Eastern National Belonging Update

Last year, Eastern National announced that, along with Western National Parks Association (WNPA), we are a recipient of a grant from the National Park Foundation’s Strong Parks, Strong Communities program to support justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging (JEDI&B) efforts that will strengthen our organizations, and the park partner community. Since then, we have developed a Belonging Strategy to ensure all EN team members feel welcome in the workplace, to serve as the foundation for promoting a culture of inclusion in all aspects of mission delivery.

We are pleased to share some of the milestones we have achieved in growing this work:

·       EN and WNPA have established a cross-organizational committee consisting of executive leadership, human resources, project coordinators, and community outreach personnel.

·       The joint committee issued a formal request for proposal for a consultant to conduct a joint assessment of both organizations through a JEDI&B lens, focusing on the employee lifecycle and experience.

·       The EN/WNPA committee hosted two educational sessions at this year’s Public Lands Alliance Convention. We invited leaders from Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Grand Canyon Conservancy, and WD-40 Company to join a panel discussion on Embedding JEDI&B into Organizational Culture and Operations.

·       EN’s Board of Directors has established a Belonging Committee. The Committee is chaired by Board Member, David Vela, a 30-year career National Park Service team member who had previously served as the Acting Director of the National Park Service and Associate Director for Workforce, Relevancy, and Inclusion.

·       EN has established an Employee Belonging Committee. The committee has 15 members and is co-chaired by Bucky Monreal, Hot Springs NP Store Manager; and Cindy Piccolo, Coastal Southeast Regional Manager.

We will continue to share progress in this important work in the coming months.

Pictured L to R: Susan Schroeder (Moderator, EN Board Member), Kevin Kissling, Marie Buck (President & CEO, WNPA), Deb Yandala (Former EN Board Member, Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park President & CEO), Theresa McMullan (Grand Canyon Conservancy CEO), Not pictured: Jeff Lindeman, WD-40 Chief People, Culture & Capability Officer.