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Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Through Learning and Leadership

Culture change depends on changes in behavior and beliefs. Training and learning are essential to that transformation.

Our foundational training remains an important part of our DEI strategy, because it helps create more fair, respectful, and inclusive educational environments for all employees.

During 2023, we trained nearly 14,000 employees in an array of learning forums focused on DEI and Equal Employment Opportunity compliance.

Highlights

New training courses were implemented to support our overall work toward achieving a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued, included, protected, and respected. They include:

  • Leading A Culture of Psychological Safety was created for management employees to learn key strategies to foster and support a safe environment.
  • Leading With CourageHow We Impact DEI aimed to increase employees’ understanding of characteristics that influence effective DEI leadership: self-awareness, curiosity, humility, and courage.
  • 2023 Sexual Harassment Prevention, an interactive online course, provided employees with an understanding of what constitutes sexual harassment.
  • Respect and Equity in the Workplace was designed to increase employees’ understanding of harassment, discrimination, and related behaviors.

Connecting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Throughout the Company

The success of any culture-change initiative requires the commitment, support, and engagement of the company’s leadership team. Our leaders understand the importance of embedding DEI throughout the company, the process required to address the desired outcomes, and the steps needed to address and mitigate resistance to change.

CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion

  • Chief Executive Officer Tim Cawley, along with Orange & Rockland Utilities President Bob Sanchez, joined with more than 2,000 peers from the world’s leading companies and universities to advance DEI across their organizations.
  • They heard from speakers and explored diversity, equity, and inclusion through the lens of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), with a specific focus on data and transparency.
  • Each CEO signed a pledge to create a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable workforce and -cultivate- environments that support open dialogue on complex—and often difficult conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • They will also continue our participation in the CEO Action for Racial Equity Fellowship Program through CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion.

Corporate Mentoring

Mentorship is an important part of our corporate culture, so we:

Wrapped up our first Executive Sponsorship Program mid-year and launched a second cohort with 25 sponsors and 25 sponsored employees. This program focused on developing a strong pipeline of diverse leaders with a minimum 50% people of color and 50% women as participants.

Leadership Development

We believe that preparing our leaders for the future is a critical component to their success, so we:

Redesigned and relaunched the Business Academy, Con Edison’s signature leadership program for high-potential leaders. This program’s objective is to build a dynamic coalition of leaders who are prepared to guide the company through an uncertain and increasingly competitive future by focusing on individual leadership, organizational leadership, and business acumen.

Record Hiring

  • In 2023, Con Edison hired 1,677 employees—a level of hiring not seen for 50 years. Women and people of color (including Latino, Asian, and Black employees) were hired at greater percentages than their current representation in our workforce.
  • This also included 81 veterans, with 15 being hired as field supervisors.