Page 8 - BEQ Magazine Iss 23 FINAL v3

“We know that LGBTQ+ talent is out there, but the agency’s five core values, and we were doing this
sometimes that community is embedded within work before it was popular.”
a larger community,” Jackson said. “Much of our Jackson also made clear that inclusion is not
outreach has focused on looking to professional just the right thing to do but a strategic imperative
associations, such as engineering or technical and for NASA as “the ability to tap into different talents
science organizations, but that isn’t necessarily a with different perspectives and experiences is how
direct line to LGBTQ+ individuals or companies. you innovate. This country is made up of a rich mix
We are cultivating relationships with Historically of people, and tapping into that richness is where the
Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serv- innovation comes from.”
ing Institutions, but there aren’t LGBTQ+ univer- “The one thing that we know, is that in order for
sities.” us to achieve our goals – to get to the moon and to
For Jackson, this just means a more creative and Mars – we’ve got to innovate. How do you generate
concerted effort – making connections with orga- new ideas if you’re only talking to the same people
nizations (including the Business Equality Network you’ve always talked to?”
and BEQ Pride Magazine) with links to the growing
number of networks of LGBTQ students, researchers, LEVERAGING THE FULL REACH OF
and businesses that a traditional approach to locating CURRENT PARTNERSHIPS
talent through professional associations and univer-
sities has not revealed. One metric of NASA’s success will be an increas-
ingly diverse vendor base, but Jackson also described a
DIVERSITY IS THE FUEL OF strategy of leveraging current partnerships as a way to
INNOVATION create an even wider-reaching, ripple effect of inclu-
sion. “We’re trying to hold our large, traditional aero-
While this particular initiative is new, Jackson space partners accountable to our vision of inclusion
made clear that NASA has a long history of working by requiring them to develop Diversity, Equity and
toward greater inclusion. “The very ethos of NASA is Inclusion plans. We want them to have these plans
diversity and inclusion,” she said. “Inclusion is one of both within their companies and within their subcon-
tractor and vendor communities as well, identifying
businesses from underserved communities.”
Jackson added, “We want them to identify targets
for spend, and then we’re going to hold them account-
able in a surveillance posture to make sure that they
actually do spend that money and they bring those
companies along.”
It doesn’t seem that compliance is anything that
will have to be forced because, as Jackson notes, these
companies are also acutely aware of the value of
inclusion and the unsustainability of the status quo.
“[Our traditional partners] are energized around the
opportunity to see and get new talent. They under-
stand that they need to open their aperture to get a
wider variety, or else they’re just trading horses with
what they already know.”

8 SUMMER 2022 BUSINESSEQUALITYMAGAZINE.COM