Message From The NASA Administrator: Making the Best Place to Work Even Better

As NASA Administrator, I’m committed to further strengthening a workplace culture that values diversity, inclusion, equity, unity, respect, and decency. To that end, we are instituting several new actions in support of the NASA Unity Campaign. 

 

– Unity Campaign Implementation Plans

By the end of Fiscal Year 2020, each NASA center and major organization will develop a Unity Campaign Implementation Plan. These plans will include specific actions that address issues and identify opportunities for improvement. They will be informed by diversity dialogues and workforce engagement through employee resource groups, advisory groups, and relevant committees.

 

– Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan

By December 2020, NASA will develop a new diversity and inclusion strategic plan. Employee engagement will be the cornerstone of this process, and your input will drive this plan’s development and implementation.  

 

– Unity Pledge 

The Deputy Administrator and I have signed a pledge committing to championing unity, diversity and inclusion within our workforce, and promoting a work environment free of all forms of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. I will ask all associate administrators, center directors, and officials in charge to join me in signing this pledge and leading their organizations with a focus on these shared values. 

–    Recruitment, Training, and Advancement

I have directed leadership in the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity (ODEO) and the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer to review how we are addressing these shared values in the recruiting, hiring, training, and management of our workforce. Our goal is to identify areas that need improvement and institute new approaches to identifying talent, onboarding new employees, and promoting mobility within our workforce consistent with our core values.    

 

When I worked with ODEO to launch the Unity Campaign in September of 2019, we knew it would grow and evolve over time. While there is much more work to do, I am confident that each of these measures will build on the great strides we’ve already taken to promote unity across our agency and ensure that it remains a long-term priority at NASA.

 

Your Part in the Unity Campaign

As I have said many times, discrimination and harassment on any basis will not be tolerated at NASA. Employees are legally protected from unlawful discrimination – including racial discrimination ­– harassment, and retaliation. In March, I announced new policy statements on Diversity & Inclusion, Equal Employment Opportunity, and Anti-Harassment. If you have not already, I would encourage you to take the time to read these policies and consider how you can help move our agency forward. 

 

With the leadership of the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, NASA’s Unity Campaign has played a key role in ensuring we are caring for and listening to our NASA family. From providing professionally-trained and certified facilitators to lead conversations, to developing a new data dashboard with regularly updated information on the diversity and inclusiveness of an organization’s workforce, the Unity Campaign is designed to provide you with the tools and support necessary for promoting a positive work environment.  

 

Later today ODEO will send out a link to a NASA Unity Campaign Pulse Survey. This short, voluntary survey will help us gain important feedback on this effort.

 

Our continued focus on unity, diversity and inclusion, and equity is particularly important during these challenging times with the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic and the brutal acts of racial injustice against African Americans we’ve witnessed across our country. By prioritizing unity, diversity and inclusion, and equal employment opportunity we can ensure NASA is a place where every employee feels they belong, where they are comfortable being authentic, and where they are empowered to contribute to their fullest.

 

For eight consecutive years, NASA has ranked the Best Place to Work in the federal government, and for seven consecutive years, the top agency for inclusiveness. We have proven that unity, diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity are our strengths. These values drive mission success today and are critical to the future of our agency. 

 

Please join me, and the rest of NASA leadership, as we commit to a higher standard of unity. We are all NASA, and together, we will succeed.  

 

Ad astra,

Jim Bridenstine