/Group Goals

  1. Create opportunities for LGBTQIA+ employees to connect with one another from across the Institution.
  2. Welcome newcomers, and help with recruitment and retention efforts when possible.
  3. Advocate for a more inclusive work environment at WHOI.
  4. Share knowledge, raise cultural awareness, and help to improve WHOI’s LGBTQIA+ cultural competence.

III. Group Norms

  • Everyone is welcome.
    • Certain events may be targeted to members of specific identities in order to foster safe spaces - this will be clear from event to event.
  • Membership is voluntary. Members may come and go as they please. There is no formal commitment.
  • If you are serving in a leadership role and need to step away for whatever reason, you should speak with the other members of the leadership team (and/or the CDEIO) to come up with a plan, no questions asked!
  • Please respect the fact that members may be in different places along their journey.
    • Due to the private nature of this process, please do not take or post any photos of the group unless you have everyone's explicit permission.
  • Use everyone’s preferred name and pronouns. If you’re not sure what someone prefers, ask!

IV. Flagship Events

  • LGBTQIA+ Panel for Pride Month (June) or LGBT History Month (Oct)
    • Organize a panel discussion with local members of the LGBTQ+ community who are working in Marine Sciences.
    • The aim of the panel will be to provide WHOI staff and leadership an opportunity to hear perspectives from their queer colleagues.
    • Example discussion topic: How has being part of the LGBTQ+ community impacted your experiences in the field?
  • Annual Social Activity (e.g., Summer BBQ)
    • An effort will be made to hold this event at a time that is conducive to student attendance in order to encourage members of Pride@WHOI to connect with LGBTQ+ students interested in Marine Sciences.
    • This is a fun event geared towards members of the Queer community.
  • We will aim to organize around pre-existing events to create more visibility and affinity spaces.
  • Website Refresh
    • Create a Pride@WHOI website/landing page
    • Determine what stays on the GLOW website vs what goes to WHOI Pride

V. Leadership Team

  • Sheri White, Co-Chair, AOPE, swhite@whoi.edu
  • Ben Weiss, Co-Chair, AOPE, bweiss@whoi.edu
  • Tom Bell, Secretary/Publicity
  • Marc Foster, Student Representative (as needed)
  • Colette Kelly, Postdoc Representative (as needed)

VI. Leadership Team Term Limits

  • Co-Chairs and Secretary will serve for 3 years with the opportunity to run again (as many times as a co-chair would like to). Overall, this is to ensure that leaders do not get burnt out, and to promote more participation and investment from the rest of the group.

VII. Group Roster

  • Membership is indicated by being a member of the pride@whoi.edu email list. A #whoipride private Slack channel will also be available on the WHOI-JEDI Slackspace
  • All WHOI employees, students, and postdocs who self-identify as LGBTQIA+ are eligible for membership.

VIII. Institutional Resources and Points of Contact