Employee Resource Groups launched on campus

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are groups led by employees who share interests, issues and a common bond or background. Members of these groups create a positive work environment at MIT by actively contributing to the Institute's mission, values and efforts specific to inclusion, such as recruitment and retention.

Employee Resource Group (ERG) and Affinity Group/Network are terms often used interchangeably. At MIT we mean different things for each term.

• ERGs are groups that are formally constituted with mission statements and officers, and are expected to contribute to the mission of the Institute
• Affinity Groups are self-organized, informal networks of MIT employees with common identities or interests

Both types of groups contribute to MIT as an inclusive workplace. All ERGs are open to all MIT employees.

What are the benefits of having ERGs at MIT?

ERGs help to create an inclusive workplace by:

• Serving as a vehicle for leveraging MIT's distributed leadership model
• Contributing to an inclusive workplace through recruiting and retention, and by providing an informal welcome to new employees, as well as networking and mentoring opportunities for their members
• Creating an open forum for staff who share common interests/concerns to meet and support one another
• Providing a resource to MIT leadership regarding staff/community issues, needs and policies

The following three ERG pilots will run until (approximately) January 2014. Please note that we anticipate more ERGs will be formed in the future:

African, Black, American, Caribbean @MIT (ABAC@MIT) ERG

ABAC@MIT strives to promote an environment that fosters and promotes the productivity and creativity of all its employees. Its goal is to increase awareness of cultural differences within the ABAC@MIT community and the MIT community at large. The group seeks to create a welcoming environment to help employees feel supported and have a "home base" to help foster trust and inclusiveness on the MIT campus.

Co-leads: Gabrielle Brewington - Research Lab for Electronics (gbrew@mit.edu); Cheryl Charles - Research Lab for Electronics (ccharles@mit.edu); Suzette Clinton - Vice President for Finance (sclinton@mit.edu)

Asian Pacific American ERG

The mission of the MIT Asian Pacific American Employee Resource Group is to develop networking, professional development, mentoring and leadership opportunities with a focus on the recruitment, retention, learning and advancement of Asian Pacific Americans at MIT.

Co-leads: Taeminn Song - Information Services & Technology (Taeminn@mit.edu); Michelle Baildon - Libraries (Baildon@mit.edu)

Hispanic/Latino ERG

The mission of the Hispanic/Latino ERG is to develop a network of employees and promote the cultural diversity and professional development of its members, thereby creating a supportive environment for the Latino/Hispanic community and contributing to the success of MIT's mission.

Co-leads: Gilbert Cordova - Materials Processing Center (gcordova@mit.edu); Maria Barrios - Human Resources (mbarrios@mit.edu)

For more information, contact the co-leads of any pilot ERG or Alyce Johnson, manager of staff diversity and inclusion: alycej@mit.edu; or Judith Stein, Human Resources ERG coordinator: jstein@mit.edu.

For information on ERGs at Lincoln Lab, contact Bill Kindred at 781-981-5380, or email: bkindred@ll.mit.edu.