by Lucia Lo Bello – Chair of the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Subcommittee

Working together to create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace culture – The 2024 IES Workshop on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Chicago, 5 November 2024

From the left to the right: Dalma Novak, Kathy Herring Hayashi, Lucia Lo Bello, Kathleen Kramer and Kamal Al-Haddad

 

The Workshop entitled “Working together to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace culture” which ran in Chicago on 5 November 2024 in conjunction with IECON 2024, was meant to discuss about policies and practices to create and maintain a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace culture, in which a global and diverse group of technologists drive innovation.

The workshop, organized by the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Subcommittee of the IES Membership Development Committee, was moderated by the Chair of the Subcommittee, Prof. Lucia Lo Bello, together with Prof. Kamal Al-Haddad.

After the introduction of the IES President, Prof. Milos Manic, and the welcome message of the IES Vice-President for Membership Activities, Prof. Antonio Luque, three very insightful keynote speeches were delivered by distinguished IEEE representatives, i.e., Kathleen A. Kramer, Kathy Herring Hayashi, and Dalma Novak.

 

Panel Discussion: From the left to the right: Lucia Lo Bello, Kathleen Kramer, Kathy Herring Hayashi, Dalma Novak.

 

Kathleen Kramer is the 2024 IEEE President-Elect and Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of San Diego in California. In her speech, entitled “Challenges and Rewards in Building Diverse Technical Communities”, Kathleen provided an overview of the numerous initiatives ran within IEEE to foster on DEI, pointing out that it is vital to have diverse leaders to represent IEEE’s dynamic communities – women, young professionals, entrepreneurs – from across the IEEE wide technical breadth and geographic reach.

Kathy Herring Hayashi is the 2023-2024 IEEE Region 6 Director (Western Region U.S), Member of the IEEE Board of Directors, the IEEE USA Board, the IEEE MGA Board and the IEEE Assembly. In her speech, entitled “Advancing DEI: Building a Future of Inclusive Innovation”, Kathy discussed her experience working in the semiconductor industry and the importance of a diverse workforce, where every voice contributes to the collective success in technology.

Dalma Novak is the 2025 IEEE Technical Activities VP-Elect and the current Chair of the IEEE Technical Activities Board Committee on Diversity & Inclusion (TAB CDI), and VP of Engineering at Octane Wireless. In her speech, entitled “Advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the IEEE and Beyond”, Dalma overviewed the vision, mission, and activities of the IEEE TAB Diversity & Inclusion Committee, focusing on several interesting aspects, such as the focus areas and the outreach strategy.

The workshop went smooth. The panel discussion was lively and interesting.

The speakers and attendees of the Workshop.

 

More information on the activities of the IES DEI Subcommittee can be found on the webpage: https://www.ieee-ies.org/membership/diversity-and-inclusion.