Over the past year, South Coast AQMD’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Office has been working hard to listen, learn and establish relationships both internally and externally. This year, South Coast AQMD’s DEI office has addressed local, state and national social injustice events, providing programs and training to increase employee knowledge of DEI issues. 

In 2021, the DEI office conducted seven all-agency events that included:

• Lunar New Year

• African American Heritage Month 

• Women’s Herstory Month Panel

• Persian New Year

• Asian Pacific Islander (API) Lunch and Learn 

• API Heritage Month

• Juneteenth 

In addition, the DEI office worked with Human Resources to provide employee training on gender bias and ally training. Four additional internal Employee Resource Groups (ERG) - Allies and Advocates, Persian, Veterans and LGBTQIA were formed. Previously existing ERG groups include: Asian Pacific Islander (API+), Black Employee Resources of Change (BEROC) and Hispanic and Latinx Organization of Success (HALOS).